Chapter 102 Yuan Shu forged the Mandate of Heaven, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu joined forces to attack Jiangdong!
The atmosphere in the Jianghuai area is a bit weird during this period.

Ever since the news of Yuan Shao's defeat in Jizhou came, all the aristocratic families have been feeling insecure.

After the imperial court put down the rebellion in Hebei, it would definitely choose to move south and attack Yuan Shu in Jianghuai.

These aristocratic families had no choice but to either submit to the imperial court or leave their homes and flee to Jiangdong.

Just when they were hesitating, news came that the concubines in the palace had given birth to princes and princesses.

The people are celebrating with joy and joy all over the world!

These noble families also have some expectations, hoping that His Majesty will be so pleased that he will show mercy and grant amnesty to the whole nation!
It turned out not to be!
Instead, a shocking news came——

Your Majesty seems to want to lead the army in person to attack Yuan Shu in Huainan!
Not only did he not grant amnesty to the entire country, but he wanted to lead the army personally. This made those aristocratic families suddenly feel uneasy!
Some aristocratic families who were reluctant to leave their homeland finally chose to submit to the imperial court!
The reform of the land-based tax system was indeed fatal, but many aristocratic families were able to weaken the impact of the land-based tax system by splitting up their families.

In this way, they can still make use of their local influence and will not be despised when leaving their hometown.

Of course, this is an open conspiracy like the Enfeoffment Order!
After the aristocratic families split up, the clan's power was bound to be weakened, and the divided families might even fight among themselves for the family property.

Whether it is the central court or the local government, they can undoubtedly overwhelm the clan power of the aristocratic families!

However, some of them were too closely connected with the Yuan family, or they were Yuan's disciples and former officials, or they were aristocratic families who were tired of the wars in the Central Plains, so they decided to move south.

Some went to Jianghuai to join Yuan Shu, some crossed the river directly to Jiangdong, and some went to Liu Biao in Jingzhou or even Liu Yan in Yizhou to join him.

The entire Jianghuai area went their separate ways.

Of course, Yuan Shu was short-sighted and his bones were buried in the grave. Many aristocratic families came to Huainan to communicate with Yuan Shu, but then left decisively.

Because they all felt Yuan Shu’s ambition to become emperor!

Since Yuan Shao's defeat, Yuan Shu's ambition to become emperor has become stronger. His idea is -

Since both sides are already at risk, it would be better to completely break off relations and ascend the throne to become emperor. Perhaps this would win over those ambitious people and would also be an attraction for those talented people in the opposition who want to follow him!

As long as Yuan Shu does not proclaim himself emperor, he will be a subject of the Han Dynasty. He rebels against the court and Your Majesty, which means he has no loyalty, no filial piety, no benevolence, and no justice!
But ascending the throne and becoming emperor is different. This is the only way to dominate the world, just like the Chu-Han Contention!
Who dares to assert that Yuan Shu cannot establish a magnificent dynasty like Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty? !
Of course, ever since Yuan Shu proposed the idea of ​​ascending the throne and becoming emperor last time and was refuted by his civil officials, Yuan Shu knew that the idea of ​​Liu's kingdom was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Without a godsend opportunity, it would be as difficult as ascending to the throne!

Yuan Shu has been waiting for this opportunity!

When the locust plague broke out in the Han Dynasty, there was clearly an opportunity for this.

As long as they mislead people and spread rumors and slander, it will be a natural disaster caused by Your Majesty's violation of heaven and earth and the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people.

Your Majesty has lost his moral integrity and is no longer recognized by Heaven!
It is bound to alienate the people's hearts and minds and opinions under His Majesty today!
By then, if Yuan Shu packages himself a little, he will be able to gain the support of everyone and ascend the throne to become emperor, and the resistance will not be so great.

Unfortunately, auspicious signs came from the sky and duck soldiers descended from the sky, and the opportunity disappeared immediately.

Of course, Yuan Shu scoffed at this and didn't quite believe the rumor!

Duck soldiers descend from the sky? !
Go ahead and cheat!

Because the Jianghuai region is densely covered with water and the air is very humid, locusts do not like this environment, so there has been no locust plague in Jianghuai.

Yuan Shu had not seen the so-called "duck soldiers descending from the sky" with his own eyes, so naturally he would not believe it.

However, this "rumor" gave Yuan Shu an opportunity - since he couldn't wait for the God-given opportunity, he would create it himself!
Isn't it just spreading rumors?!
It just so happened that the Jianghuai region worshipped Buddhism, and because Tao Qian of Xuzhou promoted Buddhism to stabilize the local people's hearts, after years of development, the influence of Buddhism in the Jianghuai region was not inferior to Taoism, and even surpassed it.

Zuo Rong, a general under Tao Qian, was cruel by nature. He did all kinds of evil, enriched himself, and was corrupt and perverted the law, but he was a devout Buddhist.

Zuo Rong appropriated a large amount of materials for himself, accumulated financial resources, and worshipped Buddhism on a large scale in the Xuzhou area. He built luxurious Buddhist temples, cast large golden and bronze Buddhas, dressed them in brocade, and held a Buddha Bathing Festival, attracting more than 10,000 believers.

Today, the influence of Buddhism in the Jianghuai region is terrifying!
Of course, for the rulers, religion is nothing more than a means to stabilize the people's hearts, and it can also be used to fan the flames and mislead the people.

Yuan Shu took advantage of this to make a fuss, and recently a prophecy has begun to spread: "The one who will replace the Han Dynasty will be Dangtu Gao."

Ordinary people did not understand its meaning, but those scholars were somewhat shocked!

"Tu" means "road". Tugao means a person who is high and far away on the road. Yuan Shu's courtesy name is "Gonglu". The prophecy was spread in Huainan. Doesn't it refer to Yuan Shu replacing the Han Dynasty?

This reason is of course very far-fetched and unconvincing!
Because this prophecy was widely spread during the Western Han Dynasty.

Emperor Wu of Han once lamented that "Han has suffered six or seven disasters, and the law should be re-enacted. Who among the descendants of the royal family should take on this responsibility? The one who will rule the Han Dynasty for six or seven or forty-second generations is Dang Tu Gao."

Sixty-seven forty-two is a number, and the sum of the numbers is 29, that is, the 29th generation of the Han Dynasty was Dangtu Gao.

Real interpretation: The Han Dynasty produced 29 emperors, and when it comes to being an emperor, the Liu family is the most prestigious.

However, due to the problem of sentence segmentation and the lack of punctuation marks in the Han Dynasty, many ambitious people took advantage of the opportunity.

Yuan Shu wanted to use this prophecy to create a "body of destiny" for himself!
This shows the importance of punctuation!
Of course, this first step of spreading rumors is just the beginning. It is not enough for scholars to believe it, the common people must also believe it, so that these ignorant people will think that Yuan Shu has the destiny.

Therefore, after Yuan Shu decided to plan his plan, he continued to spread rumors that he had the Mandate of Heaven and that he could replace the Han Dynasty.

This will naturally take some time.

Yuan Shu's tricks could not be hidden from his civil and military officials, and many of them had already begun to think about leaving.

Zhou Yu said to Sun Ce:
"Bofu, Yuan Shu's ambition to become emperor is getting stronger and stronger. We will suffer from him in the future. We must leave as soon as possible and stay away from this place of trouble."

"Gongjin, do you think Yuan Shu has the mandate of heaven?" Sun Ce asked suspiciously.

After Sun Jian died in battle, Sun Ce, out of filial piety to Sun Jian, defected to Yuan Shu and fought for him in many battles. However, he was never valued, and Yuan Shu was fickle and untrustworthy, so Sun Ce had already decided to leave.

But recently there have been rumors in Jianghuai about Yuan Shu's destiny, which has made Sun Ce somewhat unsure.

"hehe."

Zhou Yu sneered:
"When Dong Zhuo took control of the capital and arbitrarily deposed and enthroned emperors, the Han Dynasty was in decline and in danger of extinction.

However, after your majesty turned the tide, the Han Dynasty has shown signs of revival, and the Yuan family has been defeated one after another. Yuan Shu is just a dead bone in the grave. How can there be a destiny?"

"Gongjin respects your majesty so much, why doesn't he submit to the court?"

Sun Ce asked again, but he was already unhappy. After all, Sun Jian died at the hands of the imperial court, and he had some resentment towards His Majesty.

“I can’t help myself!”

Zhou Yu was helpless. He was a member of a Jianghuai noble family. His Majesty's implementation of the land-based tax system was damaging the interests of the aristocratic families. Both Zhou Yu and the Zhou family were trying to rebel against His Majesty.

And they believe that their resistance will definitely succeed!
Because the mountains are high and the roads are long, it’s out of reach!
Even if Your Majesty goes south to Jianghuai, and even defeats Yuan Shu, it is impossible for you to stay in Jianghuai forever. Your Majesty will leave.

And Jiang Huai is still the Jiang Huai of their aristocratic family!

Now, Zhou Yu and other aristocratic families want to use the natural barriers of Jianghuai to rebel against the imperial court and Your Majesty, and let the imperial court see the unity and willpower of the Jianghuai aristocratic families.

It would be best if we could stop the imperial court and rule by dividing the country by the river.

If we cannot stop the imperial court, we can at least let His Majesty and the imperial court understand that the aristocratic families in Jianghuai are not pushovers.

If we want to govern the Jianghuai region, we still need to rely on them.

Attack is the best defense!

Counterattack is the best bargaining chip!
It was based on this kind of thinking that the Jianghuai aristocratic families not only did not surrender, but instead united as one to face the outside world.

However, some people favored Yuan Shu, while others favored others. For example, Zhou Yu believed that Sun Ce had the aura of a king and a hegemon, and was a wise leader who could be supported.

"Gongjin, how can I get my father's old subordinates back?"

Zhou Yu did not explain, and Sun Ce did not ask further questions. Although the two were close friends, they also had their own privacy and secrets.

At least for now, their goals are the same. "The court appointed Liu Yao as the governor of Yangzhou, and he is fighting against Yuan Shu's troops in Jiangdong, and he even has the upper hand. Bo Fu can use this opportunity to ask Yuan Shu for a fight and cross the river to fight Liu Yao."

...

"Will Yuan Shu agree?"

...

"Of course. Now that Yuan Shao has been defeated, the imperial court's march south is inevitable. Huainan will bear the brunt of the attack and block the imperial court's troops. At this time, Yuan Shu must want to solve his biggest concern, Liu Yao, and stabilize the situation in Jiangdong.

"Bo Fu is a brave and skilled general. If he goes to Jiangdong to suppress Liu Yao, he will be even more powerful.

“Of course, Yuan Shu is fickle and may not give us too many troops, but Bofu’s uncle Wu Jing is the governor of Danyang and his cousin Sun Ben is the commander. We can directly recruit troops in Danyang.

"The Danyang soldiers under Tao Qian's command in Xuzhou are brave and good at fighting!
"The most urgent task now is not the issue of troops, but leaving Huainan, a place of trouble. If Yuan Shu attempts to become emperor in the future, we can just cut ties with him, and Bofu won't have to bear the stigma of betrayal!"

...

"I understand."

Sun Ce nodded, this was a plan that killed two birds with one stone!
Although it sounds simple, the psychological warfare and techniques of leveraging the situation are naturally very important.

However, with Zhou Yu's secret help, Sun Ce finally succeeded in his request for battle and crossed the river to fight.

Stay away from Huainan, a place of trouble!

But in this life, Sun Ce did not have the imperial seal to present to Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu did not give him many soldiers and horses.

Only Sun Jian's former generals and personal soldiers, a few hundred men in total, followed him.

Yuan Shu naturally saw that Sun Ce was extraordinary in bravery. After observing his behavior, he knew that Sun Ce was flexible and had extraordinary qualities.

It was precisely because they were worried about Sun Ce becoming too powerful that they did not dare to allow him to establish his own regime.

But now the situation has changed. After the defeat of Yuan Shao in Jizhou, the imperial court’s troops will move south in the future, and Jianghuai will be the first to bear the brunt.

In order to resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. Yuan Shu must deal with the powerful enemy behind him, Liu Yao.

And Sun Ce is undoubtedly a fierce general!
Yuan Shu was worried that Sun Ce would become too powerful and establish himself as the leader, and he was also worried that Liu Yao would become too powerful in Jiangdong. In the end, Yuan Shu simply let Sun Ce go to Jiangdong, but did not give him too many troops, in order to restrict him.

Drive away the tiger and devour the wolf!

...

After Sun Ce left Huainan and went to Jiangdong, he took refuge with his uncle Wu Jing and relied on Wu Jing to recruit hundreds of people.

The number of soldiers and horses reached nearly a thousand people!

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Liu Yao recruited soldiers and horses, and had the righteousness of being appointed by the court, which made the loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty defect to him.

Its power expanded to a terrifying level.

Because Sun Ce was a general under Yuan Shu, Danyang Prefect Wu Jing and Commandant Sun Ben were both close friends of Yuan Shu.

Liu Yao naturally targeted them first!

While Sun Ce was recruiting soldiers but had not yet trained them, Liu Yao raised an army of tens of thousands, claiming to be an "army of one hundred thousand", and used force to force Wu Jing and Sun Ben to surrender.

Sun Ce wanted to challenge for a fight, but Zhou Yu took advantage of this opportunity and asked Yuan Shu to return Sun Jian's former subordinates.

After hearing this, Sun Ce obeyed decisively and pretended to be defeated and retreated back to Liyang County, Jiujiang Commandery.

He confronted Liu Yao of Jiangdong across the Yangtze River.

This made Yuan Shu furious!
Sun Ce's power was restricted by him, but the tiger was too weak and too young to be driven away by the wolf!

Now the entire Jiangdong region has fallen into Liu Yao's hands. How can this be tolerated?!

In the future, the imperial court will march south and approach the Huai River. Liu Yao will confront Yuan Shu across the Yangtze River, and Yuan Shu will be trapped in Huainan, attacked from both sides!

"Sun Ce is not as good as his father!"

Yuan Shu sighed secretly, if Sun Jian and Sun Wentai, the fierce tigers of Jiangdong, were still alive, why would Liu Yao be allowed to show off his power? !

At this time, under Zhou Yu's guidance, Sun Ce once again came to Huainan to meet Yuan Shu:

"General, my family has done a lot of favors for the people of Jiangdong in the past. I am willing to lead the troops to help my uncle counterattack Liu Yao.

"After returning to Jiangdong, I can recruit soldiers there, probably 30,000. Then, I will lead them to help you pacify the world and achieve your great cause."

Yuan Shu naturally wouldn't believe it!

But Liu Yao was powerful, and he could not sit idly by and watch Liu Yao gain a foothold.

at last.

Yuan Shu then returned more than a thousand of Sun Jian's former subordinates to Sun Ce.

"Thank you, General!"

Sun Ce gritted his teeth, but no matter how small a mosquito leg is, it is still meat, and a thousand people are a force that cannot be underestimated.

Moreover, they were the elite soldiers from Huai and Si who had followed his father Sun Jian in his battles across the country!
At this point, Sun Ce had two thousand soldiers and horses.

Yuan Shu allocated food and supplies to it. Of course, Huainan lacked war horses. Although it had exchanged them with Yuan Shao of Jizhou, it was still in short supply.

Therefore, only dozens of war horses were given.

Relying on these forces, Sun Ce returned to Jiangdong.

Under Zhou Yu's advice, Sun Ce led two thousand soldiers across the river to fight.

After crossing the river, Sun Ce was unstoppable and unstoppable. No one dared to fight him. Moreover, his military orders were strict and the people all followed him.

The passing of bandits is like a comb, and the passing of soldiers is like a grate.

When soldiers passed through the border, they plundered the people even more severely than bandits. They looted all the property in the people's homes like combing their hair with a comb.

But Sun Ce was able to control the desires of his soldiers!

His orders were strictly enforced and his commands were as strong as a mountain, which fully demonstrated Sun Ce's ability in commanding the army and his prestige in the army!

This will win the hearts and minds of the people!
As Sun Ce won battle after battle, more and more people came to join him, and the number gradually grew to five or six thousand.

Relying on this prestige, Sun Ce recruited soldiers in Danyang County and gradually expanded his army to nearly 10,000 people.

It has become a force that cannot be underestimated.

This gave Liu Yao a headache, but none of the generals under his command were a match for Sun Ce, and he did not have an outstanding counselor like Zhou Yu.

Sun Ce grew rapidly during the battle of crossing the river, and so did Zhou Yu? !
If Zhou Yu was once just an excellent talent when he first started out, then after the battle of crossing the river, he has grown into an excellent commander, military advisor, or in other words, a military strategist and strategist!

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu joined forces to fight the enemy. With their combined strength, Liu Yao's forces were unable to shake their edge for a while, and Sun Ce gradually gained a foothold in Jiangdong!

...

(End of this chapter)