Niu Fu was praised by Dong Zhuo, and he was overjoyed, and couldn't help but interject: "What the military advisor said is right, if the champion Hou really accepts the deal with us, everyone in the world can see that his loyalty to the imperial court is fake, and after he obtains the three counties, he will be in direct contact with the territory of the princes of Yuzhou, I really don't know how he will deal with it, it is best to drag him into the big quagmire of Yuzhou." ”

Dong Zhuo was in a good mood and praised: "Haha, it seems that the virtuous son-in-law has been training in Yanzhou for two years, and the results are very great, if he didn't have a thorough understanding of the situation in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, he would never have come up with such a clever plan." ”

Niu Fu hurriedly flattered: "It's all cultivated by the Taishi!" ”

"Haha, don't be complacent, if you want to successfully take Jingzhou, you must be mentally prepared to fight a big battle and fight a hard battle."

Niu Fu immediately promised: "Yes, Taishi, I will never disappoint your expectations." ”

Dong Zhuo asked Li Ru again: "Wenyou, how much grain should be exchanged for the land of the three counties?" ”

Li Ru thought for a while and said: "Taishi, the three counties have a vast area, fertile land, convenient irrigation, and a very good foundation, but the population is a little smaller, if you trade normally, you will have at least one year's tax from Jizhou and Qingzhou, if the champion Hou intends to support us, you can get two years of money and grain from the two states, but we still need to pay other conditions to make political transactions with it." ”

Dong Zhuo said meaningfully: "Hehe, some political conditions are not worth mentioning, although they are promised; In this negotiation, Wen You must be cautious, only succeed, not fail, otherwise the consequences will be unpredictable. ”

The imperial court is a plaything in Dong Zhuo's hands, and it operates completely according to Dong Zhuo's will; Political transactions are the cheapest deal for him, just pay a holy decree, Dong Zhuo doesn't care about this, now he attaches more importance to practical interests such as money and food.

Li Ru replied hurriedly and easily: "Yes, Taishi!" In his opinion, this matter is not difficult, if Gao Shun intends to attack them, it will be more convenient to attack from the Sanfu region, Hadong County, or Hanoi County, rather than conquering the Tiger Pass; It is absolutely cost-effective for Gao Shun to exchange the taxes of two states for one year for the land of three counties, but with Gao Shun's shrewdness, I don't know what political conditions he will propose.

The next morning, Li Ru set up a banquet at home, and held a separate banquet to discuss the transaction of the three counties.

The judge was extremely surprised by Li Ru's conditions, exchanging land for money and grain, Dong Zhuo was too childish! It's even more ridiculous than the first emperor; However, his IQ is not low, and after a little thought, he understands that there must be a hidden secret, either Dong Zhuo is in urgent need of money and food, and he is forced to make this decision, or there is a hidden mystery and an unknown trap.

Since Gao Shun is recognized as the main father, in addition to the interests of the family, the interests of Gao Shun are put in the first place; Now the lord's forces are strong and strong, the money and food are sufficient, there is no barbarian trouble outside, and the people inside are happy, he is very supportive of the strategy of marching into the Central Plains proposed by the military advisor, but the lord has been shirking; If Yanzhou is taken completely, the lord will have no excuse to refuse to march into the Central Plains.

However, it is not for him to call the shots when it comes to such a large amount of money, food and territory, so he said: "Haha, Wen You is so calculating, the land of the three counties first went through the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and then was fought by the princes, and it has been beaten and broken, the people fled, the fields were barren, and it was the land of the four wars, turbulent and unsafe, the food was tasteless, and it was a pity to abandon it." ”

Li Ru smiled: "Haha, the champion Hou is rich and rich, what is a little money and food?" And this is a matter of benefiting the country and the people, which is enough to show the patriotism of the champion Hou Zhongjun. ”

The judge sighed: "Alas, Wen You doesn't know, the northern Xinjiang is reckless, and the war with the barbarians has been continuous, even outside the annex state, there are still hundreds of thousands of barbarian iron horsemen wandering, the defense pressure is very great, there is no peace for a moment, the huge military expenditure has overwhelmed the northern Xinjiang, how can it be said that the rich can rival the country." ”

Li Ru didn't want to continue to entangle, he knew that he couldn't be the master of this matter, he was just a messenger, so he changed the topic and said: "The eastern counties of Yanzhou are under the jurisdiction of the monarch, and the three western counties are under the jurisdiction of the imperial court. ”

In the afternoon of the same day, the review wrote a secret letter and sent someone to Jizhou urgently to ask Gao Shun for instructions.

Five days later, Gao Shun received a secret letter and immediately summoned Xi Zhicai, Li Qiang and others to negotiate.

Gao Shun said with a smile: "Haha, Master Dong is really child's play, if this matter goes down in history, it will be stinking for 10,000 years, which is even more ridiculous than the first emperor." ”

Xi Zhicai said: "Lord, this is a good thing, this is not bad with our estimate, Dong Zhuo is a strategy to lose his pawn and protect the car, and he must be preparing for going south." ”

Ma Gui said: "In this case, we must fulfill him." ”

Li Qiang said: "That can't be too cheap for him, otherwise Dong Zhuo will still think that we are easy to bully." ”

Gao Shun said: "Haha, you think too simply, this must be a trap set by Li Ru, wanting to exchange the useless three counties for money and food in the south, and save nearly 100,000 defensive troops so that they can be put into the southern battlefield; If we take over the three counties, it will be just a mess, and we have to face the princes of Yuzhou, and the gains outweigh the losses. ”

Li Qiang smiled: "Haha, lord, we are not afraid of barbarians, and we are still worried about a few small princes of the Central Plains?" Qiang only needs to lead the officers and soldiers directly under the general's mansion, and he can drink the Yangtze River, so why be afraid? ”

Xi Zhicai and others all hope to enter the Central Plains as soon as possible, this is an excellent opportunity, and they don't want to miss it, and they strongly discourage Gao Shun; In fact, this is exactly what Gao Shun meant, let Dong Zhuo go south smoothly, he can unify the north, if the emperor dies at the hands of Dong Zhuo, it will be even more perfect.

So Gao Shun said: "Okay, since everyone supports this deal, we can't suffer losses, and if we mention more additional political conditions, I guess Taishi will not refuse in an emergency." ”

Xi Zhicai asked, "What is the good plan of the lord?"

Gao Shun thought for a moment and said: "First of all, for Liangzhou Mu and Qingzhou Mu, please be named the general of Zhengxi and Zhengdong, so that they can exercise their powers and strengthen the management of the troops in the future; secondly, pay the taxes of Qingzhou and Jizhou for two years at most, and pay them in batches; Finally, it is necessary to explain the trial, and it is strictly forbidden for Dong Zhuo's officers and soldiers to loot the people and destroy the city, houses, roads, bridges and other facilities when they evacuate; Do you have any suggestions? ”

Guo Jia asked: "My lord, why don't you ask the generals to conquer the north and the south together?" ”

Gao Shun said: "Haha, there is no need for the time being, if there is a general to conquer the south, the princes of the Central Plains will be even more afraid, it's just a name, you don't need to care too much; For the time being, the matter of conquering the north is under the direct jurisdiction of the General's Office, and there is no need for a special one. ”

The crowd agreed on some other conditions, and Guo Jia drafted a secret letter to the review, and sent someone to Luoyang urgently.

The trial was accompanied by Gao Shun's instructions and negotiations with Li Ru, who directly compressed the money and grain into a year's tax in Qingzhou and Jizhou, and put forward a large number of additional conditions.

Dong Zhuo was very dissatisfied, and said angrily: "Champion Hou is sending Huazi? A year's money and food, are you embarrassed to mention so many conditions? ”

Niu Fu was also dissatisfied in his heart, and was about to evacuate, if the troops could not loot, the officers and soldiers would have complaints in their hearts.

Li Ru said with a smile: "Haha, the Taishi filtered, the conditions proposed by the champion Hou are very ingenious, he claimed that he was not allowed to rob the people, but he did not say that he was not allowed to rob the Shi family and the local tyrants, if he only robbed these families, it would be enough to withstand the taxes of the two states for a year." ”

Dong Zhuo was secretly happy in his heart, but he didn't like being used by Gao Shunli very much, so he still said angrily: "Hmph, if it weren't for the face of Qian Liang, how could he let his careful thinking succeed?" ”

Niu Fu was overjoyed, if this group of troops who had just plundered were thrown into the southern battlefield, they would definitely become an invincible army of tigers and wolves, not for anything else, but for the crazy plundering after victory.

Li Ru comforted: "Taishi doesn't need to be angry, Confucianism doesn't like these Kanto people's style, obviously he is ecstatic in his heart and has made a lot of money, but he has to make a reluctant appearance, which is really disgusting." ”

Niu Fu also persuaded: "Taishi, let's accept it, anyway, it is us who will benefit, as long as the champion Hou has a face-saving matter, we must also focus on going south, and we must not lose a big one because of a small one." ”