Chapter 265: Lu Bu's Fortune "Lu Fengxian is so lucky!" After learning about Li Ru's operations and the situation in Saibei, Tian Ze sighed sincerely. Li Ru is so comprehensive! He once single-handedly took charge of all civil affairs under Dong Zhuo's rule, and confronted the wealthy families and court officials. He was good at everything, including insight and positioning, strategic planning, government affairs, and marching and fighting. If it were just that, it would be fine. Li Ru was also particularly good at learning and borrowing, and relying on external forces. He was able to put down his airs and give up his face. He kept poaching people from Tian Zezhi, and he was also a good person, and he knew just the right measure. Relying on cheating and borrowing, copying and stealing, he set up a "makeshift team" for Lu Bu, who had only a few big and small cats and no knowledge of government affairs. This "grassroots team" is relative to Tian Ze, and compared with other princes, it is even better than them in many aspects. Putting aside some top talents and black soil and other resources that cannot be forced, Lu Bu's rule today is quite similar to Tian Ze's rule ten years ago. "Li Ru to Lu Bu is like Guan Zhong to Duke Huan of Qi. They are truly a rare example of a ruler and his minister assisting each other." Xun You couldn't help but sigh. Li Ru helped Lu Bu, and Lu Bu also helped Li Ru.
Although Li Ru was almost one of the best in the world in terms of literature, his character and personality made him unsuitable as a lord. On the contrary, although Lü Fengxian is straightforward and frivolous, his domineering and personal charm as the world's number one general, coupled with the prestige brought by personally conquering the territory, makes him more suitable to be a lord. Apart from Lu Bu, it would be difficult for Li Ru to find a lord who would not hinder him, who could trust him unconditionally, and who was even willing to give everything to him. This pair of monarch and minister, if separated, would be harmful to each other, but if united, they would be unrivaled in the world. This can be called a strange story. "But Li Wenyu still plotted against me after all." Tian Ze shook his head helplessly. Before this, he was only thinking about resolving the Xianbei issue, and was fooled by Li Ru when negotiating the terms. It was agreed that the population would be divided, but in the end many of those sent by Lu Bu were old and weak, and the number was also insufficient. Of course, Li Ru also gave a reasonable excuse. Compared with the young and strong Xianbei people, these old and weak people had no problem farming and working, but their efficiency was slightly lower. As for the issue of numbers, they did not have all of the Xianbei tribes under their command, only part of them, and the missing ones would be filled after they grew stronger. Although it was a discount compared to the original request, Li Ru also gave compensation and organized a large number of young and strong Xianbei people to go south to work for Tian Ze, which alleviated the urgent problem of insufficient manpower under Tian Ze's rule. After all, these young and strong Xianbei people have nothing to do in the winter, so they might as well go south to work and earn some food. Li Ru schemingly asked Chen Gong to divide the wages of these people into three parts. He put a large part in his own pocket, gave a small part to the Xianbei leaders, and the last small part was given to the Xianbei young men themselves. However, these young Xianbei people who went south had good food, good accommodation, and money. Although it was less than other Han people, they were content. Their life was much better than before. At once, a win-win situation was achieved. Chen Gong had more manpower, the Xianbei could support their families, the Xianbei leaders remained powerful and got a lot of money and food for free, and Li Ru made a fortune. Even Xun You and others had to admire this guy's ability to take advantage of loopholes. Li Ru was really good at these conspiracies and tricks, such as stealing things while one has an opportunity, using a chicken to lay eggs, and taking advantage of the power of another to bully others. He even played them to the highest level and turned them into open schemes. He turned an "agent" into a "boss". Of course, it was also because the conditions under Lu Bu's rule were too poor, which gave Li Ru a platform to show his talents. In contrast, the counselors under Tian Ze were in a favorable environment and did not need to play these tricks at all. Instead, they would get better results by following the right path step by step.
Perhaps, this is also something to be regretted, because they will almost never encounter such an opportunity to turn the tide and change the world. This is also one of the reasons why many scholars of the Jixia Academy were tempted to join Lu Bu's rule. To a certain extent, Zhuge Liang could only become a prime minister of all ages under Liu Bei. If he had defected to Cao Cao, he would probably have been the "second Xun Yu". Nowadays, as the system under Tian Zezhi becomes more and more perfect, it is almost impossible to make extraordinary promotions and reuse people. One has to accumulate experience, produce results and gain seniority step by step. Those scholars who claim to be the best in the world but are a little impatient are naturally unwilling to work hard and are only interested in proving themselves. "Gold will shine wherever it goes. Times make heroes, and heroes can also make times!" At this moment, Tian Ze became more determined to subdue outstanding people such as Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Look at what Li Ru did, it’s so beautiful. They did not cry out for poverty or weakness, and they did not wait or rely on others. Instead, they gave full play to their subjective initiative, took advantage of the general trend, cleverly revitalized the situation, and created a large population and resources out of nothing. He even began to vigorously research and develop animal husbandry, and actively encouraged the Han and Xianbei people under his rule to have children and develop production. By selling relatively expensive meat under Tian Ze's rule and purchasing relatively cheap food, he maximized his wealth accumulation. Li Ru is not only good at calculating the situation, but also first-class in development. This differentiated development will undoubtedly give them the opportunity to overtake others and take the initiative in animal husbandry. Not only was he able to gain a large amount of wealth from Tianze, but he also made up for the development gap under Tianze's rule. This was quite smart. If all the future princes under his command were such capable people, Tian Ze wouldn't have to worry at all and could just focus on developing himself. There are people in front who help you expand your territory, and as a boss you can just sit back and relax and be a hands-off manager. Governing by doing nothing is really good! Tian Ze now has no doubts about the combination of Lu Bu and Li Ru. Although now he can prepare to reap the fruits and take over Saibei. However, out of trust and respect for Lu Bu and Li Ru, Tian Ze put the matter aside for the time being and prepared to give the two some time. If the plan was closed so quickly, the reputation of Lu Bu and Li Ru would be completely ruined, and they would probably not be able to carry out similar conspiracies in the future. Moreover, it would not make much sense for Tian Ze to close the net at this time. After all, he has no energy to develop the areas beyond the Great Wall. Li Ru can not only control these Xianbei people and prevent them from causing trouble, but can also provide him with enough labor. So why should he be so anxious? The original goal had actually been achieved, but the control did not fall directly into his hands. Li Ru also wanted to develop, and completely copied the system under his rule. He also began to sinicize and brainwash the Xianbei. He was more anxious than he was, so he didn't have to worry about anything. The more Tian Ze thought about it, the more he felt that it was a wise decision to keep these two people. These outstanding people are really wasting their talents in the internal strife in the Central Plains. If they are released and given some people and a small piece of land, they can quickly develop and grow on their own and give back to the people they rule. If the feudal system is used well, it is really a good system! (End of this chapter)