People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 170 Secretary
Hearing Ju Shou's statement, Xu Chen's expression relaxed.

Perhaps to the Yellow Turbans, old talents like Ju Shou were not of much value. After all, the Yellow Turbans were now taking a completely different path, and what they learned, thought, and did were completely different from those of traditional scholars, and they were simply not on the same page.

It is impossible for the scholars, whose minds have been transformed by loyalty to the emperor and chastity, to change their thinking and serve the working people.

But the organization does not need such talents, but I personally still need a capable assistant.

"I intend to recruit talents to serve as my secretary. Are you willing to do it?" Xu Chen looked at Ju Su with a smile and gave a positive response.

Upon hearing this, Ju Su could not help but sigh in his heart. Although the word "secretary" had existed since ancient times, it was not seen today. Giving him such an uncommon position meant that he was not given a full-time position but was appointed as a subordinate official.

Although the word "subordinate official" has the word "official" in its title, they are just professionals who assist the chief official and do not belong to the organization. They are just personally hired clerks.

After all, we had just discussed this matter. The gentry were not allowed to join the religion or become officials, so if they wanted to use me, it could only be in the form of a secretary. This also meant that my job was not to be responsible to the Yellow Turban Organization, but to Xu Chen personally.

"I pay my respects to my lord. I hope to assist you in achieving great things in the future!" Ju Su bowed deeply.

Xu Chen laughed, walked over and helped Ju Su up: "Very good, having you help me can save me a lot of trouble."

In this way, the relationship between the two was completely established. Ju Shou wanted to see if he could help the Yellow Turbans create a great cause that would be unprecedented in history.

With his vision, he could naturally see that what the Yellow Turbans were doing was not simply changing the dynasty, but was completely building a whole new world. If the Yellow Turbans really succeeded one day, his own achievements would be far beyond what could be achieved by simply assisting a hero in founding a new dynasty.

And Xu Chen also needed Ju Su to set an example for the scholars of the world. As long as the scholars took the initiative to make progress and suffer a little, the Yellow Turbans would not kill them all.

After finally gaining Ju Su's loyalty, Xu Chen pulled him to sit down and they wanted to have a good discussion about the current situation. He also wanted to hear what the world and the Yellow Turbans looked like from the perspective of the scholars.

But before he could speak, Ju Shou spoke first: "The things that the lord predicted four years ago are mysterious and amazing. I still can't figure out how it was done. Could it be that the lord really understood the will of heaven?"

People in this era were already familiar with the theories of prophecies, divinations, and ghosts and gods. Although Ju Su was not a superstitious person, he could not help but think about it at this moment.

After all, Confucianism also has the concept of destiny. Xu Chen's prediction is incredible, and the fact that Xu Chen himself is the leader of a religion makes it easier for people to make associations.

Xu Chen just smiled when he heard this: "Maybe, since God has sent me to this world, he probably wants me to do something. You say this is destiny, then this is destiny."

For him, time travel itself is something that cannot be explained. Since even something so beyond common sense has happened, it is not wrong to explain it with metaphysics.

However, Ju Shou could not understand the profound meaning of time travel in his answer.

Seeing that Xu Chen was unwilling to elaborate and his answers were vague and evasive, Ju Shou felt it was even more mysterious, thinking that this was probably the so-called secret of heaven that could not be revealed.

Now that he thought about it carefully, he also realized that Xu Chen had many things that were beyond ordinary people, which was consistent with the behavior of a leader of a cult.

For example, when Xu Chen was in his teens, he was able to compile a systematic scripture like "Natural Sutra". This has always been something that Ju Shou could not understand. After all, the content of the scripture did not seem like something that could be written at this age.

Not to mention that Xu Chen can easily come up with unheard-of things such as the microscopic world and hot air balloons.

If possible, Ju Shou really wanted to make some progress and apply to join the sect, but unfortunately people looked down on him. He had the desire but no connections, so he could only be a secretary.

After perfunctorily passing over the matter, Xu Chen changed the subject and asked, "The Yellow Turbans now occupy most of Youzhou, and the imperial court seems to be falling apart. How should we plan for the future situation? Can you teach me?"

Ju Shou did not dare to lecture Xu Chen. After having been in the Yellow Turbans for so many years, he clearly felt that Xu Chen's development path was very strategic.

How the Yellow Turbans fought against the gentry, how they won over the common people, how they put their doctrines into practice, and how they built their organizations, each step was just right, and each step was effective. It didn't seem like something done by a young boy, but rather like a brilliant strategist leading the Yellow Turbans forward step by step.

Even Ju Shou could feel that the Yellow Turbans did not really need old scholars like him.

In five years, the Yellow Turbans have already had a considerable number of talented people who have received special Yellow Turban education. We cannot say that this group of people can support an entire country now, but at least they should have no problem managing a mere Youzhou.

Perhaps all I can do is give some advice to my lord, check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps, and do some miscellaneous tasks.

He said: "Dong Zhuo's perverse actions will surely attract the attention of scholars all over the world. I think that even if there is no anti-Dong movement in the future, there will definitely be a lot of resistance. Dong Zhuo seems to be powerful and overbearing now, but in fact he is walking on thin ice. If you are willing, you may use this opportunity to do something beneficial to yourself."

Xu Chen was quite interested: "Please tell me in detail."

Ju Su said: "After all, Dong Zhuo is holding the emperor hostage. When he is in trouble, you can ask a messenger to contact him. At that time, it may be a good idea to make a deal so that he can force the emperor to clear the name of the Yellow Turbans."

Xu Chen was speechless for a moment. If he followed Ju Su's method, it would be possible to get an imperial edict to clear his name as a thief.

Even though the Han central government has lost its authority, this kind of thing is better than nothing, but it is still somewhat useful.

But he obviously couldn't do this. The Yellow Turbans were destined to be the enemy of the emperor, so how could they ask the emperor for recognition? If they did so, then the Yellow Turbans would naturally lose their own justice. This also made Xu Chen more aware that Ju Su was loyal to him after all, not to the cult.

If you simply view yourself as an ordinary traitor, then doing so does have certain benefits, but from the perspective of naturalism, this is a complete poison recipe.

The old scholars still regarded the emperor as too important, and Ju Su was no exception.

"This is not appropriate." Xu Chen immediately shook his head and directly rejected the idea.

Ju Su was not disappointed when he saw this, but smiled and said: "If you don't care about this, then maybe we can make another deal. I heard that Dong Zhuo pretended to be the emperor and appointed Han Fu as the governor of Jizhou, and you can let Dong Zhuo appoint Han Fu to take charge of Youzhou again."

Xu Chen understood immediately after hearing this: "You want to sow discord between Liu Yu and Han Fu?"

Ju Su nodded: "The emperor's edict has lost its authority, but as long as it is beneficial to them, the local heroes will certainly not refuse to act in obedience. Now is the time for heroes to rise up in the world. As long as Han Fu has the ambition to make progress, he will definitely reach out to Youzhou."

Xu Chen nodded and said, "If Han Fu wants to take Youzhou, Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan may not agree, and they may become estranged from each other."

When he said this, Xu Chen also took another look at Ju Su.

This guy came up with this alienation plan without thinking. I'm afraid he knew very well that the first idea to clear the name of a thief was a poison recipe, and he never thought about actually doing it. The subsequent alienation plan was the strategy he really offered.

As for why he threw a poison recipe first, it was probably because he wanted to test whether his lord could detect it.

Xu Chen felt that this guy was testing the limits of his abilities.

Although the status of the boss and the subordinates are not equal, the inequality of status does not mean the inequality of ability. A powerful subordinate can also control the boss. Ju Su has obviously begun to test this.

Xu Chen could only sigh in his heart that he was indeed a famous figure from the Three Kingdoms period and was not easy to deal with.

"It is indeed feasible, but it seems unnecessary. With the current strength of the Yellow Turbans, they can take over Youzhou by themselves. Why do they need to rely on others?"

Xu Chen looked somewhat disapproving and didn't seem very interested in it.

Ju Shou was not surprised by Xu Chen's answer. The current strength of the Yellow Turbans was so impressive that even he was impressed. It was no wonder that his lord was so confident.

However, sometimes you don’t have to rush to eat the food in your mouth. Putting it aside for a while may be a better choice.

"My lord, now is a critical moment. Dong Zhuo is doing evil things in the court, but the trend of defeating Dong Zhuo has not yet formed. If the Yellow Turbans take Liu Yu, they can take over Youzhou, but they will attract attention to Dong Zhuo."

Ju Su said sternly: "Youzhou can be taken, but there is no need to rush. You can wait until the campaign against Dong Zhuo begins before doing anything. Before that, you can try to sow discord and waste Liu Yu's energy!"

After hearing this, Xu Chen was finally moved and suddenly felt that it made some sense.

I was originally trying to find a way to reduce the hatred towards the Yellow Turbans, so I had to be low-key. It would be great to suddenly take over the entire Youzhou, but it would be too conspicuous.

With the teachings of the natural way, he completely occupied the entire state, and the surrounding heroes could no longer sit still.

If by mistake the princes who came to attack Dong Zhuo did not show up, and the princes who came to attack Xu first, that would not be good. Or if the princes attacked themselves while attacking Dong Zhuo, that would also be quite disastrous.

There is no need to compete with Dong Zhuo for the limelight. Let Dong Zhuo attract some hatred first. Anyway, the remaining three counties in Youzhou will be his sooner or later.

As long as Liu Yu is still holding on in Youzhou, other places will not worry too much about the Yellow Turbans, and if anyone is to die, Liu Yu will be the first to die.

"What you said makes sense. If we can use the strategy of alienation to contain Liu Yu, then the Yellow Turbans don't have to rush to attack. Instead, they can free up their hands to deal with other things first."

Having said that, Xu Chen turned his gaze to the map on the table, and Ju Shou did the same.

When the two spoke again, they spoke together and expressed their opinions at the same time.

Xu Chen said: "I intend to calm the frontier tribes and stabilize the rear before planning to advance further!"

Ju Su said: "My lord, you can use your troops to control the foreign tribes!"

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

Xu Chen thought to himself, I will not participate in the drama of the eighteen princes fighting against Dong Zhuo, you guys just go and have fun.

Ju Su bowed again and said: "My lord, you have a good idea. Using military force internally may cause fear among the princes, but using military force externally will not affect them. This is exactly the way to keep a low profile!"

(End of this chapter)