Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

At that moment, Zhou Yu felt a sense of emotional stagnation, his handsome face with its well-defined features showing a slight furrow between his brows.

Since the Zhou family moved back to Lujiang Commandery from Luoyang, whether within the clan or among the entire Lujiang aristocratic families, some petty conflicts and contradictions would naturally arise.

Adding to some reasons he didn't want to mention, Zhou Yu had rarely gone out in the past year, so it was understandable that he hadn't noticed the large number of spies from Wu Commandery planted within Lujiang Commandery. Zhou Yu felt this was excusable.

However, the fact that the other Lujiang aristocratic families were also completely unaware made Zhou Yu find it difficult to assess these fellow townsmen for a moment.

And yet… they were raising troops to attack Wu Commandery?

‘From the beginning, the two sides were not opponents of the same level…'

A bitter look appeared on Zhou Yu's face, and he realized that the "gift" he had prepared might not be of much value.

Sun Ce, on the other hand, compared the details Zhou Yu had presented one by one and found that the differences from what Wu Commandery already knew were not significant. This made Sun Ce see the sincerity of this young scholar who had come to his door.

"Good, good!"

The majestic expression that Sun Ce had been deliberately maintaining dissipated for the most part, replaced by a hearty smile, as he said.

"If only the Lujiang aristocratic families were all as sensible as you…"

After a pause, Sun Ce pushed the bamboo slips that Zhou Yu had presented back onto the table, saying, "However, there is one item missing: the detailed list of money and grain that the Lujiang Zhou family transported as part of the alliance, isn't there?"

Zhou Yu gave a helpless wry smile and said, "The Lujiang Zhou family is not something I can decide with a single word. What I hope is to present the list to request forgiveness for the Lujiang Zhou family."

Sun Ce clicked his tongue and stroked his still smooth chin, saying, "This is a difficult matter. If I forgive you today, who knows if you will secretly retaliate in the future?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu's slightly lowered eyes brightened a little.

The fact that this young general spoke of difficulty, rather than refusing and saying he didn't have the power to decide, undoubtedly revealed a lot.

Although Zhou Yu also disliked the pedantry and narrow-mindedness of his clansmen, they were, after all, uncles and brothers of the same lineage, and Zhou Yu naturally couldn't abandon them.

More importantly, as a member of the Lujiang Zhou family, if the Lujiang Zhou family were to be purged as a whole, Zhou Yu would also be one of them.

Immediately, Zhou Yu secretly sized up Sun Ce and cupped his hands again, saying.

"May I ask the General's name?"

"I am a disciple of a man of national importance, Sun Ce of Wu Commandery," Sun Ce said, raising his chin slightly with a proud look on his face.

This made Zhou Yu subconsciously stand up a little, and he felt a greater sense of importance towards Sun Ce.

A man needs a name, a tree needs a shadow!

Sun Ce was naturally still just an unknown figure, but the prefix "disciple of a man of national importance" was enough to attract Zhou Yu's attention.

After initially observing Sun Ce and judging that he didn't seem to have any schemes, Zhou Yu was slightly shocked at this moment, realizing that he might have made the mistake of judging by appearances.

‘Is he the type who is extremely scheming or appears foolish but is actually wise?’

Zhou Yu re-evaluated, feeling a bit nervous.

It was often said that "In martial prowess, none can surpass Lu Bu; in literary talent, none can surpass Li Ji." Zhou Yu naturally didn't agree with this and had long wanted to compete with Li Ji.

Now, facing Li Ji's disciple, how could Zhou Yu not attach great importance to him?

As a disciple of a man of national importance, it could be inferred that Sun Ce must be a man of great wisdom and resourcefulness. Then, what Sun Ce had just said seemed to have a deeper meaning.

Missing the Lujiang Zhou family's detailed list?

Forgive today, but secretly retaliate tomorrow?

These were all words worth pondering and considering. On the surface, it might just be Sun Ce expressing his concerns frankly, but the hidden meaning was perhaps…

Zhou Yu, who was only about sixteen years old and had not yet truly entered public life, had nearly ten possibilities flash through his mind, and then quickly settled on the answer.

The Lujiang Zhou family was on Wu Commandery's list, and even if they wanted to realign with Wu Commandery, they had to pay a sufficient price, a price that could guarantee they would never betray again.

The most convincing answer was undoubtedly only one: the Lujiang Zhou family had to change a batch of decision-makers.

And this undoubtedly required bloodshed.

Zhou Yu took a slight breath. He was by no means indecisive and understood that he had somewhat underestimated Wu Commandery's determination and ruthlessness, and had been too presumptuous, thinking that offering the list first to align with Wu Commandery would earn lenient treatment.

However, Zhou Yu could also understand Sun Ce's approach. If Zhou Yu were in power, he would definitely not be soft-hearted towards the aristocratic families that would become unstable factors under his rule, especially when he had established an absolute advantage.

Faced with the choice between Wu Commandery taking the initiative to attack the Lujiang Zhou family and launching a power seizure to purge a batch of clansmen, Zhou Yu had no other choice.

Moreover, with Lujiang Commandery so heavily infiltrated, as long as Sun Ce led his troops to take over the Lujiang government office, any disturbance within the commandery's aristocratic families would not escape the other party's notice. Even if they wanted to flee as a family, they probably wouldn't have the chance.

We are the fish on the chopping board…

With this in mind, Zhou Yu's originally confident tone became more serious as he said.

"Alright, I will have the Lujiang Zhou family provide sufficient proof, but since I have not yet reached adulthood and my foundation within the clan is weak, I need General Sun to support me in becoming the clan leader."

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce was momentarily unable to react.

Although, due to information transmission issues, the main attention of the entire Han Dynasty was still focused on the campaign against Dong Zhuo in the Sili region, and the Jing, Yu, and Xu provinces adjacent to Jiangdong would not have much spare energy to focus on Yang Province.

However, in order to ensure that he could take advantage of this excellent opportunity to initially swallow the entire Yang Province, Wu Commandery had almost completely drawn out the navy still under its control, and even temporarily conscripted many civilian youths and fishermen to assist.

Four thousand navy troops were sent to both Jiujiang and Lujiang commanderies, two thousand navy troops were sent to Yuzhang Commandery, and Danyang Commandery only had two thousand navy troops. The purpose was to first seize the main ports along the Yangtze River and control the government offices of each commandery, while preventing the aristocratic families of each commandery from fleeing when they saw the situation was not good.

Now that the anti-Wu alliance had been broken, in Wu Commandery's eyes, the aristocratic families of each commandery were treasure chests waiting to be opened. How could they let these aristocratic families escape easily?

Therefore, after confirming Zhou Yu's sincerity, Sun Ce immediately wanted to win over Zhou Yu and make the Lujiang Zhou family a model, temporarily appeasing the Lujiang aristocratic families.

In any case, the weaknesses of the Lujiang aristocratic families were already in Wu Commandery's hands. It would not be too late to slowly settle accounts after the autumn harvest after the entire Yang Province was truly under control and Liu Bei and Li Ji returned to Wu Commandery.

Therefore, the reason why Sun Ce asked so many questions just now was purely to directly knock on the door, indicating that Wu Commandery was also quite aware of the situation of the Lujiang Zhou family, and then use both kindness and power.