Chapter 328: Using barbarians to control barbarians, Qin Zhen's purpose Making Zhou Yu the governor of Nanyang was one of the things Qin Zhen had planned since he went south. Because the current Zhou Yu is not suitable to serve in the core circle under Liu Bei. Indeed, Zhou Yu is a rare commander-in-chief in the world today. Strictly speaking, he is the only one in their army. But because of Sun Ce, Zhou Yu did not directly join their army. It was he who invited Zhou Yu many times before he finally got him to come out and lend a helping hand. This meant that it was impossible for Zhou Yu to lead an army alone in the Central Plains and gain Liu Bei's trust. If not, Zhou Yu's full strength cannot be brought into play, which is a real waste. So Qin Zhen thought about it and decided that the best place for Zhou Yu was to keep him in Jiaozhou! First of all, this place is too remote, and leaving Zhou Yu here will not arouse the suspicion of others. Secondly, because Jiaozhou is too remote, it requires extremely capable people to be in charge. In fact, the best candidates should be capable ministers such as Bu Zhi and Lu Dai.

But to be honest, the two of them are not qualified enough, and he is already making an exception by entrusting them with important tasks. Only Zhou Yu, who was originally the second-in-command of Sun Ce's army, was qualified for the appointment in terms of both qualifications and ability. More importantly, he wanted to open up new trade routes and develop coastal areas. Neither Bu Zhi nor Lu Dai could achieve any results, while Gan Ning was more brave than civil. Therefore, considering various conditions, Zhou Yu is the best candidate for the Governor of Nanyang. But on this basis, Qin Zhen did not want to let Zhou Yu pacify the Yi Yue alone. What he wanted was to start a new era of navigation that had never existed before. This is why he gave the world map to Zhou Yu. In this era, the coastal areas have not been explored enough, and generations have needed to be sacrificed to explore these terrains. In that case, he would directly give the map he knew to Zhou Yu for use. With the reference of the map and the use of a compass, it would be easy to explore further out. As for how Zhou Yu would use the map after getting it, that was not something he could interfere with. But he believed that as long as he could give Zhou Yu a certain degree of freedom, Zhou Yu would most likely give him a surprise. With this idea in mind, Qin Zhen formulated a preliminary governance plan for Jiaozhou. He achieved political control by constantly undermining Shi Xie through Xue Zong, Lu Dai and others. Then, with Zhou Yu personally stationed here, comprehensive military control was achieved. After waiting for a few years, Shi Xie was invited to the court on the grounds of his old age, and the problem of Jiaozhou was completely solved. Faced with Qin Zhen's appointment, Zhou Yu thought about it for a long time and finally agreed to this plan. However, he asked Qin Zhen for advice on how to treat the Yue people and the Yi people.

Because he was here to fight a war, if he was too tough on the alien race, it would lead to too intense conflicts in Jiaozhou. It may even lead to the Yi and Yue people in the country being forced to rebel and the Han people suffering from war. This kind of problem has actually always troubled border officials, and if they are not careful, it can lead to disaster. In this regard, Qin Zhen's advice to Zhou Yu can be summed up in one sentence: "Subdue them with weapons, teach them Confucianism, use barbarians to control barbarians, attack distant places and make friends with nearby ones." Simply put, the Yi Yue people cannot be treated the same way as the Han people. It is necessary to use military deterrence and to assimilate these foreign races, to govern the barbarians by selecting barbarian officials, to make friends with the nearby barbarians and to attack the distant barbarians. In fact, Confucian culture is not completely useless when it comes to governing a country. After all, this culture emphasizes obedience and is extremely effective in assimilating other ethnic groups. As long as they promote this culture from generation to generation, they can continue to expand their influence. The greatest effect of using barbarians to control barbarians is to divert contradictions, turning external contradictions into internal contradictions. In this way, even if the barbarians' officials act recklessly, the barbarians' rebellion will be an internal rebellion. It will not cause hatred among the indigenous people towards the Han court like what is happening in Zhuyazhou now. After listening to the explanation, Zhou Yu naturally had an idea in mind and did not continue to speak. After Qin Zhen arranged all the matters concerning Jiaozhou, he continued to take the boat to Jiaozhi. This was also his last stop in Jiaozhou, and his purpose was to meet Shi Xie. Shi Xie had already made preparations in Jiaozhi to welcome Qin Zhen. In September in late autumn, Qin Zhen arrived in Jiaozhi. At that time, Shi Xie personally brought his entire family, young and old, and civil and military officials out to greet him. As soon as he saw Qin Zhen, Shi Xie hurried out, stepped forward quickly, and bowed down: "I am Shi Xie, your humble servant, and I pay my respects to you, my lord!" When Qin Zhen saw this, he quickly got off his horse and stepped forward to support him, saying: "Your Excellency does not need to be so polite. We are of the same rank, so why should we talk about superiority or inferiority?" When Shi Xie heard this, he raised his head and smiled, then bowed to Qin Zhen and said: "Your Excellency is a marquis, and you are also the commander of the three armies and the governor of Jiangdong." "To the imperial court, they are of the same rank, but under Liu Zhengdong, Xie is a lower rank." "Could it be that in your eyes, Xie is still an outsider and cannot be included in the same category?" As soon as he said this, Qin Zhen nodded secretly, thinking that Shi Xie was really wise! Such words, without any awkwardness, naturally expressed one's attitude. No wonder this old man was able to get along with everyone in his original course and lived to the ripe old age of ninety! However, although Shi Xie was knowledgeable, he could not accept this gift and hurriedly said with a smile: "That being said, it is not right for you, as an elder, to bow down to me!" Having said that, he would not let Shi Xie perform the salute no matter what, but instead returned the favor.

When Shi Xie saw this, he praised him in his heart. When everyone else saw this, they also secretly thought that although Qin Zhen was young, he was not overbearing. After this greeting, everyone walked into the county government. Shi Xie held a banquet here and asked his brothers and sons to come and pay their respects one by one. Qin Zhen looked at the crowd of people, young and old, and couldn't help but point at Shi Hui and said with a smile: "I heard that the Third Young Master is quite fond of archery and horse riding, is that true?" This seemed like an ordinary question, but Shi Xie was shocked. Obviously, Qin Zhen did this not simply because he liked Shi Hui, but to warn them. After all, he had five sons, and Qin Zhen did not ask about the elders or the youngest, but only asked the third son. Obviously, it was because Shi Hui was leading troops in the city that day and wanted to resist Qin Zhen's troops. Thinking of this, he felt a chill down his spine, thinking that Qin Zhen's behavior obviously meant he had a lot of spies in Jiaozhi. Otherwise, how could Qin Zhen know the details of what happened that day? "My son is quite happy about this, but he is stubborn by nature and is far from being comparable to the people in the Central Plains." "When I was young, I traveled around the Central Plains, so I wouldn't be so arrogant here." "So I recently wanted to let my son travel abroad and study the classics of various schools." "I heard that there are many Confucian scholars under the command of Envoy Liu. I wonder if you would be willing to introduce them to me?" He thought that Qin Zhen brought it up now probably not to blame him for anything, but just to warn him because he was worried about his third son. In this case, it’s okay for me to send my son to study in the Central Plains, right? I won’t go anywhere else but stay right under your nose. What else can you say? This suggestion was intended not only to prevent Qin Zhen from becoming suspicious, but also to send his son as a hostage. Qin Zhen naturally had no idea what Shi Xie was thinking. The reason why he wanted to appoint Shi Hui was because this guy would rebel as soon as Shi Xie died. So he was just preparing to find a way to transfer Shi Hui ahead of time, but he didn't expect that as soon as he mentioned it, Shi Xie actually took the initiative to let Shi Hui go north. It is true that something unusual must be wrong, and Shi Xie's behavior made him hesitate. But looking at Shi Xie's sincere expression, he hesitated for a moment and finally agreed. However, after the banquet, he asked Lu Xun to sound out Yuan Hui and others to find out what had happened before. The next day, Lu Xun came to the mansion and told Qin Zhen what happened that day: "The reason why Lord Shifu is like this is probably because he is afraid that the Lord will blame you for what happened that day!" After hearing the reason, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled, thinking that Shi Hui was indeed a restless boy. No wonder he would raise an army and harm Shi Xie's family in the future. Now that Shi Xie had been forced to take Shi Hui as a hostage by mistake, he was too lazy to correct the situation. "It can be seen that most of the abnormal things in the world are caused by evil intentions, otherwise why would it come to this?" As he spoke, he looked at the seventeen-year-old Lu Xun in front of him again, only to see that he lowered his brows and looked submissive, just like his changed name, extremely humble. "I wonder what Bo Yan has learned from following me to Jiaozhou this time?"

Hearing this, Lu Xun raised his head, lowered his eyebrows and bowed: "With your favor, I have gained a lot during my trip south, which is too numerous to count!" After saying this, he thought Qin Zhen was going to continue asking questions, so he hurriedly organized his thoughts. Unexpectedly, Qin Zhen stood up after hearing this, and said after a moment of hesitation: "Then I wonder what Bo Yan thinks of the current situation in the world? If our army wants to support the Han Dynasty, how should it proceed?" When Lu Xun heard this question, he was stunned for a while. He thought that Qin Zhen's thoughts were too unfocused. He just asked him what he had learned and then asked about the situation in the world. This question made the answer he had prepared completely useless. But he was smart after all. He thought for a moment and then said: "Given the current situation in the world, if Cao and Yuan fight, one of them will surely suffer." "But both families are like centipedes. Even if one family is defeated, it will not hurt the foundation." "And if the other company wants to take over the other company, it will be impossible in a short period of time!" "If you want to support the Han Dynasty, you must take this opportunity to expand our army as soon as possible!" "Only in this way can we have the strength to fight against the other two families after the two families have decided the winner." "Otherwise, no matter which of the two families wins, the next opponent will be our army!" "As the three families fight and consume each other, whoever has more energy left will have a greater chance of winning!" Now that all the heroes have been eliminated, the situation is becoming clearer and clearer. Everyone can see that in the future the world will be dominated by the three families of Cao, Yuan and Liu! However, this three-legged situation is not a good thing for them. The mutual involvement of the three parties will only make the future war longer and more complicated! In this situation, whoever has greater power can last longer! Now that Cao and Yuan are fighting, they are just bystanders and it is not easy for them to intervene. This is the best time for them to strengthen their own strength, and they should seize every opportunity to strengthen themselves. Therefore, in his opinion, Qin Zhen's choice to attack Jiaozhou at this time was the wisest decision. However, after hearing his words, Qin Zhen looked thoughtful and paced back and forth. After walking around like this, she suddenly turned around and looked at him and said: "Then what do you think, Bo Yan, if our army takes Jingzhou now, how will people in the world view it?" When Lu Xun heard the word Jingzhou, his body trembled. He seemed to understand a little bit about what Qin Zhen was struggling with. Obviously, Qin Zhen also knows that now is the best time to grow stronger. However, Jiaozhou was not Qin Zhen’s ultimate goal. Qin Zhen’s destination was actually Jingzhou. In other words, his opinion now may influence the future military movements of Liu Bei's army!

Thinking of this, Lu Xun felt his breathing become much faster. He was not even an adult yet, how could he interrupt such an important matter? What if his advice is wrong? Who will be held responsible? "If you want to take Jingzhou, should you report it to me first?" After thinking about it for a while, he decided to push the matter to Liu Bei. When it comes to such an important matter, you shouldn't act on your own, but should report it to Old Liu first! But as soon as he finished speaking, Qin Zhen frowned and said unhappily: "I only ask you how the people of the world should view it. Just answer it!" If this matter could be reported to Lao Liu, he would have reported it long ago! But according to Liu Bei's temper, once we know his idea, we will most likely reject it! Even though Liu Biao has not shown Liu Bei the same kindness as in history, Old Liu is always confused about this issue. Therefore, he had to create the conditions for seizing Jingzhou first. Even if Old Liu was unwilling, he had to send troops by force. Although this is somewhat immoral, it can end the war more quickly and forcibly reverse the three-way situation. The only problem was that he was not sure what people in the world were thinking. He is the person involved and may not see it clearly, so only Lu Xun can tell him the answer. When Lu Xun was so angry, he knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Sir, the current situation is just like when Wang Mang usurped power, and the princes are fighting each other endlessly." "Who among the wise men of the world does not know that the Han Dynasty has declined? The only thing to worry about is that the emperor is still in power, so we should follow the emperor's edict." "However, Cao Cao used the emperor to control the princes, just like Emperor Gengshi, so he cannot be trusted." "If you really want to help Guangwu, how can people in the world blame you?" "These are all lies of my own. If there is anything untrue, I hope you can correct me!" After saying this, he bowed to Qin Zhen and said no more. When Qin Zhen heard this, he was stunned on the spot. After a long while, he smiled and said: "If you had said this earlier, why would I have been so harsh in my words?" "Well, if that's the case, I will do you a great deed. You will leave now and go to Jingzhou as an envoy immediately." "I wonder why you want me to go to Jingzhou?" Lu Xun raised his head in confusion, only to see Qin Zhen speaking word by word: "I want you to go to Changsha and convince Zhang Xian to surrender to our army!" (End of this chapter)