Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Afterwards, Zhou Xin did not hesitate to use up all his connections and personal relationships, and even went through the channels of the infamous Dong Zhuo, and he and his younger brother Zhou Ang became the governors of Danyang and Jiujiang respectively.

All I want is revenge!
Danyang borders Wujun in all directions, and Jiujiang and Danyang are across the Yangtze River from each other. One in the south and the other in the north can completely block Wujun's access to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, forming an encirclement and blocking trend for Wujun.

Originally, Zhou Xin wanted to slowly accumulate strength and wait for an opportunity, but he didn't expect the opportunity to come so quickly.

Liu Bei led his elite troops north to participate in the alliance against Dong Zhuo. Wujun and Kuaijijun were empty. How could Zhou Xin hold them back?

Therefore, the governors of Lujiang, Jiujiang, Yuzhang and Danyang counties might all be eyeing Wu County, but Zhou Xin was the most active one, constantly and frantically pushing for the formation of an anti-Wu alliance.

When the governor of Lujiang County, Zuo Rong, the governor of Yuzhang County, Xu Gong, and many heads of Yangzhou noble families were invited to the main tent of the allied camp, they were shocked to see that Zhou Xin and Zhou Ang both had white cloth on their foreheads and wore mourning clothes.

Wearing a monk's robe and Buddhist beads around his neck, except for not shaving his head, Lujiang County Magistrate Zuo Rong looked like a great monk. He clasped his hands together, chanted a Buddhist name, and said.

"Amitabha, have you two lost a loved one? If so, I am willing to chant sutras for you two, and help the deceased to reach heaven and reincarnate as soon as possible."

Although Buddhism began to spread to the Central Plains during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han, a White Horse Temple was built directly in Luoyang.

However, the Huang-Lao school of thought was popular in the Han Dynasty, and Taoism was the mainstream. In addition, after Zhang Jue led the Taiping Taoist rebellion, many people kept their distance from religious people.

Therefore, facing the fact that Zuo Rong, a devout Buddhist, spared no effort to take the opportunity to promote Buddhism, Zhou Xin sneered and replied.

"I'm afraid Lord Zuo can't redeem the blood feud of the 123 members of my Zhou family."

Zuo Rong, who had a peaceful expression on his face, couldn't help but light up his eyes slightly when he heard this.

Big business!

Immediately, Zuo Rong chanted a Buddhist name and said.

"Buddhism is boundless. Even if I cannot save the dead by myself, if the two donors are willing to devote themselves to Buddhism and pray for the dead day and night, let alone 123 people, even 1,230 people would not be a problem."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire main tent fell into silence, and everyone looked at Zuo Rong with strange eyes.

The look in the eyes of the brothers Zhou Xin and Zhou Ang when they looked at Zuo Rong was filled with naked murderous intent.

What kind of Huangquan joke is this...

Zhou Xin said bluntly that this was a blood feud of 123 people, and since they were in mourning, it must be that the family was in trouble.

As a result, Zuo Rong followed up with a sentence saying that all 1,230 people could be liberated. How is this different from implying that not enough Zhou family members had died?
"What are you talking about, you bastard? I'll kill you..."

Zhou Ang subconsciously wanted to draw his sword at Zuo Rong, but was stopped by Zhou Xin, who still had some rationality.

Zuo Rong!

Zhou Xin naturally also investigated Zuo Rong's background.

He was originally just a small tyrant from Danyang County. Since he was from the same hometown as Tao Qian, he gathered hundreds of people and joined Tao Qian after Tao Qian became the governor of Xuzhou.

It happened that Tao Qian was alone and helpless when he first took over Xuzhou, so he valued his fellow townsman Zuo Rong who came to him for help. Later, he made Zuo Rong the governor of the water transport in Guangling, Xia Pi and Pengcheng counties, giving him the opportunity to make a lot of money.

After Dong Zhuo entered the imperial court, Zuo Rong took the opportunity to offer money and goods to Dong Zhuo as a token of goodwill, and was subsequently promoted to the governor of Lujiang County.

After Zuo Rong took office as the governor of Lujiang County, he promoted Buddhism crazily, built Buddhist temples on a large scale, and then plundered wealth in Lujiang County in the name of Buddhism.

Within less than half a year of taking office, Zuo Rong had amassed wealth amounting to hundreds of millions.

Zhou Xin knew very well that he and Zuo Rong were not of the same kind. Zuo Rong's purpose in joining the "Anti-Wu Alliance" was simply to covet the wealth and prosperity of Wu County and to bite off a piece of meat from Wu County.

However, Zhou Xin was very clear that this was not the time for internal strife, otherwise the alliance would probably fail on the spot.

Compared with revenge on Liu Bei, the rest of the little things are tolerable.

At this time, Yuzhang County Magistrate Xu Gong raised his chin slightly, stroked his short beard, and spoke with a proud look.

"You are all from Yangzhou, why are you so hostile? Lord Zuo was born into a rich family, and his family education is not good enough. He made a mistake in his words, so why bother to make a fuss?"

These words seemed to be meant to mediate the conflict between Zhou Xin, Zhou Ang and Zuo Rong, but the arrogance in the words could hardly be concealed, and faintly revealed contempt for the Jiangdong family.

However, as a member of the Xu family of Runan, Xu Gong does have reason to be proud.

The so-called Jiangdong aristocratic families were nothing more than small remote families in the eyes of the great families in the Central Plains. The Xu family might not be as good as the top families such as the Yuan family of Runan, the Chen family of Yingchuan, and the Xun family of Yingchuan, but they were also one of the most powerful aristocratic families in the world.

In addition to famous scholars like Xu Shao, the Xu family of Runan also produced three generations of high-ranking officials, Xu Jing, Xu Xun and Xu Xiang. They can be said to be "three officials in four generations", but compared with the Yuan family, they are far behind in influence and students.

More importantly, the reason why Xu Xiang was able to be among the Three Dukes was because of the Ten Eunuchs. As the Ten Eunuchs lost power and were executed, Xu Xiang was killed last year after being purged by He Jin's former subordinates and the Yuan family.

This also led to the complete loss of power of the Xu family, which was able to compete with the Yuan family in Runan. While trying to rely on Dong Zhuo, the elders of the Xu family also realized that troubled times were coming. The Xu family knew that the Yuan family in the Central Plains was too powerful to compete with, so they won the post of governor of Yuzhang County through Dong Zhuo, and sent Xu Gong to Jiangdong to find a foothold for the Xu family.

It is precisely for this reason that Xu Gong looks upon these remote families in Jiangdong with almost natural contempt and arrogance.

If it weren't for the order from the elders of his family, Xu Gong, who believed that he was exiled to Jiangdong, thought that these remote families would hardly have the chance to sit at the same table with him in their lifetime.

"A lowly person who can never have a bite of food in his life..."

Xu Gong secretly curled his eyes and subconsciously raised his sleeve to cover his nose to avoid the unbearable stench carried by these Jiangdong noble families.

Upon seeing this, Zuo Rong also had a peaceful look on his face like a high-level monk, and said.

"Donor Xu is right. Greed, anger and ignorance are the three poisons. Don't get angry. Even if you cannot understand the subtlety of the Buddha for the time being, I believe that you two donors will become Buddhas sooner or later and realize the wonderful Dharma of bliss."

Zhou Xin's expression twitched slightly, he forced out a smile, then made an inviting gesture and said.

"Thank you both for your kindness. The important thing to do now is to hold a meeting to fight Wu. It won't be too late to discuss other matters later."

Zuo Rong nodded and agreed.

"What the donor said is very reasonable. The people of Wu County have suffered a lot and they should be saved by Buddhism."

Xu Gong did not say anything, but just nodded slightly to show his agreement, and then sat down in the big tent with Zhou Xin, Zhou Ang, Zuo Rong and others.

Following the four county governors, many representatives sent by Yangzhou noble families also took their seats for the meeting.

Not to mention Zhou Xin, Zhou Ang, Xu Gong, and Zuo Rong, they had all just taken office and some of them did not even have complete control over their jurisdiction. The arsenal might have a lot of armor and weapons, but the granary was almost full of rats.

Therefore, without the strong support of the Yangzhou families and the large amount of money and food, there would be no way that this alliance could be achieved.

The money and food consumption required by the army alone was enough to leave the governors of the four counties helpless.

After everyone was seated, Xu Gong signaled with his eyes to the noble family in Yuzhang County that had already attached itself to him, and the representative of the noble family immediately stood up and spoke.

"Since we are at an alliance, we should uphold the great principles and appoint a leader, so that we can control the generals and unite them. What do you think?"

Immediately, another representative from the Yuzhang family stood up and took over the conversation.

"Lord Xu is a man of three dukes for four generations, well-known throughout the country, and the descendant of a wise minister. If he can become the leader of the alliance, he can convince the people of the world, and wherever he leads his army, Wujun will surrender."

Xu Gong couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face, but he still spoke in a humble manner.

"Thank you all for your kindness. I am a person of low moral character. How can I lead the wise men of Yangzhou? Please recommend someone with high moral character to be the leader."

Suddenly, except for the Yuzhang family who had already attached themselves to Xu Gong and kept flattering Xu Gong, the expressions of the rest of the people were a little ugly.

Xu Gong's intentions were revealed almost instantly.

Xu Gong was determined to gain the position of alliance leader. His sole purpose was to lead the allied forces to attack Wujun and then become the lord of Jiangdong.

As for recommending a highly respected person as the leader...

In terms of reputation, status, and background, Xu Gong was undoubtedly the most famous among those present. There was no one more famous than Xu Gong.

However, this time, the alliance was not only secretly promoted by multiple forces, but different county governors and different families almost all had their own goals and demands.

For the aristocratic families of Jiangdong, the Xu family of Runan was undoubtedly a dragon that had crossed the river.

For most of the Jiangdong families who only wanted to rule Yangzhou and live in peace in a corner, they could no longer tolerate Liu Bei's existence and also did not want Xu Gong to become the lord of Jiangdong.

Once the Xu family of Runan completely takes root in Jiangdong, it will undoubtedly mean that the share of the pie that the Jiangdong family can get will be greatly reduced...

For a moment, the representatives of the aristocratic families present were in a state of confusion and kept exchanging glances with each other. Then, a representative of the Danyang family spoke.

"Lord Xu is certainly qualified to be the leader of the alliance, but the Yuzhang Zhu family stole the Wujun defense map, and Lord Zhou of Danyang also sent a large number of confidants to Wujun to verify the authenticity of the defense map. Compared with them, Lord Xu is still lacking in some achievements."

"Indeed, the defense map is of great importance. With the defense map in hand, it will be easy to attack Wu County. In this case, Lord Zhou should be the leader."

"Moreover, Lord Zhou and Liu Bei have a deep blood feud. If we nominate Lord Zhou as the leader of the alliance in the name of revenge, it will be a righteous act and will convince the people of the world."

……

As the other noble families spoke out one after another, Xu Gong's face became visibly uglier. (End of this chapter)