Chapter 987: Stirring Up Trouble
Chapter 987: Stirring Up Trouble
Unfolding the map, one can see that Bingzhou's geographical location is surrounded by numerous neighbors.
Below lies the Capital Military Camp, to the left is Liangzhou, and to the right is Youzhou. In the bottom-right corner, there's also Jizhou.
Each of these places has its ruler, and the ones below and to the left are somewhat fiercer. The ruler there is the only one in the world who can currently rival Lu Hai Kong, and he is none other than Dong Zhuo, who controls the False Han Court.
Their territory includes half of the Capital Military Camp and most of Liangzhou, making them the strongest among Lu Hai Kong's neighbors.
Moreover, Dong Zhuo hasn't been idle during this time. While Lu Hai Kong was developing Bingzhou, Dong Zhuo was also expanding his territory. Although his achievements over the past half a year may not surpass Lu Hai Kong's, they are still quite impressive.
Both the economy and military have shown excellent growth, always keeping pace with Lu Hai Kong. This also demonstrates Li Ru's capabilities in state governance, which are among the top in the world.
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Li Ru is portrayed as a scheming strategist, always plotting with a gloomy expression.
In this world, however, Li Ru is not only adept at conspiracies but also possesses top-notch administrative skills.
With Dong Zhuo's current reputation, there are hardly any capable people willing to assist him. In this regard, Dong Zhuo's situation is even more challenging than Lu Hai Kong's, as he lacks capable scholars under his command.
Although Dong Zhuo has a large number of Han officials with rich administrative experience, many of them are solely focused on challenging him. It's better to randomly pick a soldier for a task than to rely on them.
It is under these circumstances that Li Ru manages the entire Liangzhou's economy. His workload and challenges far surpass those of Lu Hai Kong's subordinates.
Despite these difficulties, Li Ru maintains an orderly governance of his territory and still finds time to devise various schemes, showcasing his talent and workload.
Lu Hai Kong has always been concerned about his subordinates overworking themselves to death. In comparison, Li Ru's situation seems more likely to lead to such a fate.
However, it is also because of Li Ru's existence that Dong Zhuo's ship, despite facing numerous challenges, continues to sail forward, becoming the only force capable of rivaling Lu Hai Kong.
Apart from Dong Zhuo, the remaining two states seem rather insignificant compared to Lu Hai Kong and Dong Zhuo, regardless of the perspective.
In the bottom-right corner, Jizhou is home to Yuan Shao and Yuan Hong. Although Jizhou is prosperous, the constant rivalry between the two brothers, coupled with Lu Hai Kong's occasional interference, has prevented either of them from gaining the upper hand.
Given their current situation, Yuan Hong is the most likely to unify Jizhou. However, Lu Hai Kong's military intimidation has kept Yuan Hong in check, preventing him from making any significant moves.
Based on the current situation, Yuan Hong's dream of unifying Jizhou seems distant.
Even if Jizhou were to unite, Lu Hai Kong would not fear them in the slightest, especially considering their current bitter standoff. Moreover, Lu Hai Kong has always controlled their situation.
At this point, Lu Hai Kong can proudly declare that as long as he doesn't wish it, Jizhou will never unify.
Under these circumstances, it's no surprise that Lu Hai Kong pays little attention to Jizhou, let alone its neighboring state, Youzhou.
As Bingzhou's neighboring 'friend,' Youzhou currently has three major forces. One is led by Gong Sun Zan, another by Zhang Yan, the leader of the Yellow Turban Remnant Forces, and the third is Youzhou's Governor, Liu Yu.
However, Liu Yu's power in Youzhou is not dominant. Although he governs Youzhou well, his military authority is weak. Additionally, his differing stance on the Uhuhan Tribe compared to Gong Sun Zan has led to a prolonged standoff between the two.
Despite Gong Sun Zan's greater strength than in history, Liu Yu's position as Governor and his status as an Imperial Clan Relative have prevented any decisive outcome in their standoff.
Compared to Jizhou, Lu Hai Kong is more wary of Youzhou, specifically Zhang Yan and the potential involvement of Zhang Jiao, who might be backing her.
Speaking of Zhang Yan, her forces were the first to establish contact with Lu Hai Kong.
Over the years, they enjoyed a period of harmony, and even the Hall of Heroes in Huaxia City...
The foundation of their success was built upon these people.
Therefore, Lu Hai Kong had a deep understanding of Zhang Yan and her group, clearly aware of the strength this low-key force could unleash. With the presence of the old man, Zhang Jiao, Lu Hai Kong was wary of their potential.
Recently, their behavior had also caught Lu Hai Kong's attention and warranted his scrutiny.
During the locust plague in the southern Bingzhou, Lu Hai Kong had purchased a large number of Pest Repelling Talismans from them, even at inflated prices, yet they seemed indifferent to the opportunity for significant profit.
This alone was cause for concern, but what further troubled Lu Hai Kong was their constant vigilance during interactions with him, and Ye Junru, who was in charge of this area, had not visited Bingzhou for a long time.
All signs indicated that this former ally was showing signs of turning into an enemy.
Despite this, Lu Hai Kong remained confident and dominant in his interactions, knowing he could control the situation.
He was well aware that his dominance put pressure on the 'neighbors' around him, and he felt like he was sitting on the mouth of a volcano, where any slight misstep could trigger a massive eruption.
But he had no choice; his strength was evident, and he couldn't afford to appear weak. No one in their right mind would believe his feigned weakness, and it would hinder his development. Rather than feign weakness, Lu Hai Kong chose to assert his dominance and establish himself as the big brother of the Northern Central Plain.
He intimidated others with his military might, preventing them from causing trouble while vigorously developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods. He patiently waited for the right moment to rise and sweep across the land with his grand army.
In the 1619 version of the book, this was clearly depicted!
During this process, Lu Hai Kong didn't solely rely on military intimidation. He actively sought to win over allies, as having allies in his current situation would be ideal.
Yuan Shao in Jizhou, Gong Sun Zan and Liu Yu in Youzhou were all on Lu Hai Kong's list of potential allies.
As long as Lu Hai Kong could firmly establish himself in Jizhou and Youzhou, he wouldn't have to worry about the three states ganging up on him.
However, in this regard, Lu Hai Kong was still in the preparation stage. Currently, he was only considering and taking tentative steps towards Yuan Shao.
Over this period, Lu Hai Kong had extended Yuan Shao's Invitation in various ways, even though Yuan Shao had been humiliated by Lu Hai Kong during the Coalition Against Dong Zhuo and quite badly at that. Despite this, Yuan Shao couldn't directly refuse Lu Hai Kong's offer and was even somewhat tempted.
In Jizhou, Yuan Hong and his group were becoming increasingly dominant, putting immense pressure on Yuan Shao. Given Yuan Shao's current situation, accepting Lu Hai Kong's offer was only a matter of time.
Once Lu Hai Kong successfully established a foothold in Jizhou, his diplomatic situation would become much easier. At that point, Lu Hai Kong would also consider whether to approach Gong Sun Zan or Liu Yu.
However, Lu Hai Kong's success didn't go unnoticed, and others were not content to watch him thrive.
After all, Lu Hai Kong's growth rate was terrifying, and even Dong Zhuo felt a sense of urgency when facing him. In such a situation, all it took was someone to take the lead, and a plot could be set in motion.
This undercurrent had been brewing since the end of the Southern Bingzhou Rebellion and had yet to erupt. It wasn't until Lu Hai Kong's recruitment that this hidden wave began to surge.
First, in Jizhou, aristocratic families that had business dealings with Lu Hai Kong began to sever ties with him one after another.
This was already a worrying sign, and Lu Hai Kong took it seriously. However, before he could take any action, aristocratic families in Youzhou with business ties to Lu Hai Kong also cut off their cooperation.
Soon after, similar situations arose in the Capital Military Camp and Liangzhou, clearly indicating that those few individuals were flexing their muscles.
They started by severing the aristocratic families' cooperation with Lu Hai Kong and then established customs posts at the Bingzhou border, imposing heavy tariffs.
Lu Hai Kong could ignore the previous break in cooperation, but this new move was a direct provocation...
(End of Chapter)
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