Chang'an, as Liu Xie's base camp, has always been the top priority of Jingzhao Mansion. Especially after the vicious case of kidnapping people and not killing people, it can be said that the officials of Jingzhao Mansion looked like suspects for a while, and those who came from other places, especially unemployed people such as rangers, were the focus of the officials' investigations.

Confucianism uses literature to disrupt politics, and chivalry uses martial arts to violate the ban. Before he became the emperor, Liu Xie still had a good impression of those chivalrous heroes, and he could even say that he had a little personality cult. But after Liu Xie became the emperor, he found that those idle people in society were really the biggest hidden danger to destroy social stability and unity, which was quite a headache.

In order to control these troublesome rangers, Liu Xie set up an organization to accept these rangers for their own use, and on the other hand, funded Tong Yuan and Wang Yue, the old-timers who were famous in the rivers and lakes, to open martial arts halls. Apprenticeship is secondary, and the main purpose of educating these rangers not to violate the prohibition by force is the main purpose.

However, from the current point of view, the effect is not ideal. Some of those rangers surrendered to the court and took up the Liu family's jobs. There are also those who advocate freedom and do things that violate the law and discipline for the sake of justice in their hearts. There are always countless masters in this world, Tong Yuan and Wang Yue are just one of the best among these people, and there are countless masters who live in seclusion and teach apprentices to pass on their arts. And those who have received the true transmission of the great people have chosen different paths. Some became the "eagle dogs" of the imperial court, while others became killers who killed people for money......

Recently, the number of outsiders in Chang'an City has suddenly increased a lot, which makes Jingzhao Mansion, which is in charge of Chang'an security, highly nervous. This is the capital master, the place where the emperor of the Han Dynasty stays, in case those outlaws are shocked, not to mention their official hats, even their lives may not be guaranteed.

Jingzhao Mansion was eager to drive all those outsiders out of Chang'an, but that was impossible. As a transportation hub of the Great Han Dynasty, it is simply unrealistic to cut off the entry of foreign population. The only thing officials can do is to intensify inspections and beware of someone looking for an opportunity to cause trouble.

……

Chang'an Zhou Mansion

As the master, Sun Ce woke up, of course Liu Xie wanted to come over to visit, and by the way, probe Sun Ce's tone to see if Sun Ce could be recruited. At that time, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu could be regarded as promising young people with ideals and ambitions, and separating Jiangdong was not a heinous crime in Liu Xie's eyes. At that time, the situation of the Han dynasty was sluggish, and seeing that it was a grasshopper after the autumn and jumping in a few days, I didn't blame others for being ambitious, but I could only blame my own family for not being angry.

But now it's different from the past, the Han once again has the strength to dominate the world, Liu Xie can tolerate "anti-thieves" like Lu Bu and Cao Cao, and naturally he won't fail to give Sun Ce and Zhou Yu a chance, the key is to see whether the two of them are willing to reach out and grab the olive branch that Liu Xie stretched out.

And Sun Ce had a heart-to-heart conversation with Zhou Yu after waking up, which also had some meaning of accepting reality. When he chose to break away from Yuan Shu, Sun Ce did not have the intention of dominating the world. All he wanted was to revive the Sun family and avenge his father after his strength became stronger, so Sun Ce did not hesitate to take out the jade seal of the country as a price to borrow troops from Yuan Shu.

With the 3,000 men and horses borrowed from Yuan Shu plus the more than 1,000 people left by his father, and later Zhou Yu led 3,000 people to come to the convergence, Sun Ce relied on these nearly 8,000 men and horses to cross the river and work hard, and laid the foundation of the six counties and eighty-one prefectures in Jiangdong with his hands. It was also at this time that Sun Ce had a little ambition to dominate the world.

It's just that when Sun Ce took Jiangdong, Liu Xie's side also developed, and with the convenience of the Han family's people's hearts, Liu Xie's development was stronger than Sun Ce's. Sun Ce worked hard to conquer Jiangdong, and Liu Xie relied on the four words of Han orthodoxy to get twice the result with half the effort. In terms of recruiting talents alone, Sun Ce has been thrown off more than one street.

To tell the truth, Sun Ce is quite jealous of Liu Xie, his fate is good, in the emperor's family, as long as his posture is lower, he can invite Daxian to use it, but his own side has to be low, compromised, and sometimes even if he pays a huge price, he can't get it.

Those damn Koto families!

"Bo Fu, don't be stunned, I'm talking to you." Liu Xie saw that Sun Ce looked like he was wandering into the world, and opened his mouth to remind.

"Ahh …… The saint forgave his sins, and Sun Ce was distracted. Sun Ce came back to his senses and saw Liu Xie looking at him, and hurriedly said apologetically.

"It's okay, what were you thinking?" Liu Xie asked magnanimously.

“…… I'm wondering how those Jiangdong families said that Zhong Mou did this to my brother. I think back then, after our brothers' feelings, I was not afraid of the saint's blame, and the saint asked my Sun family to send the pledge to Beijing, and I really didn't plan to agree. Later, it was Zhongmou who offered to come to Chang'an as a hostage, and I nodded and agreed to the court's request to send a pledge. But I can't figure out why Zhongmou, who returned to the Sun family, has changed as if he was like that before. ”

"What? Still can't figure it out? ”

"I can't figure it out. Why did Zhongmou become like that after living in Chang'an for a few years? ”

"Look at what you said, it seems that Chang'an is teaching bad people. Your younger brother Sun Quan, when he was in Chang'an, his biggest advantage was that he was good at forbearance, and he liked to hide everything in his heart, so that people couldn't figure out what he was thinking. It is precisely because he is unpredictable that I will return him to Jiangdong. ”

"Could it be that the Holy Lord guessed that he would do such a thing when he let him go back to Jiangdong?" Sun Ce looked at Liu Xie in disbelief and asked.

Liu Xie shrugged when he heard this, "That's not true, but as the old saying goes, if you have dates or not, you can hit a shot first, anyway, it's useless for him to stay in Chang'an, and letting him go back to Jiangdong may bring unexpected benefits." You see, isn't the benefit coming now? ”

“…… Holy one, it is good for you, but it is unfortunate for me. Sun Ce complained to Liu Xie with a smile and a smile.

"Don't be so pessimistic, look forward in everything, although you don't have the opportunity to be the lord of Jiangdong at the moment, but you still have the opportunity to shine on the lintel of the Sun family, the key is to see what you think."

“…… Will the Holy One allow me to lead an army alone? Hearing this, Sun Ce looked at Liu Xie and asked.

"Oh, why not? Not right now, though. Your body is weak and needs to recuperate, and since I want to use you, I have to entrust you with a heavy responsibility. ”

“…… Holy Lord, if I don't want to serve the court......"

"That's up to you, anyway, if you don't want to be used by me, then let your brother raise you, as long as you are kind enough to stay at his house for a family of three to eat." Liu Xie replied indifferently.

Sun Ce: "......"

"Bo Fu, don't blame me for speaking straight, if you want to experience the feeling of being sought for talent in my place, it is wishful thinking. You've missed that time, I was short of talent here, and I needed to be courteous. And now it is no longer the same as in the past, with the imperial examination system, there are people waiting to work for me. This official position is like a woman, you don't do it, someone else does it. To be honest, Lao Cao is not pretentious to you, what are you reserved? ”

“…… Okay, I'm not reserved, dare to ask what position the Holy Lord intends to appoint Sun Ce? Sun Ce is also a simple person, seeing that Liu Xie spoke so bluntly, he simply threw away his politeness and asked about the key points he cared about.

"The Jiangdong Navy can be said to be built by you and Zhou Yu, but now you and Zhou Yu are going to be used by me, are you interested in building a navy for the Han that can go overseas?"

"Navy?" Sun Ce was a little surprised, long before Liu Xie came, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had discussed how Liu Association would arrange for the two of them to go. According to the ideas of the two, it is estimated that Liu Association ordered the two of them to form a naval army to prepare for the future conquest of Jiangdong. But I don't want the Liu Association to propose the Navy.

The navy is different from the navy in that it only operates in inland rivers. And the navy, when you hear the name, knows that you will have to make a living on the sea in the future.

"The Holy Lord intends to develop overseas?"

"Why not? Bo Fu, this world is very big, much bigger than you think, even if I am a big man, it is only a corner, there are countless uncivilized lands waiting for you and me to conquer. As I said to Lao Cao, don't limit your vision to the big man, but look at the world, how broad your vision is, how big your mind is. Jiangdong is a corner of peace for my Han, and if I compare it with the world, it is only a corner of peace. It takes too much time to travel by road, so we have to take a boat to different places and enjoy different scenery. ”

“…… Is this true? Sun Ce heard this kind of remark for the first time, and he still didn't believe it.

Seeing this, Liu Xie smiled and said: "When you are well-bodied, I will order you and Zhou Yu to form a navy in Qingzhou, and when the navy is completed, I will order you to take a boat to attack Sanhan." When you destroy Sanhan, you will sail east again, and you will reach the place where Xu Fu went to sea to find immortals and finally settled down. There are the remnants of my Great Qin there, and it's time for them to return to their original sect. ”

"Really?" Sun Ce had heard the legend that Xu Fu was ordered to go to the sea to seek immortal medicine in Qin Shi, but now he saw that Liu Xie said that he had a nose and eyes, and couldn't help but ask in surprise.

"Fake. The remnants of the bullshit Great Qin, that's just an excuse for me to send troops. There were people in that place, but they were all barbarians. Liu Xie rolled his eyes and replied.

Sun Ce was depressed, resisted the urge to beat people, and asked Liu Xiedao: "...... Then why does the Holy Lord want to talk about the remnants of Great Qin? ”

"Of course, it's to plug the mouths of those moral gentlemen. To punish without teaching is for sin. You don't know the virtues of those moral gentlemen, who are not afraid of beating or scolding, and let people take them at all. ”

"Then why does the Holy Lord want to recruit those foreign barbarians?"

"For the sake of future generations. The land of our Han is limited, but with the unification of the world, the population will continue to grow, and there will be a day when our Han will have no land to distribute to the new population. What then? In order to survive, the people will definitely rebel, and when the dynasty is changed, a new dynasty is established, and the population is greatly reduced, the world will be peaceful for decades. But do you want to see your children and grandchildren kill each other to survive? ”

"So the Holy One wants to expand his territory?" Zhou Yu, who had not spoken, interjected at this time and asked.

"That's right, don't you occupy the territory while you can bully people, will you take advantage of the weakness of our big men to bully us after those foreign barbarians develop?" Liu Xie's face was straightforward, and Zhou Yu was a little speechless, while Sun Ce quite agreed with Liu Xie's point of view.

The three of them are about the same age, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are thirty and two, and Liu Xie is only twenty-six now, there is no generation gap between the three of them, and it is easy to reach a consensus on anything. Under the encouragement of Liu Xie, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu became curious about the overseas world and had the intention of finding out.

Liu Xie can speak well, and has an understanding of the world of later generations, after being fooled by him, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu have been attracted by Liu Xie's description of the customs and customs of various places, especially when they heard that there is a country in the West that actually uses a sea as an inland lake, the eyes of the two people are full of jealousy.

"Who? Hold it! A sudden burst of shouting from outside the house interrupted the conversation between the three people in the house, and Liu Xie and Zhou Yu acted almost at the same time to protect the weak Sun Ce.

"What's going on out there?" Liu Xie asked Shi Adao, who rushed in.

"The guards found that someone was suspicious, and asked loudly, but the person was a thief, turned around and ran, Zhu Dao has already led someone to chase him, and it is estimated that there will be results soon." Shi Ah replied when he heard this.

Liu Xie pondered for a moment when he heard this, and then instructed Shi Adao: "Shi A, go back and leave twenty people here to secretly protect you to ensure the safety of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu." ”

"Holy Lord, it's usually just a small night, and you don't need to stir up the people." Zhou Yu said when he heard this.

"This time is different from the past, since you two have already intended to serve the imperial court, the imperial court will be responsible for the safety of you and others. Chang'an has always been safe and secure, but suddenly there was a small night, which made people have to guard against it. Gong Jin, there are still people in this world who look forward to Bo Fu's absence. ”

“…… Is the saint thinking too much? Sun Ce frowned slightly when he heard this.

"I hope I'm thinking too much, anyway, be prepared."

Liu Xie cared about the safety of his courtiers, and even if Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had the heart to oppose it, they couldn't find a suitable reason. Although Sun Ce didn't believe that Liu Xie said that the Xiaoxiao he just discovered was running for him, Zhou Yu thought that Liu Xie's words were reasonable. Others don't say it first, at least Sun Quan of Jiangdong, Zhou Yu has reason to believe that he wishes Sun Ce was not alive.

Since Liu Xie's order was to secretly guard, everything was normal in Zhou Yu's house on the surface. On the third night of the meeting between Liu Xie and Sun Ce, Sun Ce was telling Zhou Yu that Liu Xie sent people to do this too much, and someone came to the door to slap him in the face.

There were really assassins who came for Sun Ce. Sun Ce lay in bed for a long time, and if he wanted to recover his former skills, it was not something that could be done overnight. And although Zhou Yu can also martial arts, his martial arts are no problem to beat Zhuge Liang, but against the extremely vicious assassins, then he can only be slaughtered.

Fortunately, Liu Xie's previous "extra move" saved the lives of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu at a critical moment. Seeing the three assassins fall in a pool of blood, and the remaining one assassin fleeing, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were shocked.

"Thank you, Your Excellency, for saving your life."

"Zhu Mou just acted according to orders, and the two of them didn't have to thank you. It's not safe yet, so please don't go out. You don't have to worry about the safety of your family, someone will protect you secretly. Zhu Dao said to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu expressionlessly.

Waited until the dawn of the day, Zhu Dao ordered the vigilance to be lifted, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu saw their families at this time, and seeing that their families were safe and sound, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Brother, did you come to the thief last night?" Sun Shangxiang asked Sun Ce with wide eyes.

"Hmm. What's wrong? Sun Ce responded, looking at his sister who seemed a little excited, wondering what she was excited about.

"Did the thief catch it?" Sun Shangxiang asked again.

“…… You don't know? Sun Ce was a little surprised when she heard this, there was such a big commotion last night, with Sun Shangxiang's temper, how could she not know.

"I don't know what's going on these days, I'm sleepy at night, I fell asleep last night, and I didn't wait until I woke up in the morning to know from my sister-in-law that there was a thief in the house last night." Sun Shangxiang replied with some regret.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu glanced at each other, and tacitly did not tell Sun Shangxiang the truth, but followed Sun Shangxiang's words and said: "The thief did come last night, but the thief was very cunning, and he fled when he was discovered." ”

"It's a pity, but it doesn't matter, as long as the thief dares to come again, this girl will definitely be able to catch him." Sun Shangxiang was regretful at first, and then said with some excitement.

When Sun Shangxiang was dragged away by Da Qiao, Sun Ce asked Zhou Yu with some concern: "Gong Jin, do you think I'm usually too spoiled by Shangxiang's girl, why am I so ignorant of the sky." ”

“…… Bo Fu, what is the use of you knowing now? Zhou Yu said helplessly.

“…… Is there a way? ”

"Yes, she is not young anymore, the eldest brother is the father, find her in-laws a house, and let her mother-in-law have a headache."

“…… Gongjin, Shang Xiang also called you brother, you don't need to be so ruthless. ”

"Alas~ Bo Fu, it's not that I'm ruthless, but I really don't have a problem with Ling Mei." Zhou Yu sighed and said.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu both felt that Sun Shangxiang, who had no choice, did not realize the helplessness of the two of them at this time, in order to catch the thief who dared to come to the mansion to steal, Sun Shangxiang used his brains and led people to set traps everywhere in the mansion. The rest of the place was almost furnished, and Sun Shangxiang came to Sun Ce's room with tools.

"Shang Xiang, what are you going to do? Why do you move ladders? Sun Ce saw Sun Shangxiang coming in carrying a ladder, and couldn't help but ask.

"Brother don't ask, my little sister is setting a trap, as long as the thief dares to come, he will be told that there will be no return." Sun Shangxiang replied while busy.

"Nonsense! A daughter's house, climbing high and low. Are you a monkey? Seeing this, Sun Ce reprimanded.

But Sun Shangxiang didn't take Sun Ce's reprimand seriously at all, Sun Ce has always been accustomed to Sun Shangxiang since he was a child, which leads to the fact that the prestige of Sun Ce's brother is not worth mentioning in Sun Shangxiang's heart, and Sun Shangxiang is not afraid of Sun Ce glaring at her. Sun Ce was so angry, he really let him do it and couldn't do it, but he didn't say a word and was sorry for himself.

"With the arrangement of your three-legged cat, no fool will be fooled." Seeing Sun Shangxiang's appearance of being accomplished, Sun Ce couldn't help but sneer.

"Brother, don't say it, there are many fools in this world, and there will definitely be fools who fall into the net." Sun Shangxiang hid behind the door as she spoke, planning to see if any fool would throw himself into the net.

After a while, Zhou Yu accompanied Liu Xie to push the door and enter, Sun Ce didn't expect Liu Xie to come over at this time, and he didn't even have time to remind him, and he saw Zhou Yu and Liu Xie being covered in the net.

“…… What is the situation? Liu Xie, who was tricked, didn't react for a while, and asked in a daze. When Sun Ce heard this, he went to see the culprit Sun Shangxiang, only to find that Sun Shangxiang had already seen that the situation was not good, and he went out of the window and disappeared.