Chapter 250 Yuan Shu Becomes Emperor After the meeting, Dong Zhao invited Jia Xu and Li Ru to his house for a chat. A pot of tea was boiled in the pavilion in the mansion, and the three of them sat opposite each other. After Dong Zhao dismissed the waiters around him, he took the initiative to pour a cup of tea for Jia Xu and Li Ru. "Gongren, are you a little too impatient? The tea is not yet cooked." Jia Xu brought the teacup under his nose, took a slight sniff and said. "Don't worry, the heat is just right. The tea is still hot and not suitable for drinking. You need to wait for a while so that the residual temperature can cook it until it is cooked." Dong Zhao said with a smile. "Whether it's early or late, each has its own flavor. The key to the fragrance of this tea lies in the tea leaves." Li Ru looked at the tea leaves in the cup and said meaningfully. "Mr. Wen You is indeed a wise person." Dong Zhao's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard this. "But I wonder what Mr. Wenyou thinks of this tea?" "It is a good tea with tender green color and mellow aroma. Envoy Tian invented this method of brewing pure tea, removing many unnecessary impurities and restoring the original flavor of tea. After the bitterness, it has an endless sweetness. He is truly a master." Li Ru said with a smile. "Yes! The lord is a man of great talent. He is not only good at bringing order to chaos and peace, but also good at the tea ceremony. We have never known that there are such wonderful flavors in the world."
"How fortunate we are to have you here in this world!" Dong Zhao exclaimed. "So Gongren wants Envoy Tian to take a further step?" Li Ru picked up the teacup and took a sip. Dong Zhao had said so much, there was no point in him pretending to be ignorant. "We should follow the wishes of the world!" Dong Zhao also took a sip of tea and then said. "In terms of population alone, my lord owns two-thirds of the world. Even in terms of territory, my lord's rule covers nearly half of the world." "Saving millions of people from danger, expanding territory, and pacifying the barbarians. With such merits, how can we not go further?" Li Ru nodded slightly. Son of Heaven, he who has strong soldiers and horses should do it! "In the past, there was a prophecy that said: The 67th and 42nd generation of the Han Dynasty will be Dangtu Gao. The sum of the numbers is 29. Now the Han Dynasty has experienced 29 emperors, and its destiny is about to end." "The one who is painted high is something that stands tall on the roadside." "My master is a descendant of Tian Qi. Qi means that the ears of wheat are level. The ears of wheat are higher than the road, which corresponds exactly to the saying of Tu Gao." "Moreover, the Han Dynasty is of the Fire Virtue, while our Lord is a descendant of Zhuanxu, and belongs to the Water Virtue. According to the theory of the Five Virtues, Water overcomes Fire..." Listening to Dong Zhao's nonsense, Li Ru took a sip of tea tactically. "What do you think, Wenyou?" Dong Zhao asked at the end. "Great!" Li Ru said without hesitation. The situation is stronger than people, no matter how you interpret it. With the people united and the army strong, even if you say you will overthrow the Han Dynasty, there will be great scholars who will debate for you in the future. "Since Wenyou also thinks so, are you willing to obey God's will and lend a helping hand to my master?" After going around in circles for a long time, Dong Zhao finally revealed his true intentions. "How can we help?" Li Ru secretly exchanged glances with Jia Xu and asked.
"Next year, the Lord will surely enter Chang'an. What to do with Liu Xie then will be a rather thorny issue. Neither killing him nor deposing him is appropriate." "The best way is to let Liu Xie meet with an accident before my lord attacks Chang'an. This way my lord can have a legitimate reason to attack." "Everything is at peace now, and it will be even harder to start a war after winter. The timing is just right." Dong Zhao looked at Li Ru with burning eyes. Li Ru is a professional at this. Li Ru's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this. He knew why Dong Zhao chose him, because he was the most suitable candidate. First, many of the Xiliang soldiers in Chang'an had old ties with him, so it was not difficult for him to do this secretly. Second, Li Ru was not a subordinate of Tian Ze in a certain sense, as can be seen from the way he addressed Tian Ze. Even if someone discovered the whole thing later, he could still get rid of Tian Ze. Dong Zhao thought it through very well, but he didn't consider his feelings. The previous actions could be said to be forced by Dong Zhuo. Although it does not stand up to scrutiny, it is at least a fig leaf and will not arouse too much hatred. But if this was done, once the incident happened, how would he face Cao Cao and Liu Bei, two loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty? Li Ru glanced at Jia Xu indifferently, as if it had nothing to do with him, and coughed lightly. Jia Xu took a sip of tea slowly and said, "Gong Ren, the emperor will have his own time to return. We can't rush into this matter. We need to wait for the right time." "How long do we have to wait? Isn't now the best time?" Dong Zhao said anxiously. "The time is almost here. We just need to wait for one person." "Who?" "Yuan Gonglu." …… Huainan. After learning that Cao Cao had taken Yuzhou and Liu Bei had taken control of Jingzhou, Yuan Shu collapsed to the ground with a desolate smile. Once again, I was fooled and became a puppet for others. Moreover, he knew that he might never have another chance. From a hegemon who once dominated the south with an army of more than 400,000 and whose power was even greater than that of Yuan Shao, to now he is hiding in Huainan with only more than 100,000 troops. Yuan Shu is a typical example of starting high and ending low. However, given his abilities, character and talent, such an ending was basically inevitable. This person is not a man who can accomplish anything. He doesn't even understand the basics of development and management. He is almost useless except for his loyalty. After locking himself in the palace for a whole day and smashing everything that could be smashed, Yuan Shu finally stopped. Knowing that he had no hope of conquering the world and could not defeat Yuan Shao, he had only one last thought in his mind. proclaim oneself emperor! Even if he died, Yuan Gonglu would die gloriously and live the life of an emperor.
The Yuan family is a descendant of Emperor Shun, and is the earth element. Fire creates earth, so they should replace the Han Dynasty. Yuan Shu's courtesy name is Gonglu, which, like Tugao, means "high and flat road". Yuan Shu believed that he was the one destined by heaven, which just fit the saying "The one who will replace the Han Dynasty will be Dangtu Gao". Soon, this prophecy and rumor began to spread in the Huainan area, and then spread to the Central Plains and the south. Upon hearing this, Cao Cao and Liu Bei became furious and sent messengers to rebuke Yuan Shu. Yuan Shao was originally happy to see this, but after Ju Su analyzed the pros and cons, he also wrote a letter to reprimand Yuan Shu. But Yuan Shu turned a deaf ear to it. He is well aware of his current situation. Although it is a dead end, it is still safe for a short time. Whether it is Yuan Shao, Cao Cao or Liu Bei, they all need to pacify their subordinates and recuperate, and they simply do not have the power to attack him. Moreover, the resistance of the three people only aroused his resistance even more. Yuan Shu knew that this might be his last chance. By next year, even if the three princes had not yet sorted out their rule, they would probably take action. Because Liu Bei has always claimed to be a descendant of the Han Dynasty, he would never tolerate Yuan Shu's jumping around like this. Even if he was not fully prepared, he would still take action due to his status. Once Liu Bei is gone, the situation will be difficult to handle. He is now the fat meat on the chopping board, and everyone wants to have a bite of him. Ignoring Yan Xiang's dissuasion, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun after a little preparation. Knowing that he had no way out, he did not establish the Zhong clan, but directly established a country, named it "Cheng", and issued a proclamation to the world, summoning princes from all over the country to come and pay homage to him, and ordered Liu Xie to abdicate. Yuan Shu's outrageous behavior attracted criticism from princes all over the world, and Sun Ce, who had been holding his breath for a long time, took the opportunity to directly declare himself emperor. However, Yuan Shu, surrounded by powerful enemies, did not attract any attacks. Because he chose the right timing, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Ce were all unable to spare the time. If it were just that, it would be fine. Even if Yuan Shu could jump around for a while, he would definitely not survive until next spring. But just after Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Xie died! (End of this chapter)