Chapter 302: Moral kidnapping, Wujun household registration Zhou Yu was tall, handsome, and came from a noble family. He was a famous general of the Eastern Wu. But beneath his reputation as a famous general, Zhou Yu himself was also talented in internal affairs. Since surrendering to Liu Bei that day, Zhou Yu has become a very special existence under Liu Bei. Because Zhou Yu helped persuade Wu County to surrender and led his troops to join Liu Bei, he was considered a meritorious person. However, in the face of Liu Bei's recruitment, Zhou Yu showed no intention of giving in. It was as if he was telling Lao Liu that I surrendered to you only to respect Sun Ce's last wish. But in my heart, I don’t have the slightest favorable impression towards you, Liu Bei, or the forces under your command. Naturally, Liu Bei was helpless about this. If it were Cao Cao who handled it, it would be very simple. He would either find an opportunity to kill him or send an assassin to kill him. But Liu Bei was different, because he admired Zhou Yu's talent and loyalty and was reluctant to harm him.

So even if Zhou Yu did not take up an official post, he would not be able to do anything to Zhou Yu, but he would not kill Zhou Yu, and he would not dare to let Zhou Yu go easily. Because Zhou Yu was very strong both in strategy and tactics, a large part of the reason why he had so much trouble defeating Sun Ce was due to Zhou Yu's contribution. For such a person, Old Liu would naturally not give him the opportunity to join other princes. So under Qin Zhen's suggestion, Liu Bei handled the situation in the same way as Lu Bu and gave Zhou Yu a farm outside the city. On the surface it was a praise, but in reality it was secretly sending troops to monitor closely. But Zhou Yu seemed to have no objection to this and directly moved his wife and children into the farm. Since Xiaoqiao was taken away by Qin Zhen, he had only one wife, Xu from Runan. Xu was also quite virtuous, talented and beautiful. She was married to Zhou Yu for five years and had a daughter and a son. The daughter was named Zhou Fei and the son was named Zhou Xun. Perhaps it was because Zhou Yu was tired of war, so while Liu Bei was arranging everything, he just played with his family every day. When he had free time, he would go out for an outing. When he was tired, he would go home to read and play the piano. He lived a very comfortable life. But after Liu Bei left, Qin Zhen began to "harass" Zhou Yu constantly. He visited Zhou Yu almost every three days and every five days, and seemed determined to convince him. Zhou Yu was naturally very unhappy about this and refused to see him many times. But Qin Zhen would never give up until he achieved his goal. If Zhou Yu didn't meet him, he would come to pay his respects every day. After several times, Zhou Yu still kept his composure, but his wife Xu said: "I know that my husband doesn't like Liu Bei, but now Jiangdong is under the control of the Qin monarch." "Mr. Qin is so busy, yet he still comes to visit me every day. His sincerity is evident. Why doesn't my husband see me?" "Besides, my husband always praised Qin Jun when he talked about him in the past." "Even if you don't want to be an official, you can still interact with him. It's not polite to shut yourself in and not see him."

In fact, not only Qin Zhen wanted Zhou Yu to take up an official position, but Xu Shi also wanted Zhou Yu to take up an official position. After all, they were now under someone else's roof and had to bow their heads. Furthermore, since Sun Ce's death, Zhou Yu has been confining himself to his home. Although he seems contented on the surface, he is actually still secretly sad in his study room at night. This state is obviously not a long-term solution. She was also afraid that if she held it in for too long, her husband would get hurt, so she wanted to help Qin Zhen speak. Even if she does not ask her husband to take up a government post, she still hopes to change Zhou Yu's current situation. Zhou Yu was also a good husband. No matter what other people said, he would listen to what Xu said. In desperation, he was forced to let Qin Zhen into his house. Then the current scene appeared. When Qin Zhen arrived, he said nothing but talked about the current situation in Jiangdong. After that, he directly persuaded him to take up an official position and invited him to join him in reforming Jiangdong. When Zhou Yu heard this, he was naturally unhappy, thinking to himself, if it weren't for you, my elder brother Sun Ce would not have been forced to commit suicide! I'm already being very considerate of Liu Bei by not joining forces with others and going against him. Now not only do you come to harass me, but you also ask me to help you govern Jiangdong. What are you thinking? That's why Zhou Yu turned around and said to Qin Zhen while holding the water jar: "The troubles of the Han Dynasty are yours to deal with. What does it have to do with me, Zhou Gongjin?" His original intention was to express his own attitude and to persuade Qin Zhen not to waste his efforts. But as soon as these words were spoken, Qin Zhen was stunned on the spot, looking very surprised. "Why are you acting like this? Is it because I said something inappropriate?" Zhou Yu frowned when he saw his expression, wondering what Qin Zhen's tricks were. He added this, and saw Qin Zhen's face showing a bitter smile: "It's not that Gongjin's words were inappropriate, but I think Gongjin is the most powerful person in the world and shouldn't say such rebellious words!" "There is a way to protect the country, and its ruler and his ministers who eat meat should plan it;" "To protect the world, even the humblest of men has the responsibility to do so." "I know Gongjin is not such a pedantic person, so I will not drive him away for the sake of justice." "You come from a wealthy family, and I will not allow you to benefit from it." "As a citizen of the Han Dynasty, we should not only consider the imperial court, but also consider the Han people!" "When Qin attacked Zhao, even young children died for their country." "Today, the Han Dynasty is in danger. The court is unable to govern the people, causing the country to fall apart." "The surrounding foreign races are restless and invade our borders every year." "Gongjin may have never been to the northern border, so he doesn't know the dangers of the barbarians."

"They eat raw meat and drink blood, and are bloodthirsty. Since Emperor Ling, all the foreign races have treated them like fish and meat." "They are vicious and will invade the south at the first opportunity, killing my compatriots and occupying my people." "Gongjin, do you know what the Han women are called by them? Two-legged sheep!" "What's the meaning of this? It's for his pleasure in peacetime and for military rations in wartime!" "In the past, when Zhen was in Yanzhou, he fought a battle with the Xiongnu and other tribes. The territories he conquered made people shed tears." "Not to mention the Xianbei, Qiang, Wuhuan and other tribes in the north, who will kill countless people of our Han Dynasty!" "From that time on, I was determined to reform and support the Han Dynasty, so that the people of the Han Dynasty would not be bullied by foreign races. I have always been determined and have never changed my mind." "Perhaps in Gongjin's eyes, we killed Sun Lang and have a grudge against you." "But in Zhen's heart, people like Sun Lang and Gongjin are both talented people of the country, and their ambitions are not just for their own selfishness!" "Although we are separated by heaven and earth, it is due to the circumstances, not personal vendetta." "We should carry on his aspirations and strengthen his country, gather the refugees, and prevent Jiangdong from becoming chaotic again, which would disappoint Sun Lang's efforts to quell the rebellion." "Guo Zhen admired Gongjin's talent and came to persuade him many times, and worked with Gongjin to save the people from the water and fire." "I didn't expect Gongjin to say that the troubles of the world have nothing to do with you. I wonder if Gongjin is a citizen of the Han Dynasty?" "Please forgive me for asking you something. Is Gongjin helping Sun Lang out of personal gain or to quell the chaos?" "If it is the latter, how can Gongjin say that the dangers of the Han Dynasty have nothing to do with you?" "If it is the former, then you are all thieves, and the current situation is your own fault!" "Although I am not talented, I don't want to coexist with such a traitor who is causing chaos in the country!" Having said this, Qin Zhen stood up and looked at Zhou Yu with a serious face. If Zhou Yu dared to say that he didn't care about the Han Dynasty, he would turn around and leave. After hearing these words, Zhou Yu frowned and was speechless. He really wanted to point at Qin Zhen and curse him now. He had never seen anyone curse in such a roundabout way! But what Qin Zhen said did not leave him any room for rebuttal. After all, Qin Zhen said it very clearly: every man has his share of responsibility for the rise and fall of his country! This is not about talking to him about the righteousness of the emperor, but it has risen to the issue of national identity. No matter what, he is still a member of the Han people, and this cannot be denied. If Qin Zhen brought up the emperor as an issue, he would definitely retort that Qin Zhen was a hypocrite. Everyone knows that the world is in chaos now, and every one of these princes wants to be the emperor. From this point of view, Liu Bei is not much nobler than Sun Ce! He assisted Sun Ce and also wanted to help Sun Ce change the dynasty. But Qin Zhen didn't mention these things at all. He just said that your compatriots are suffering, so will you help them?

If you want to help, then great, hurry up and take up your post to help him put an end to the chaos. If you don't help, that's even better. You're a complete traitor and I'm too lazy to persuade you anymore! There was no such term as moral kidnapping in this era, but Qin Zhen was indeed morally kidnapping Zhou Yu. Unfortunately, Zhou Yu had never seen this kind of trick before, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond! So he stood there, silent, thinking about how to respond. But when Qin Zhen saw this, he laughed again and said earnestly: "Gong Jin is so hesitant, I think he wants to do something for our Han Dynasty." "Well, I know Sun Lang died early, and Gongjin is upset, so I don't want to force it." "I just hope Gongjin can figure things out soon and come out to help Chen!" "Gongjin, you must know that the talents of our Han Dynasty are dwindling, and there are very few people as versatile as Gongjin." "In this chaotic time, the people are in danger. If you don't come out, what will happen to the world?" After he finished speaking, he bowed to Zhou Yu, clasped his hands, and left. When he walked out of the room, he met his wife Xu again. Qin Zhen smiled and nodded at her, then walked out of the village. When Xu entered the hall, she saw Zhou Yu standing inside with a frown on his face, and asked in confusion: "Why is my husband like this? I wonder what you talked about with Mr. Qin?" As she spoke, she walked forward, took the water jar from Zhou Yu's arms, and put it next to the desk. Looking at Qin Zhen's drinking bowl, she picked it up and prepared to wash it. But at this moment, Zhou Yu suddenly came to his senses, looked at the bowl in his wife's hand, and said: "Throw this thing away and don't use it again. Qin Zhen is such a despicable guy!" As he said this, he walked forward to take the bowl, threw it out of the study, and returned to the table in a depressed mood to start reading. But this time, he just couldn't finish reading the book. Thinking about what Qin Zhen had just said, he stood up again and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. After walking around for a few times, he felt uncomfortable all over again. Looking at his restless appearance, Xu couldn't help but smiled and said: "I think Lord Qin hasn't gone far either, why don't you chase him?" When Zhou Yu heard this, he raised his eyebrows, turned around and went back to his study to play the piano. As his fingertips plucked the strings, melodious piano sounds were heard. But the sound of the piano was no longer as melodious as before, and instead became quite rapid. On the other side, Qin Zhen walked out of Zhou Yu's farm and saw Bu Zhi approaching and asking: "My Lord, I wonder if Zhou Gongjin is willing to come out and help our army?" Qin Zhen heard this and shook his head at first, but couldn't help but smiled and said: "Although I don't want to, I don't think it will take much more effort!" "I see Zishan is here. Could it be that the household registration of Wu County has been completed?"

Ever since he took office in Wu County, officials from all levels of the county have been working overtime to compile household registration statistics, and Bu Zhi is the secretary in charge of this work. Bu Zhi was about to praise him after hearing his first sentence, but when he heard the second sentence, he hurriedly said: "The thirteen counties of Wu Commandery have been counted and are all included in this book!" He hurriedly pulled out a booklet from his sleeve and handed it to Qin Zhen. Qin Zhen took it and looked at it, then he laughed and pointed at the booklet and said: "In the entire thirteen counties of Wujun, there are only 91,241 households and a population of only 450,000?" "If I remember correctly, according to the records in the government, in the sixth year of Zhongping, there were 150,000 households and 670,000 people in Wu County!" "Until the first year of Jian'an, Sun Ce counted a total of 106,720 households, nearly 500,000 people!" "Over the past few years, the number of Wujun residents has not increased but decreased. Could it be that the refugees are cannibals? As he said this, he was really a little annoyed. It was no wonder that Sun Ce was so resentful of the gentry. If he were in power, he would have to suppress the rampant annexation of the nobles! In ten years, they have annexed nearly three layers of the population. If the chaos continues for another ten years, what will happen? Bu Zhi could obviously sense Qin Zhen's mood at the moment, and hurriedly lowered his head and said: "Reporting to the Lord, the heads of the major aristocratic families in Wu County have now gathered in the city." "Everyone is waiting for the Lord to come to the government office to meet with me. I am here to report this matter!" Qin Zhen nodded after hearing this, took the book and got on the carriage and said: "Come, Zishan, ride with me. Let's go back home together and meet these Jiangdong nobles!" Seeing this, Bu Zhi hesitated for a moment and followed Qin Zhen into the car. (End of this chapter)