Chapter 377 Chen Qun, the Mole (2/2)

”Can't I have one of those goddess beauties like that bastard has!?”

An officer with scholar robe walked to Yuan Shu's side and whispered him, ”My lord, you have the Imperial Seal, while Zhang Tong doesn't have one. Righteousness is with you.”

Yuan Shu's eyes gleamed. He wanted to declare himself an emperor by using the Imperial Seal as a reason, but he did not dare. Several of Yuan Shu's officers admonished him about his plans, such as Yang Hong and Yan Xiang.

However, he wanted to go through with it. He already claimed the capital city of Luoyang and a few commanderies. He also had Sun Jian's forces under his control, so he did not fear anything.

Also, Khan and Liu Yang had been sending them tributes and opened their borders for merchants. The west of his kingdom was secured.

”You're right! I'm legitimate to ascend to the throne, but I can't simply proclaim myself an emperor without supporters from others!”

Yuan Shu was smart. He had been delaying his decision so far because of this reason.

His affiliate cities were weak in both economy and military. Yuan Shu's forces were no match to either Tong or Cao Cao, and his average tax income could upkeep the officers' salary and military budgets.

Yuan Shu had to acquire more resources one way or another before he could claim the throne. Or else, his empire would crumble before Yuan Shu could force other warlords to submit under him.

The young officer gazed at Yuan Shu with a cold smile. He continued whispering, ”My lord, currently, Sun Jian's forces had many soldiers and officers. Their salary and army upkeep are draining our treasury.”

Yuan Shu glared at his officer, ”His army is a must! Do you think it's easy to acquire a legion that can stop Zhang Tong's army? What do you plan to do, weaken my forces?”

”No, no! Lord Yuan Shu, you misunderstood me. Let me explain. We don't need to disband Sun Jian's army. Instead, why don't we lease his troops to Cao Cao?”

”WHAT!?”

”You heard me right, my lord. We should lease Sun Jian and his men to Cao Cao, so we can save our upkeep gold while we obtain gold from Cao Cao. Isn't this move like hitting two birds with one stone?”

Lending soldiers or leased army was something that had never occurred in this era.

Yuan Shu understood the terms of mercenaries, but he never heard about a lord lending his men to other forces before.

”Elaborate!”

”Yes, my lord. Leasing is like loaning. We let other warlords borrowing our troops for a price, just like how they hire mercenaries and private forces of military clansmen. It's the same, but we are the supplier, and Cao Cao is our customer.”

Yuan Shu had to pause and think for a minute before he could understand the logic behind this young man's advice.

”I get it! We become a mercenary organization, and we receive gold from Cao Cao, who will be our customer, right!?”

”… Yes. You can say it that way.”

”What about provision for Sun Jian Army?”

”If we lend them to Cao Cao, obviously, Cao Cao will have to provide them with supplies.”

”What about their pay?”

”We can have Cao Cao pay the wages for these men, but we have to negotiate with Cao Cao for the terms.”

”Very good! Well, eh, what's your name? I'm not very good at remembering my subordinate's name lately. Many new guys come and go, and I lost tracks of who is who.”

The scholar smiled, ”I'm Chen Qun, Chen Changwen, my lord. Sir Yang Hong promoted me here to help you.”

”Good! Chen Qun, I'll promote you as my advisor from now on! I'll pay you a thousand gold a month for your service!”

Chen Qun bowed while he hid his mocking grin, ”Thank you, my lord.”

”You'll also be in charge of this project! Here is my token. You can tell Sun Jian about this plan! Make it quick, though, because we don't have enough gold to pay them if we wait for too long!”

.

At night, Chen Qun dispatched his men from Luoyang to Xuchang.

In reality, Chen Qun was Cheng Yu's subordinate. The scholar was sent here as a mole to sabotage Yuan Shu's forces. Also, the idea of leasing came from Pu Jing.

Cheng Yu and Pu Jing did not forget to involve Yuan Shu in their plan to attack Yuan Shao. As Sun Jian Army was strong enough to contend with one of Tong's legions, Cao Cao and others had planned to draw them to their side.

Pu Jing had already told Cao Cao about Sun Jian's fate and the future of the Wu Kingdom, which Cao Cao was fascinated by the potentials of the Sun Clan.

Cao Cao came with a plan. Instead of allowing Sun Ce to unify Jiangdong, he would rather recruit this young tiger into his force before he grew wings.

As long as Sun Jian was alive, Sun Ce would not rise to the top!

Also, Sun Fang had been known as an idiot after an incident. From Pu Jing and Cao Cao's point of view, they could have sent assassins to kill this otherworlder at any time.

They could even frame Tong if the assassins were caught.

With the elaborate plans, Cheng Yu sent his junior scholar in Xuchang, Chen Qun, to Luoyang so that he could infiltrate Yuan Shu's ranks.

The task was a success, and Chen Qun completed his duty. Furthermore, he became a deep mole for Cao Cao in the future.

Chen Qun got back to his new resident in the inner district of Luoyang. He chuckled as he admired the decoration of the courtyard.

'That was too easy. Now, I'll wait here and let those guys do all the work.'