As soon as Sun Jian handed over a large number of looted materials, Yuan Shu was in a good mood and liked Sun Jian's loyalty even more, and immediately announced that the 2,000 Danyang soldiers he had obtained from Xuzhou would be distributed to Sun Jian with 500 people, and Sun Jian was appointed as the Taishou of Lujiang County, ready to attack Jingzhou.

Sun Jian was very happy, and took the five hundred Danyang soldiers as his escort troops, and then led the troops into Lujiang County.

At this time, in Luoyang City, Dong Zhuo and Li Ru were negotiating the documents sent by Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian.

Tao Qian wrote to the imperial court, recommending Gongsun Zan as the pastor of Yuzhou, and the cavalry escorting the documents did not dare to pass through the war-torn Yanzhou and Yuzhou, but passed through the Lu State and Dongping Kingdom, arrived at Dongjun, and then turned west, and arrived at Luoyang through Hanoi County, which took a long time.

Dong Zhuo asked, "What does Wen You think about this?" ”

Li Ru pondered for a while and said, "Taishi, this is Tao Qian's desire to get rid of the burden of Gongsun Zhan, and at the same time avoid being a big bully, this must be a good idea for the champion Hou." ”

Dong Zhuo sneered and said: "Hmph, it's a good calculation, the imperial court is not for them to use it if they want to, and they can kick it away if they want to, and they must not let their conspiracy succeed." ”

Li Ru thought about it carefully for a while, and said with a smile: "Taishi, this is also a good thing for us, it is estimated that the champion Hou wants to take this opportunity to remind us." ”

"What do you mean?"

Li Ru explained carefully: "Taishi, Yuzhou's territory is narrow, there are already four road princes, if Gongsun Chan joins Yuzhou again, there will be a five-way army, and Yuzhou's population and territory are limited, in order to feed the army, they will definitely kill each other, isn't this unpleasant for us?" ”

"What if they unite and unite against us?" Dong Zhuo didn't understand what Li Ru meant.

Li Ru said: "Taishi, now Yuan Shao and Yuan Yi are considered one force, Cao Cao is considered one force, and Han Fu is also considered one force, if Gongsun Zan joins again, the four forces are evenly matched, wary of each other, no one will accept the leadership of others, and they will definitely not unite together." ”

"How so?"

Li Ru said: "Taishi, if they can be united, they should be united now, but now Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Han Fu are still fighting on their own, and Gongsun Zhan is even more unwilling to be subservient, otherwise he would have defected to the champion Hou or Tao Qian." ”

"Is it just like that, Taoqian Villager?" Dong Zhuo asked unwillingly.

Li Ru said: "Taishi, Tao Qian adopts a soft policy strategy, which is very loved by the officials and people of Xuzhou, and the control of Xuzhou is relatively perfect, and Xuzhou is too far away, and we are not in the boundary, so we can't deal with him for the time being, so we can only stabilize him first, and when Yuzhou is cleaned up, we can attack Xuzhou, and we need to be patient at this time." ”

"Are we just going to do nothing and wait for them to get stronger?"

Li Ru patiently explained: "Taishi, we don't deal with Xuzhou, but we can do something to Yangzhou, Yuan Shu only nominally completed the control of Yangzhou, and only Jiujiang County and Danyang County are effectively controlled; Yuan Shu's Yangzhou assassin history is also self-proclaimed, the name is not right, we can appoint a new Yangzhou pastor, let them fight with each other, and there is no time to look north, we just need to sit and watch a good show; Hahaha, we would also like to thank Champion Hou, it was his idea that reminded me. ”

The current Dong Zhuo is much more nourished than the same time in history, he doesn't have to worry about the rebellion in Liangzhou, he doesn't have to worry about the misfortune of foreign races in northern Xinjiang, and the three prefectures of Jingzhou, Jizhou and Qingzhou pay taxes, control the two counties of Sili and the four counties of Yanzhou, and can often plunder Yuzhou, which is very rich, and the cohesion of officers and soldiers is very strong; What he is worried about now is that the territory of the Kwantung princes is too stable and peaceful, and what he hopes for is chaos in the world.

Li Ru said this, which made Dong Zhuo feel very good, but he was even more greedy and asked, "Why don't you use the same method to deal with Xuzhou?" Being used by Tao Qian, Dong Zhuo was still stubborn and unwilling.

Li Ru shook his head and objected: "Taishi, Tao Qian originally invited Gongsun Zhan and Liu Bei to garrison Pei County, just to prevent us and other princes, and now he dares to get rid of Gongsun Zhan without fear, he must have something to rely on, Confucianism estimates that Xuzhou has reached a secret agreement with the champion Hou, and we should not offend the champion Hou at present, so it is better not to provoke Xuzhou." ”

Dong Zhuo's mood deteriorated instantly, there was a matter of champion Hou everywhere, but Gao Shun's strength was too strong, and it was not something he could provoke, so he could only endure it.

After a while, after stabilizing his mood, Dong Zhuo asked again: "Wen You, who should be sent to Yangzhou as a pastor?" ”

Li Ru said: "We can only send Wenchen, but not military generals, otherwise we will grow stronger in the future, and we will be a big enemy." ”

Dong Zhuo nodded, agreed with Li Ru's opinion, and motioned for him to continue.

"Yangzhou scholars are all over the place, and their strength is very large, and they must send a rather prestigious person to integrate the forces of all parties and confront Yuan Shu, otherwise they will be destroyed by Yuan Shu with one blow, which will be a blow to the face of the imperial court." After pondering for a while, Li Ru continued: "Based on the above considerations, Confucianism thinks that Liu Miao is quite suitable. ”

Liu Xuan, born in 156, the word Zhengli, a native of Donglai Muping (now Muping, Shandong), a relative of the Han family, after mourning Liu Fei, the king of Hui, the nephew of Taiwei Liu Chong, and the younger brother of Liu Dai, the former Yanzhou assassin history. Initially elected as filial piety, Ren Langzhong, appointed as the head of Xiayi, because of the refusal of the county guard to ask for the abandonment of the official, and then opened the Sikong Peng, in addition to serving the imperial history, because of the war and did not take office, and avoided living in Xuzhou.

At the age of nineteen, because his cousin Liu Wei was taken hostage by bandits, Liu Miao gathered more than 10 people to infiltrate the thieves' den in order to rescue his cousin, and became famous after successfully rescuing his uncle by beheading the bandit leader.

Liu Dai was killed by Niu Fu and had a great hatred with Dong Zhuo's forces, so Dong Zhuo immediately objected: "No, if Liu Zhuo's strength grows, he will definitely be an enemy of the imperial court." ”

Li Ru smiled: "Haha, the master is too worried, how can Yuan Shu tolerate Liu Xuan's development and growth?" And this move can show the generosity of the court and the Taishi, and it will be tolerant of people, and it will definitely win the favor of some people. ”

Dong Zhuo still disagreed, and said: "If Cao Cao is transferred to Yangzhou as the state pastor, he is loyal to the imperial court, and his current strength is developing too fast, so that Yingchuan Taishou Wei Xu and Nanyang County Taishou Yang Quan, Zhonglang General Duan Xuan and others are helpless against him, and transferring him can relieve us a lot of pressure." ”

Li Ru objected: "Taishi, Cao Cao's strength has developed too rapidly, his subordinates Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren and others are all outstanding generals, no one can beat them, Wei Xu and Yang Cheng are both resourceful and mediocre in martial arts, how can they be Cao Cao's opponents?" And Zhonglang General Duan Xuan only wanted to protect himself and was unwilling to attack, so he achieved Cao Cao; This also allows us to see Cao Cao's potential, and it is not easy to besiege them in the narrow area of Yuzhou, let them fight among themselves, how can they easily let them go, otherwise, Cao Cao will have the potential to enter the sea, and it will be more difficult to control it in the future. ”

Li Ru definitely didn't want to let Cao Cao leave, otherwise he would let the tiger return to the mountain, and he would definitely trap them in Yuzhou.

Dong Zhuo asked worriedly: "Cao Cao's strength is strong, and he is close to Luoyang, and it will be a disaster in the future." ”

"Haha, Taishi is too worried, several major passes in Luoyang are garrisoned by Liangzhou fierce generals, how can Cao Cao threaten the safety of Luoyang, let them fight each other outside, anyway, it is the consumption of Fengxian's descendants, which is only good for Taishi, there is no harm; However, Feng Xian is also a tiger and wolf person, and it is not appropriate to be an official in the field for a long time, otherwise it will be difficult to control the wildness, and Confucianism suggested that he be transferred back to Beijing as soon as possible and strictly guarded; And this move is also to reduce the pressure on Yuzhou, cooperate with Gongsun Zhan's appointment, let them feel at ease to fight, and we can reap the benefits. ”

Dong Zhuo pondered for a while, and felt that Li Ru's strategy was considered more comprehensively, so he approved Li Ru's suggestion, appointed Gongsun Zan as the pastor of Yuzhou, and let several armies in Yuzhou fight among themselves; appointed Liu Miao as the pastor of Yangzhou, let him and Yuan Shu fight among themselves, and divide Yuan Shu's strength in Yangzhou; Transferred Lü Bu back to Beijing and appointed Cheng Lian as the Taishou of Jiyin County, since it reduced the military pressure on Yuzhou, it could divide Lü Bu's strength.

As for Cao Cao, who worries Dong Zhuo, he can only trap him in Yuzhou for the time being.