Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

As for the turbulent situation in the Great Han Dynasty, the assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo by the "righteous hero" Cao Cao during his escape was not enough to cause any ripples.

On the contrary, after Cao Cao attempted to assassinate Dong Zhuo with a hidden blade, Dong Zhuo belatedly realized that even controlling Luoyang, the imperial court, and the emperor was not enough to win people's hearts.

Therefore, Dong Zhuo, in the name of the imperial court, began to lavishly reward people of renown. He appointed Han Fu, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Kong Rong, and others as governors and administrators of various regions. He also extensively rehabilitated party members and famous scholars who had been persecuted during the reign of Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, in order to gain support from all sides.

Among them were Cai Yong and Lu Zhi, who were currently residing in Wu Commandery. Imperial edicts were sent to Wu Commandery, inviting Cai Yong and Lu Zhi to enter the court as officials.

If it were Cai Yong from the original timeline, who had been exiled in the Wu region for many years, living a precarious existence and relying on the assistance of various scholars to survive, he might have gratefully entered the court as an official.

But now, the establishment of Ren Virtue Academy had become the focus of Cai Yong's life, so how could he possibly enter the court as an official?

As for Lu Zhi, he sneered at Dong Zhuo's appointment and even pointed at the eunuch who came to announce the imperial decree and angrily scolded him.

"Are you the emperor's dog? Or are you Dong Zhuo's dog?"

However, the refusal of Cai Yong and Lu Zhi did not mean that others would refuse the nominally Great Han Dynasty's rewards.

Famous scholars such as Xun Shuang, Han Rong, and Chen Ji entered the court as officials one after another. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Han Fu, Liu Dai, Kong Zhou, Zhang Miao, and others also took up vacant positions such as governors and administrators in various places.

Li Ji couldn't help but sigh at Dong Zhuo's stupidity!

This move would not only fail to gain the support of Yuan Shao and others but would also further intensify the local separatism and allow Yuan Shao and others to justifiably control their territories and accumulate strength.

However, when Li Ji carefully pondered the current situation in Luoyang, he realized that this might not be entirely Dong Zhuo's doing and might be inextricably linked to Yuan Wei, the nominally Grand Tutor.

Dong Zhuo had originally risen to power by borrowing the influence of the Yuan clan. Even if Dong Zhuo led troops into Luoyang, making it impossible for the Yuan clan to completely control him, Yuan Wei was still able to firmly hold the position of Grand Tutor.

Moreover, how would Dong Zhuo understand how to govern the country?

Naturally, Yuan Wei still handled most of the government affairs.

Based on their past relationship and Grand Tutor Yuan Wei's shrewdness, Dong Zhuo was probably completely unaware of the deeper meaning of this move, thinking it was a sign of goodwill from the Yuan clan.

Complex!

Without a doubt, the current situation in Luoyang was extremely complex. It seemed that Dong Zhuo was in complete control, but in reality, various forces were secretly vying for power.

And amidst the changing situation, letters from Wu Commandery in Yangzhou and Bohai Commandery in Ji Province were delivered to Liu Yu.

Inside the government office, Liu Yu closed his eyes slightly, looking at the letters on his left and right.

The letter on the right was written by Liu Bei, the administrator of Wu Commandery, who hoped that Liu Yu would come forward to denounce Dong Zhuo's chaotic rule, his deposing of the emperor and killing of the empress, which was intolerable to Heaven and Earth. He then called on the imperial clan and lords to raise troops to conquer Dong Zhuo, in order to help the Emperor Liu Bian regain the throne.

The letter on the left was written by Yuan Shao, the administrator of Bohai Commandery, whose content was also a condemnation of Dong Zhuo's disruption of the government…

However, Yuan Shao proposed that the current Emperor Liu Xie was a puppet emperor established by Dong Zhuo. Instead, he proposed that Liu Yu possessed virtue and prestige and was the most virtuous of the imperial clan. He had joined forces with Han Fu, Kong Zhou, and other loyal Han officials and was willing to support Liu Yu as emperor in the north, and then send troops to the west to kill the traitor Dong.

(PS: Yuan Shao, Han Fu, and others proposed to support Liu Yu as emperor is a historical fact.

From this, it can be seen that Liu Yu's prestige in the Han Dynasty and among the imperial clan was so high that Yuan Shao and others believed that he was qualified to directly replace Liu Xie, whom Dong Zhuo had supported as emperor, and that the people of the world would be convinced.)

The next moment, Liu Yu picked up Yuan Shao's letter on the left and slammed it heavily on the ground, shouting angrily.

"The world is in chaos today, and the sovereign is in distress. It is already a disgrace that we have not been able to eliminate the bandits for the country, so how dare you say such words that would divide the country into two emperors?"

"If I were to do this, wouldn't I be causing the Great Han to be divided into east and west? His heart is truly deserving of punishment! His heart is truly deserving of punishment!!!"

After saying that, Liu Yu, who was so angry that the white beard under his chin trembled for a while, sat down breathlessly, then picked up the letter written by Liu Bei and fell into deep thought for a long time.

During the reign of Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, Liu Yu was already the Director of the Imperial Clan and had often advised Liu Hong to be diligent in his administration.

However, Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, completely ignored Liu Yu's words, which undoubtedly made Liu Yu feel disheartened. It could even be said that Liu Yu's reputation and position in going to You Province to serve as governor were not a promotion but a form of exile in a sense.

Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, was already tired of Liu Yu, and Liu Yu also felt powerless to persuade the emperor. It would be better to go to a region to protect the people and ensure their safety, which would not be a betrayal of the Han's grace he had received in this life.

And if he followed Liu Bei's words, Liu Yu would undoubtedly need to bring out the reputation and prestige he had accumulated throughout his life…

'I was powerless to persuade the late emperor to be diligent in his administration and have already retreated to You Province. Now that the late emperor's descendants are controlled by the traitor Dong, if I retreat again, where can I retreat to?'

After a long time, Liu Yu sighed faintly.

The words written in Liu Bei's letter were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, tipping the scales in Liu Yu's heart and making him completely determined. Then, he took out a roll of bamboo slips and began to write.

Its name was: "Proclamation to Punish the National Traitor."

Afterward, Liu Yu had the clerks in the government office quickly copy the "Proclamation to Punish the National Traitor" and then, in his own name, sent people to various states and commanderies of the Great Han.

The passage of Liu Yu's proclamation undoubtedly caused a wave of shock, even causing Cao Cao, who had already escaped back to Qiao County to prepare to study the forged edict, to slowly recover after a long time.

Unlike the forged edict that Cao Cao had drafted to call on the various lords to jointly attack Dong, the forged edict was essentially a fig leaf and an excuse.

Everyone knew that it was impossible for Cao Cao to have received a secret edict from the emperor, but the various lords with their own ambitions could pretend to be ignorant and use the forged edict as a secret edict to begin a joint attack on Dong.

And the proclamation written by Liu Yu did not contain any falsehoods and represented the condemnation of Dong Zhuo by the imperial clan.

From a moral point of view, it completely tore off Dong Zhuo's fig leaf, defining Liu Xie, whom Dong Zhuo had supported, as a puppet emperor, and calling on the imperial clan and lords to advance to the capital to serve the king and re-establish Liu Bian as emperor.

And when this proclamation was transmitted to Yi Province and Jing Province, Liu Yan and Liu Biao, who had received Liu Bei's letter long ago but had remained indifferent, both had great changes in their expressions.

Liu Yu's denunciation of Liu Xie, whom Dong Zhuo had supported, as a puppet emperor, in a sense, meant that there was no real emperor in the current Great Han.

And since many of the Eastern Han emperors had died without heirs, imperial clansmen like Liu Yu held great power and could often decide which clan member to choose as emperor.

The late Emperor Liu Hong was chosen from among the Han imperial clan in the Hejian Kingdom by the Empress Dowager Dou Wu and the imperial clansman Liu Shu as the Marquis of Jiedu after Emperor Heng, Liu Zhi, passed away.

Therefore, this undoubtedly meant that Han imperial clan members like Liu Yan and Liu Biao might also have a chance.

As for the other local lords, even if they were not members of the Han imperial clan, they understood the great benefits involved.

For a time, almost all the heroes rose up together, following the proclamation one after another, and a large number of lords led their troops towards Suanzao, the alliance site specified in the "Proclamation to Punish the National Traitor."

… …

The distances of the various lords from Suanzao were different, and their arrival times were naturally different.

Since Cao Cao had originally recruited soldiers and trained soldiers in Chenliu Commandery after escaping back to Qiao County in order to plan for the future, coupled with Cao Cao's reputation for assassinating Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao's reputation was greatly enhanced.

And Cao Cao would naturally not miss such an opportunity to befriend the lords and promote his reputation.

Therefore, after receiving the "Proclamation to Punish the National Traitor," Cao Cao took the initiative to establish a camp in Suanzao to welcome the lords to form an alliance.

Whenever a lord arrived, Cao Cao would personally greet him and assist in setting up camp and storing food.

As more and more lords arrived in Suanzao, it became visibly lively, and there was no shortage of mutual probing and friendship between the lords.

However, Liu Yu's appeal was obviously not comparable to Cao Cao's in the original timeline.

One after another, the lords continued to arrive, and the number of troops they led varied.

Some had tens of thousands, while others had only one or two thousand.

This led to the original camp that Cao Cao had set up in advance becoming quite crowded, and even with Cao Cao's ability to mediate between the various parties, the friction between the various forces in the camp was constant.

And Cao Cao only had a reputation but no prestige and was not enough to convince the crowd, and Cao Cao was not willing to be such a villain.

It was not until Yuan Shao led his troops to Suanzao and was welcomed into the camp by Cao Cao that Cao Cao immediately showed a bitter expression and complained to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao heard this and said loudly.

"Aman, this is just a small matter, why be so distressed?"

"Please teach me, Benchu," Cao Cao replied.

Yuan Shao, who was full of majesty, had a bit of self-awareness as the leader and said loudly.

"This matter is easy. This time, we are responding to Grand Commandant Liu Yu's call to conquer the traitor Dong for the sake of righteousness. Moreover, the traitor Dong has elite troops from Bing, Liang, and Si provinces, which are very powerful."

"If they are just a mob, I am afraid that not only will they not be able to help, but they will be defeated in one blow and ruin the formation of the allies."

"Therefore, for the sake of the overall plan and to protect those loyal and brave men, we should screen those who can enter the camp to form an alliance as the main force."

A trace of joy flashed in Cao Cao's eyes, and then he deliberately asked for advice.

"How does Benchu think we should screen them?"

"Hmm…"

Yuan Shao pondered for a moment and said.

"Those who lead more than ten thousand troops can enter the camp; those who have less than ten thousand can set up their own camps elsewhere in Suanzao, and then follow behind when the allied forces advance westward to conquer the bandits, as a support force."

As soon as these words came out, Cao Cao's face darkened a bit. He never expected that the standard set by Yuan Shao would be so ruthless.

After all, Cao Cao doesn't even have ten thousand soldiers under his command right now.

If that's the case, then the first person to be kicked out of the camp and completely distanced from the allied forces' center would be Cao Mengde.

This made Cao Cao wonder if the condition proposed by Yuan Shao was intentional or accidental? —

PS: Transition chapters are too difficult to write, needing to take into account the description of the movements and reactions of all parties. (End of this chapter)