The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 109: Once a Liuying Citizen, Always a Liuying Citizen
Su Fei mentioned that the provincial government was looking for someone to escort the warship back to Guangling.

This suddenly woke the dreamer up.

First of all, the warships that Lu Su bought from Jingzhou must be transported from Jiangxia.

Because Jiangxia County is along the Yangtze River, it can reach Guangling directly.

The journey spans half of the Yangtze River and also crosses Pengze Lake.

Therefore, the warriors selected must be proficient in water and steering.

At the same time, pirates were rampant on the river.

Like the pirate Xue Zhou, who roamed the Yangtze River and the East China Sea, it was said that he had more than 10,000 pirates under his command.

These are the ones that require special protection.

Speaking of pirates, it involves Gan Ning's professional field.

Having been in the underworld for so long, the reputation of Jinfan Thief is still very well-known.

Ordinary pirates would not dare to attack easily, and even if they did, Gan Ning at least had the professional knowledge to deal with them.

Therefore, Gan Ning is very competitive in being the candidate for this escort.

"My lord, please send the list of candidates for this escort. I have given you this spot."

"I believe that with Xingba's resume, it won't be difficult to be elected."

"When the time comes, you should be able to handle it smoothly, right?"

Su Fei crossed his arms across his chest and said to Gan Ning with a smile.

Gan Ning excitedly sat on the ground and bowed to Su Fei:
"That's true. I'm so lucky!"

One of the important reasons why Gan Ning could not escape from Jiangxia was that Huang Zu took a fancy to his troops.

Gan Ning has eight hundred men under his command, all of whom were the ones who followed him into the martial arts world back then.

They are all good in the water.

Huang Zu was greedy but didn't want to seize the money openly, so he asked people to bribe them secretly and instigate his subordinates to join him.

Gan Ning knew all this, even though his brothers all refused Huang Zu's bribery.

But who can withstand the erosion of time?
Gan Ning was worried that if time went on, everyone in Jiangxia would lose hope and lose their spirit.

He really joined Huang Zu's army.

"Since Lord Liu is purchasing warships, it shows that he is determined to build a navy."

"I guess their army lacks sharp weapons in the water."

"This is exactly what Gan Ning is planning!"

Gan Ning told Su Fei his inner thoughts.

He planned to take advantage of this opportunity to escort the Xuzhou envoy back to Guangling and take his troops to join Liu Bei.

Su Fei nodded:

"Xingba has such ambitions, how can I hinder your future?"

"Liu Xuzhou is currently fighting Yuan Shu in Guangling, and the battle is intense. This is a good opportunity for him to establish his hegemony and make great achievements."

"Just go with peace of mind!"

"If you are able to obtain a position in Liu Xuzhou's office in the future, please do not forget to write back and report the good news to me."

"I should be proud of you."

Gan Ning bowed his head again and excitedly took Su Fei's hand:

"Brother, I will never forget your kindness."

Su Fei just sighed regretfully:
"The journey ahead is long and arduous, so please take care of yourself."

"I wish I could go to the battlefield with Xingba."

Upon hearing this, Gan Ning's eyes turned red and he knelt down for a long time without getting up.

Su Fei quickly stepped forward and helped him up:

"Why did Xingba go to this extent?!"

"There's no need to be so formal between you and me, brothers."

"Go back and prepare yourself. I will notify you as soon as the lord's official document arrives."

Gan Ning was overjoyed and pulled Su Fei to go drink, threatening that he would not return until he was drunk tonight.

After getting drunk, they want to sleep together in the same quilt.

A few days later, the document from Xiangyang came down.

As Su Fei expected, Gan Ning was successfully selected for the list of people escorting the warship to Guangling.

After bidding farewell to Su Fei, Gan Ning took all of his 800 troops with him.

After boarding the boat, I met Lu Zijing first.

Lu Su was surprised and delighted to know that the person in front of him was Gan Ning's descendant.

I thought to myself that Mr. Li asked me to come to Jingzhou to recruit Xun You and Gan Ning.

Unexpectedly, Gan Ning was already on the way.

So he went to test Gan Ning's attitude, and after learning that he had been blocked in Jiangxia, he had no choice but to find an excuse to escape.

Lu Su could hardly suppress his ecstasy.

It seems that the mission was successfully completed!
So he took Xun You, a famous scholar from Yuzhou, with him and sailed eastward, all the way down the river.

Headed towards Guangling.

……

Guangling at this time was much more peaceful than in the previous days.

This was mainly due to Guan Yu's capture of Jiujiang Zhongli and threat to Yuan Shu Shouchun.

Yuan Shu had to shrink his defense line to protect Jiujiang.

Therefore, the number of troops on the Guangling front line was reduced again and again.

Li Yi could clearly feel that Yuan's army attacked at least twice a day at the beginning.

The day comes, and the night comes again.

But gradually it became once every two or three days, and then once every seven days.

In the end, they simply withdrew from the Guangling front line and retreated to Liyang.

In this way, the last group of Yuan Shu's troops were also repelled by Li Yi.

But Li Yi was not in a hurry to return to Xia Pi, because their strategy was to deal with Yuan Shu with all their strength.

Since nothing went wrong in the three states of Qing, Yan and Yu.

Then there's no need to rush back.

By staying in Guangling, we can focus more on training the navy and dealing with Yuan Shu.

"Zi Yu, you are bullying me!"

Li Yi suddenly heard a loud shout from behind. Turning back, he saw it was Chen Yuanlong.

"How did I deceive you?" Li Yi asked.

"You persuaded me to come to Guangling to enjoy the sashimi of sea bream. We agreed to share it together someday."

"You have been in Guangling for quite some time now. Whenever I ask the cook to prepare sashimi, you always ask for permission to leave the table and not eat with me."

"We understand now. It turns out you don't like eating fish sashimi at all!"

Hahaha……

Hearing this, Li Yi couldn't stop laughing.

Li Yi was really happy looking at Chen Deng who was fooled by him.

He must feel quite accomplished to be able to trick such a smart person to this extent.

Of course he didn't like sashimi, and he didn't want to have three liters of worms in his stomach.

"In this case, Yi apologizes to Yuanlong."

The relationship between Li Yi and Chen Deng is no longer the same as before, and they can still play around with each other on weekdays.

Seeing this, Chen Deng grinned:
"We were just joking!"

"Don't I know the real reason why you sent me to Guangling?"

After the joke, a servant suddenly came to report that the envoy from Yangzhou wanted to see him.

Li Yi and Chen Deng looked at each other, and Chen Deng asked first:

"Who is coming?"

The servant replied that the man claimed to be Xu Shao.

Well.

Where are the famous people from Runan!
Xu Shao's great-grandfather Xu Jing, Xu Jing's son Xu Xun, and Xu Xun's son Xu Xiang all served as three highest officials.

The Yuedanping created by Xu Shao led the fashion in the Han Dynasty for a time.

So his fame is very big.

Moreover, Xu Shao was also an old friend of the people of Xuzhou.

When Xu Shao sought refuge before, he took refuge in Guangling and was treated as a guest of honor by Tao Qian.

"Please invite him into the main hall!"

Chen Deng immediately ordered his men to invite Xu Shao into the main hall.

Then he invited Li Yi to go with him to meet Xu Shao.

Li Yi readily agreed.

It’s not just because Xu Shao came here on behalf of Yangzhou.

I also know that Xu Shao is very good at face reading, so I want to see how he would evaluate me.

After a while, Li Yi and Chen Deng met Xu Shao in the main hall.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, they took their seats.

Chen Deng spoke first:
"It has been many years since you left for Huainan."

"I don't think you will still be as charming as ever."

Xu Shao laughed heartily:
"I am not as good as Yuanlong, who is now the governor of Guangling."

"The day before yesterday, you defeated Yuan's army and shocked the southern part of Xu. Old friends were amazed when they heard about it."

As Xu Shao spoke, he looked around and there was no one else around.

Then he expressed his doubts:

"I heard that Liu Xuzhou personally led the troops in Guangling to fight against Yuan Shu."

"Why don't we see General Liu?"

Xu Shao wondered inwardly whether Liu Bei was unwilling to come and see him in person.

Can't you?
Everyone clearly said that Liu Xuande was respectful to the wise and kind to others.

Chen Deng quickly explained:
"Don't misunderstand me, General."

"Liu Xuzhou went to Sheyang to inspect the navy."

"I will be in charge of Guangling's affairs, and Ziyu will be on the sidelines to supervise."

I see……

Xu Shao nodded and took a sip of tea nonchalantly.

Then he asked tentatively:

"I heard that Liu Xuzhou was from the north."

"As the saying goes, northerners are good at riding horses, while southerners are good at sailing."

"Liu Xuzhou is from the north, but now he is training boatmen and sailors in Sheyang."

"Does he intend to go south and take over Jiangnan?"

Although Xu Shao asked this question casually, it was extremely aggressive.

Chen Deng immediately became alert and was about to speak, but Li Yi spoke first:
"Where my Lord is, he will show mercy and justice."

"The reason why Guangling is fighting against Yuan Shu now is to comfort the people and punish the criminals, not for personal gain."

"Only the virtuous can live on the land of the world."

"Is it only owned by private individuals?"

Xu Shao saw that Li Yi's words were flawless. When they met just now, he already knew that this person was Liu Bei's new military advisor.

When I first met him, I just felt that he was young and I didn't know how capable he was.

From the question and answer just now, I already know his ability.

Xu Shao smiled and said:

"Mr. Li, what you said makes sense. My lord was also deceived by Yuan Shu in Qu'a the other day."

"This scene is exactly like Liu Xuzhou. It is thanks to the wise men in Jiangnan who sacrificed their lives for the country and raised food and troops for our lord."

"We have just stabilized the current situation."

Xu Shao was worthy of being a famous scholar of his generation, as he resolved the confrontation that had just occurred.

It also cleverly tied the interests of Yangzhou and Xuzhou together.

Hinting to Li Yi, they all had a common enemy, Yuan Shu.

Li Yi could naturally hear the hidden meaning in Xu Shao's words, and asked directly without beating around the bush:
"I wonder what Mr. Xu wants me to do in Xuzhou?"

what?
Hahaha……

Xu Shao was stunned at first, but then he was amused by Li Yi's straightforwardness.

"Okay, Mr. Li is a quick-witted person, so Shao will also speak frankly."

"The one who defeated my lord in Qu'a the day before yesterday was Sun Ce, son of Sun Jian."

"This kid is wreaking havoc in Wujun and poisoning Jiangdong, and he treats us scholars like grass!"

"This is indeed a serious threat, so my lord hopes that Liu Xuzhou will send troops to help us because we are of the same clan!"

Sun Ce did massacre a large number of Jiangdong nobles in Jiangdong, although this also brought him disaster and death later.

However, this kind of atrocities made everyone in Jiangdong feel insecure and fear Sun Ce like a tiger.

Everyone united as never before to resist Sun Ce's invasion.

Li Yi hesitated for a moment and said:
"Since my lord took office in Xuzhou, he has used both kindness and force to attract people."

"Subdue Zang Ba and expel Yuan Tan."

"It has brought peace to Xuzhou, and the people are happy and content."

"Now Xuzhou has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food, and its generals are brave."

"The ministers who guard the palace are working tirelessly inside, and the loyal and dedicated men are willing to sacrifice themselves outside, all of them want to repay the special favor of our lord and fulfill their duties."

"Yangzhou and Xuzhou are just across the river. We should be friendly neighbors and support each other."

"Besides, Liu Yangzhou and my master are both relatives of the Han emperor?"

"Yuan Shu took charge of Yangzhou and also called himself the Earl of Xuzhou. He was good at sending troops to Guangling as before, abducting our people and raping our women."

"My Lord naturally doesn't want this to happen in Jiangdong."

"Don't worry, Mr. Xu. The people of Xuzhou will definitely give serious consideration to Liu Yangzhou's request."

Xu Shao was stunned, and felt that he was really listening to Jun's words as if he were listening to a speech.

He really wanted to ask what Li Yi did before.

Whether or not to send troops, just tell me directly.

What do you mean by asking me to wait for news?
You are so good at Tai Chi.

It seemed like he said a lot, but in fact he said nothing.

In short, it just means a bunch of useful nonsense.

"…My lord will raise an army to attack Sun Ce soon."

"To recover the two counties of Qu'a and Dantu."

"Whether Xuzhou is willing to send troops or not, all you need is a word from you, sir. Why do you have to keep me waiting?"

Xu Shao stood up and expressed his dissatisfaction.

"To be honest, I am here with a mission."

"It is not appropriate to stay for long. Sir, whether you are willing to send troops to cooperate with my lord, just tell me a word."

"If you don't want to, sir, you don't have to worry about the two families becoming enemies."

"Please rest assured, sir!"

Xu Shao verbally guaranteed that Liu Yao would not blame Liu Bei.

But it's just polite talk, and you can just say you don't blame me.

But if something really happens in the future, who wouldn’t feel uneasy?
"Mr. Xu, please be patient."

Li Yi drank a sip of tea nonchalantly, calmed Xu Shao down, and asked him to sit back down.

"Mr. Xu also knows that my lord is currently reviewing the navy at Sheyang Lake."

"My lord is not here, so it is not appropriate for us, the subjects, to make decisions on our own, right?"

"Although we privately hope that Liu Yangzhou can recover Qu'a and Dantu, the matter is of great importance. It is better to wait for my master to come back before making a decision."

you!
Xu Shao was dumbfounded. You just said that Liu Bei had handed over the affairs of Guangling to Chen Deng and you, Li Yi.

Do you dare to say that you two will not have the right to act at your own convenience?

Guangling is separated from Qu'a and Dantu by only one river.

As long as Guangling is willing to send troops, we will arrive in one day.

But you use this excuse to fool me!

Xu Shao was about to leave in anger.
but……

Then he thought, if he failed to get reinforcements this time, wouldn't he be laughed at when he returned?
Moreover, no matter whether he asked for troops or not, Liu Yao would send troops to recapture Qu'a and Dantu.

There is not much point in going back by myself.

Just stay here and wait for news with peace of mind.

What if they could really ask Guangling to send troops to attack from the north and south? How do you think Sun Ce would be able to resist?
Sun Ce abandoned Yuan Shu's rear base, bypassed Moling and stationed in Qu'a.

So he has no backup.

They could only rely on Qu'a and Dantu counties to resist the attack.

If Sun Ce had not been brave and good at fighting, there would have been no need to send troops from Guangling, and Liu Yao would have destroyed him himself.

However, the battle of Qu'a gave this kid confidence.

Even though Liu Yao wanted to fight again, most of the generals and soldiers in the army were afraid of Sun Ruhu and did not dare to fight again.

Therefore, Yangzhou was eager for Guangling to send troops to cooperate.

"Don't worry, Mr. Xu, wait until my master receives the news."

"Li will definitely inform Mr. Xu as soon as possible."

Li Yi made a solemn promise to Xu Shao.

Xu Shao thought to himself that this was the only way, so he could only bow and say:
"Then I'll bother you two for the time being."

"...Hahahaha, Mr. Xu is a famous scholar in the world, and he is willing to condescend to me."

"We in Guangling are deeply honored."

Chen Deng and Li Yi looked at each other and laughed.

(End of this chapter)