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

Chapter 200: If we look for the ruler and ministers of the Three Kingdoms, Li Lang’s talent is a match for Liu Jun

However, Yuan's army and the allied forces of Cao and Liu were in a stalemate at Guandu. Yuan Shao was frustrated because he had been unable to capture the city for a long time.

Guo Tu offered advice to Yuan Shao, suggesting that he send light cavalry to harass the grain route in Henan.

However, Yuan Shao refused, as he had his own plans in mind.

Seeing that Yuan Shao looked calm, everyone asked their lord what he thought.

Yuan Shao frowned and said firmly:

"We can hold out against the Henan army for two months. After two months, Cao Cao will be defeated by me."

After listening to Yuan Shao's analysis, no one could understand his meaning.

How did Yuan Shao determine that Cao Cao would be defeated two months later?
From the sound of it, Yuan Shao wants to engage in a war of attrition with Henan.

But as far as the current battle situation is concerned, Cao Cao still has the support of Xuzhou.

If we compare food consumption alone, the Hebei Army stationed far away in Guandu probably won't gain any advantage.

Pang Ji asked:
"Why are you so sure that Cao Cao can't hold out for long?"

Yuan Shao ordered someone to take out a stack of books.

Everyone came forward to check and was immediately shocked.

These scrolls were actually all letters exchanged between Yuzhou officials and Yuan Shao!

Hebei’s spy system is very powerful, and Yuan’s remote control ability over Yuzhou is extremely strong.

Especially the prosperous Runan, the Yuan family originally came from Runan.

Since the fall of Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao has been the only master of the Yuan family.

As Hebei is strong and Henan is weak, many officials in Yuzhou have already begun to pave the way for their own future.

Not only did they secretly exchange letters with Yuan Shao, but they also stated that as long as Yuan gave the order, they would immediately remain neutral!

Although these officials did not explicitly express their opposition to Henan, their neutral attitude alone would be a huge disaster for both Cao and Liu.

Because Cao and Liu both have territories in Yuzhou, once these counties choose to remain neutral, Cao and Liu will no longer be able to obtain money and food from them.

What is the situation of the Battle of Guandu so far?
That's a black hole!
Devour the people, food, and money of both sides and see who runs out of balance first.

The neutrality of Yuzhou counties will undoubtedly make the already weak Henan even worse.

Liu Bei was lucky because he only controlled a few counties in Yuzhou, so even if he rebelled directly, he would not suffer any serious consequences.

But Cao Cao was different.

He had a large territory in Yuzhou.

And because Yanzhou had rebelled before, Cao Cao had moved the economic and political center to Yingchuan in Yuzhou.

This means actual control of Yuzhou, which will directly endanger Cao Cao's rule.

This is also the reason why Yuan Shao said that Cao Cao would be the first to be defeated in two months.

At this time, all the Hebei officials in the general's tent were shocked by the news.

It turned out that without their knowledge, Yuan Shao had done so much work in secret.

More than half of the officials in Yuzhou exchanged letters with Yuan Shao. How much work must this have been?
No wonder Yuan Shao looks so haggard and tired recently.

Just when everyone was congratulating Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao delivered another powerful blow.

"Ru'nan Yellow Turban leader Liu Pi has contacted me. He will raise an army of 300,000 from Ru'nan to attack Cao Cao's Xu County!"

The Yellow Turbans in Runan were very powerful, and they all had close ties with the Yuan family.

When Yuan Shu was alive, they were close to him.

After Yuan Shu died, they became close to Yuan Shao.

Now that the war in Henan and Hebei had broken out, the Yellow Turban leaders, led by Liu Pi, responded to Yuan's call and expressed their willingness to harass the rear of Henan.

The Yellow Turbans of Runan had an army of 300,000.

Of course, this is just as exaggerated as the story of the millions of Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou.

Three hundred thousand people certainly includes the entire family, young and old, but it is still a considerable number.

As long as they launched an attack without seeking to win, they could share the pressure on the Guandu front and make Cao and Liu busy.

That’s meritorious!
Pang Ji suddenly asked:

"I remember that when the war started, the Yellow Turbans of Runan had already rebelled against Yuzhou."

"At that time, the imperial court sent Lu Bu, the governor of Runan, to quell the rebellion."

"How's the war going today?"

The first-hand information was always in Yuan Shao's hands, and his subordinates didn't know what the current situation in Yuzhou was.

"...Haha, Lu Bu only has the courage of an ordinary man, how can he be a match for Liu Pi?"

Yuan Shao raised his lips and smiled, taking out another report.

It turned out that Lu Bu originally wanted to raise an army to the front line to assist the court in fighting against the rebel Yuan Shao.

Because a rebellion broke out in Runan, the imperial court ordered Lu Bu, a local official, to stay in Runan to quell the rebellion.

This was also what Cao Cao meant. He had an old grudge with Lu Bu, and he also felt that Lu Bu's wolfish ambition could not be kept for long.

He and the cavalry under his command are extremely powerful and are an uncontrollable factor.

If they turn against their side at the front line, it will be detrimental to the war situation in Henan.

Xuzhou also had this consideration, and if Runan rebelled, it would also threaten Liu Ying's Pei State.

So Cao and Liu hit it off and unanimously decided to let Lu Bu stay in Runan to quell the rebellion.

After receiving the imperial edict, Lu Bu was happy to stay in Runan to wipe out the bandits.

He and his cavalry were at the top of the late Han Dynasty. In just ten days, they beheaded more than 0 people.

Shocking Runan!

However, the biggest characteristic of the Yellow Turbans in Runan is their scattered distribution.

Seeing how brave Lü Bu was, all the other generals hid in the mountains and jungles and fought guerrilla warfare.

Lu Bu and his Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry suddenly lost their cavalry advantage and had to dismount to suppress the bandits.

But I was in the clear and he was in the dark. The Yellow Turban bandits were no match for Lu Bu on horseback, and they hid in the dark and killed many of Lu Bu's soldiers.

After a long time, Lu Bu and his generals became tired.

At the beginning of the month, Lu Bu and other generals were still actively suppressing the bandits, going out three to five times a day.

By the end of the month, everyone had become lazy and would only go out once every three to five days.

At the same time, Lu Bu initially killed several leaders and beheaded them.

Then it was placed in a box and taken to the court in Chen.

Although Lu Bu did not say it explicitly, this move was undoubtedly an attempt to seek credit from the court.

But the imperial court was preoccupied with its own affairs at the moment, and Liu Chong had to spend money to support his own Chen army, so how could he take out money to reward Lu Bu's soldiers?

As for Cao's camp and Liu's camp, it goes without saying that both sides were tightening their belts.

All the money and food must be used for the war on the front line, and all the good wine and meat must be given priority to meritorious or injured soldiers.

Therefore, Lu Bu's army was only praised verbally, with some official promotions.

No statement was made on the physical rewards.

In a word,

It’s not that the leader doesn’t care about you, but the organization is currently planning a big project. Xiao Lu, you have to think about the collective and not just yourself.

When the project is successful in the future, you will definitely be promoted and given a raise.

Now you have to bear with it.

Don’t say anything that is not conducive to unity, and don’t do anything that is not conducive to unity.

Of course, Lu Bu and his generals would not buy into such a perfunctory attitude.

They thought they were trying their best to suppress the rebellion in the south, but in the end the imperial court didn't give them a penny. What was the point of suppressing the rebellion?
At this time, Chen Gong seized the opportunity and advised Lu Bu to keep his troops in place for the time being.

What is said on the surface is that only when Cao and Liu realize the seriousness of the Runan problem will they pay attention to you, General.

But secretly he hoped that Lu Bu would retain his strength.

Chen Gong never gave up his plan to drive out Cao and retake Yanzhou.

Before, when Lu Bu wanted to go to the north to fight against Yuan Shikai, Chen Gong strongly opposed it.

Now, taking advantage of the fact that Lu Bu and his subordinates are all showing signs of fatigue, Chen Gong will certainly not miss this opportunity.

This time, Lu Bu adopted Chen Gong's suggestion.

He summoned all the generals and angrily said to them:
"The actions of Cao Cao and Liu Bei were selfish."

"They have no idea of the hardships and sacrifices our army has made in suppressing the bandits!"

"They occupied a territory spanning four states, and transported countless amounts of money and grain to the Guandu front, but never mentioned a word about our army."

"Whether it was the money and food they promised or the promotion of the generals and their titles, none of them were sincere."

"In short, they are just using my sacrifice to keep themselves safe!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals praised Lu Bu's wise idea.

As a result, Lu Bu's army began to station in the counties of Runan and did not take the initiative to attack.

Liu Pi and other bandits knew that Lu Bu was not easy to deal with, so they did not attack him.

Anyway, their mission is to harass the rear of Henan.

Thanks to Lu Bu's army's tolerance of the Yellow Turbans in Runan, the various generals quickly recovered and got in touch with each other.

By the time the Battle of Guandu broke out, the Yellow Turbans of Runan had been able to mobilize 300,000 men.

As soon as Yuan Shao gives the order, they will burn towards the rear of Henan like a ball of fire!
"good!"

"good!"

"Great!"

After hearing this series of good news, all the officials in Hebei applauded and celebrated.

Although he was Yuan Shao's minister, they had been together for a long time.

But it was not until today that they realized how powerful the Yuan family was.

Three hundred thousand Yellow Turban bandits, and correspondence with more than half of the officials in Yuzhou.

The name of God Yuan is not for nothing.

Yuan Shao's frown finally relaxed and he smiled meaningfully:
"So our army only needs to continue to hold out against the Cao-Liu coalition forces at Guandu for the next two months."

"As long as Yuzhou remains neutral, the Yellow Turbans from Runan will march north to attack Xu, and the situation will be reversed."

"We just have to wait for the right time."

All the ministers bowed their hands and shouted:
"My lord is wise! Our army will surely win!"

……

Yuan's big hand officially took effect.

When the signboard of "Four generations of three officials, and former students and officials" that was spread all over the world was put up again.

Yuan Shao seemed to have returned to the time when he escaped from the capital and was supported by heroes all over the world.

——"At that time, many heroes had already attached themselves to Shao, and they were also moved by the misfortune of his family. People wanted to take revenge, and the states and counties rose up in rebellion, all of them using the name of the Yuan family."

Yuzhou was the most politically active region in the Han Dynasty, so the Yuan family enjoyed a very high reputation among the scholars in Ru and Ying.

When Yuan's big hand reached out to Yuzhou again, officials in Yuzhou responded one after another.

Considering that they did not dare to rebel openly, they all expressed their willingness to wait and see in the Battle of Guandu.

So it spread from the county to the prefecture.

Officials at all levels who had received great favors from the Yuan family withheld the taxes and grain they had collected.

It was no longer transported to the Guandu front.

The few officials who were still loyal to the court did not dare to obstruct the general trend and could only go with the flow.

Silently waiting for the court's arrangements and disposal.

At that time, Li Tong, a powerful man living in the western part of Runan, had considerable influence in Langling and Yang'an.

When Cao Cao occupied Runan, he appointed Li Tong as a general and granted him the title of Yang'an Duwei.

Li Tong then pledged allegiance to Cao. When many officials in Yuzhou adopted a wait-and-see attitude, Li Tong still transported local money and grain to the Guandu front.

As usual, the Hebei spies came to persuade Li Tong to surrender.

"General Li is a man of great righteousness. As the saying goes, a man who knows the current situation is a hero."

"Mr. Yuan loves your talent, so he sent me to persuade you to abandon evil and join the light."

"Mr. Yuan would like to appoint you as the General of the Southern Expedition, in charge of the affairs of the South. I hope you will take note of it."

Envoy Yuan proudly expressed the favors promised by the Yuan family.

The advantage of being Yuan's envoy is that the boss is really generous and offers favorable conditions.

So much so that when they went on a diplomatic mission to persuade the enemy to surrender, they were full of confidence.

The Yellow Turbans are now causing a rebellion in Runan, and all the counties are keeping their troops on hold. Li Tong is isolated and helpless in Yang'an.

Therefore, Yuan was still very confident in persuading Li Tong to surrender.

At that time, his uncle Li Tong was by his side, and he also felt that the Yuan family was too powerful and it would be difficult for Cao and Liu to fight against them.

Furthermore, Yuan Shao is kind and magnanimous. If you help him, you will be treated well!

Then he cried and advised Li Tong:
"...Ah, my dear nephew! Today, Yang'an is isolated and the soldiers are defending alone."

"We have lost our great support, and our destruction is imminent."

"The Yuan family has been a benefactor for four generations, and their students and former officials are all over the world. Now we are willing to send an envoy to Yang'an to persuade our nephew to surrender."

"This is a heavy responsibility, it is better to surrender to Yuan Shikai and follow the will of heaven."

Li Tong's face suddenly changed, he held the sword in his hand and shouted:
"Why is uncle talking nonsense?"

"Since I joined the Cao family, I have been determined to work together with Lord Cao. How dare I be afraid of the strong and surrender to the enemy?"

"Besides, Lord Cao is wise and will surely be able to rule the world."

"Although the Yuan family was powerful, they had no command and did not employ virtuous people."

"I will be captured by Cao Gong in the end. I will not hesitate even if I die!"

The Yuan envoy had not expected Li Tong to be so stubborn, so he tried to comfort him:
"The country is now in turmoil, and the Liu family is in decline."

"My family has been a minister for four generations, and the people have always been loyal to them."

"To be in accordance with the will of heaven and in accordance with the will of the people is the destiny of heaven."

"General, why do you have to go against the will of heaven?"

"Besides, Lord Yuan raised an army of 600,000 at Guandu, while Cao Cao and Liu Bei only had 30,000 or 40,000 men. How could they resist him?"

"Although Henan has a small victory, it will eventually be defeated by Yuan Gong."

Envoy Yuan analyzed Li Tong in an orderly manner. He spoke calmly and his confidence came from his heart.

"Today the world is in turmoil, heroes have risen up, and there will be a way out."

"And those who can put an end to the chaos in the world are the ones that the wise choose carefully."

"As the saying goes, those who follow the will of heaven will prosper, and those who go against it will perish."

"Mr. Yuan is so talented and wise that no one else in the world can match him?"

"If the general insists on doing what he wants, wait until Lord Yuan destroys Cao Cao and clears Runan."

"How should you, your wife, parents, wife and children deal with it?"

"Only you can think about it carefully!"

Yuan's envoy believed that Li Tong had only been with Cao Cao for a short time and there was no reason for him to be loyal to Cao Cao.

Unexpectedly, Li Tong flew into a rage and shouted with his sword:

"As the ancients said, a woman should not serve two husbands, and a minister should not serve two masters."

"I have already surrendered to Cao, how can I surrender to Yuan Shao again?"

"Besides, even though Yuan has a large army, he may not be able to defeat Cao Gong."

"Even if Yanzhou is lost, there is still Yingchuan. If Yingchuan is lost, there is still Runan."

"If Runan is lost again, we can still seek refuge with Liu Xuzhou."

"As long as I am still alive, Li will never surrender!"

After saying this, Li Tong killed Yuan's envoy with a sword and cut off his head.

My uncle was shocked and said hurriedly:
"My dear nephew, you are so confused!"

"The Yuan family is now powerful. Even if my nephew does not surrender to Yuan, why should he kill the envoy?"

Li Tong's face darkened and he said seriously:
"Since you have decided to fight against Yuan, you should not give others an opportunity to take advantage of you."

"I will kill Yuan's envoy so that Cao Gong will not suspect me."

"Also let the brothers in the clan know that my family has become enemies with the Yuan family."

"In the future, we must unite to resist Yuan Shikai and not have any other thoughts. Otherwise, I will kill him with my own hands without Cao Gong having to do anything."

My uncle nodded and left, not daring to say anything against me.

After Li Tong killed the envoy, someone reported that Zhao Yan, the chief of Langling, wanted to see him.

Li Tong immediately invited him in and asked about the current situation in Yuzhou.

Zhao Yan looked unhappy, frowned, and sighed:
"Today, the world is not united, and all the counties are in rebellion."

"If those who are willing to support the imperial court take their silk and cloth away, it may cause resentment among the people."

"Moreover, there are many dangers both near and far, so we must be careful."

The situation is more serious than everyone imagined.

In addition to the fact that most of the counties in Yuzhou rebelled and stopped sending money and food to the front line.

The very few remaining counties and prefectures that were still dependent on the imperial court were in a state of panic.

The local people all felt that surrendering to Yuan was the trend of the times, so why didn't their hometown follow the lead of other counties?
Simultaneously,

Yuan’s intelligence system once again took action and launched a public opinion offensive.

Many people in Yuzhou felt that as long as they joined the Yuan family, they could live a good life.

Because Yuan Shao was famous for his kind and generous character.

Therefore, Zhao Yan mentioned that it would be difficult to collect taxes and silk from counties that had not yet rebelled, for fear of causing public resentment.

The implication was that he hoped Li Tongye would immediately stop collecting taxes in Yang'an County to avoid further chaos.

Li Tong said:
"Yuan Shao was in a stalemate with Cao Sikong and General Liu, and the counties on both sides rebelled."

"If the brocade and silk are not delivered, the onlookers will surely think that I am looking back and waiting for something." Li Tong said, Brother Zhao, I understand your good intentions.

But you know what kind of personality our boss has.

Now the whole of Runan is in rebellion, just because of Cao’s suspicious character.

If I don't pay Yang'an's taxes, Cao will kill me, right?

Li Tong insisted on continuing to collect taxes in order to avoid suspicion.

Zhao Yan was a good friend of Li Tong, so he advised:

"I agree with you, but we should consider the severity of the situation and postpone the taxation for now."

"You can return the wealth to the people. I will help you solve this problem in Yingchuan."

What Zhao Yan meant was, brother, stop making trouble.

Runan is already in such chaos, and only Yang'an is Cao Gong's base. We can't let it get into chaos again.

Please quickly return the conscription to the people. I will speak for you on the central government's side.

The reason why Zhao Yan is so confident is naturally because he has someone above him.

As a scholar from Yingchuan, his boss's boss was Cao Cao.

Now his big brother is Xun Yu.

Zhao Yan immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Cao’s army base camp in Yingchuan overnight.

When Cao Cao was at the Guandu front, Xun Yu was the absolute leader.

When the letter was delivered to Xun Yu, he opened it and read the following words:
"Yang'an County is sending silk and brocade, but the roads are difficult and will definitely lead to harm from the invaders."

"The people are in poverty, and neighboring cities are in rebellion."

"Yang'an is also in danger of collapse, so we must pay attention to it."

"Moreover, the people of this county are loyal and steadfast, and they will not hesitate even when faced with danger."

“If small kindnesses are rewarded, then those who are righteous will be encouraged.”

“The best way to govern a country is to hide it among the people.”

"Therefore, the state should offer comfort and consolation, and return all the silk and silk collected to the people."

"In this way, Runan can be pacified, and the entire Yuzhou can be pacified."

Zhao Yan proposed a way to deal with Yuan’s public opinion offensive.

That is to stop collecting taxes.

Of course, they were already unable to conquer in the first place.

Now is a good opportunity to show favor to the people.

Those who win the hearts of the people will win the world.

As long as the people of Yuzhou are kept stable, those officials who are just waiting and watching will be powerless to do anything.

After reading Zhao Yan's letter, Xun Yu was overjoyed and replied:
"Your words are very good! I will report them to Lord Cao right away."

"The official document has been sent to the county, and all the silk and brocade collected should be returned to the people."

Xun Yu immediately sent the letter to Yang'an County in the name of the public.

When the people of Yang'an saw this, they were all delighted.

Therefore, the area of Yang'an was temporarily stable.

Xun Yu helped Cao Cao to save Yang'an County in Runan, and sent an urgent document to the Guandu front to explain the unrest in Yuzhou.

At that time, Cao Cao was in Guandu. After receiving Xun Yu's letter, he was shocked.

"I have only been on the expedition for two months. How come I have only Yingchuan and Yang'an in my possession?"

Cao Cao was dumbfounded. He lost most of his family property out of nowhere.

All the generals advised:
"Now we have moved our seat of government to Yingchuan. If Yuzhou is lost, we will be homeless."

"Why not withdraw the troops and return to Yuzhou to quell the rebellion first?"

Cao Cao decisively refused:

"If I leave, Xuande will not be able to resist the Hebei army, and will fall into Yuan Shao's trap."

"Yuan Shao saw that our two families had united, so he started a rebellion behind my back."

"If I help Yuzhou now, Yuan Shao will surely lead his entire army to attack Xuande."

"Xuan De is one less soldier than me, so it is really hard to resist him."

"If they lose, Guandu will be broken."

"If Guandu is captured, Yuan Shao can take advantage of the situation and march south to attack Xu County."

"By then, I will have no external support or internal help, and will still be defeated by Yuan."

When the generals heard this, they were all extremely anxious.

I secretly sighed at Yuan Shao's powerful move, which had put our army in a dilemma, unable to defend or retreat.

"But if we allow the rebellion in Yuzhou to continue, our army will lose its support, and how can we fight against Yuan's army?"

Cao Ren said with a worried look on his face.

Cao Cao pondered for a while, then said to the generals:

"Liu Bei also owns Yuzhou. He should know about this rebellion."

"Now that we are joining forces to fight against Yuan, we should discuss countermeasures with him."

At this time, we have to rely on our allies to help.

Cao Cao could say with a clear conscience that he had done his best in this alliance campaign.

All the wars were fought on his territory, and the casualties were all caused by Cao Cao.

Now that he's faced with such a terrible thing again, can you, Old Liu, just stand by and watch him die?

So Cao Cao led everyone to Liu Bei's camp.

After the report was made, the two families met.

As soon as they met, Cao Cao asked directly:

"Does Xuande know about the crisis in Yuzhou?"

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Just now, Chen Gui, the Prime Minister of Pei, sent me a letter, and I learned that there was a change in Yuzhou."

The area of Yuzhou controlled by Liu Bei was mainly Pei State.

The Prime Minister of Pei State was Chen Gui, and he was assisted by Chen Qun.

Although he was able to temporarily stabilize his people, he also expressed the difficulty of the counties' unwillingness to cooperate with the government in paying taxes.

This was especially true in the southern part of Pei State, which was the area most loyal to the Yuan family.

In the early years, they were Yuan Shu's sphere of influence.

Although the Liu family is currently related to the Yuan family by marriage, the real head of the Yuan family is still there.

Of course they chose the real boss.

So there are only two choices before Lao Liu.

Either send troops to suppress the rebellion or impose taxes forcibly.

Or adopt a conciliatory approach and temporarily stop collecting taxes.

After Yuan Shao is defeated and the war is over, these counties that have been taking a wait-and-see attitude will naturally return to the embrace of the imperial court.

In the letter, Chen Gui expressed his hope that Liu Bei would adopt a conciliatory strategy.

Because he found that most of the people in Yuzhou were still loyal to the Yuan family.

If we send troops by force, it will only backfire.

This made the local people think that Henan was violent and the Yuan family was kind and lenient.

Their only bright future was to join Yuan Shao.

As for Liu Bei, he could certainly temporarily give up the tax revenue from Pei State.

Because his main sources of income were in Xuzhou and Huainan, the income from Pei State was of no use to Liu Ying.

But Cao Cao was like a mute swallowing his bitterness, unable to express it in words.

Cao Ying’s current main source of income is the counties and prefectures in Yuzhou.

But now Cao Cao only has Yingchuan and Yang'an in his hands.

"The land of Yuzhou is now in rebellion, and my subordinates are all urging me to go back and put down the rebellion."

"But this matter is of great importance, and I dare not make a decision on my own."

"So I came here to discuss this matter with Xuande."

Cao Cao expressed his difficulties to Liu Bei.

He also deliberately emphasized that his subordinates were all urging him to go back.

In other words,
It's just asking Liu Bei, can you hold out at Guandu alone?

If you can help me for a while, I will go back to Yuzhou first.

Of course Liu Bei was unwilling to let Cao Cao go. He reached out and grabbed Cao Cao's sleeve, saying in a deep voice:
"At present, the only people Yuan Shao is afraid of are Cao Gong and Bei Er."

"If Lord Cao runs away now, how can we resist him?"

Even if he could hold on, Liu Bei couldn't do it on his own.

You know, Liu Bei is now helping Cao Cao fight Yuan Shao.

Of course, from a long-term perspective, you are also helping yourself.

But no matter what, Lao Cao, you can't sell me out in the middle of the battle, right?
You have your difficulties, and I have to give an explanation to my brothers, right?
Cao Cao pretended to be embarrassed and spread his hands:
"We have lost all of Yuzhou, and it is difficult to collect money and grain."

"Yanzhou is the main battlefield again. The people have no strength left and the rice has been destroyed."

"How will we fight against Yuan Shao?"

Li Yi said beside him:
"Doesn't Lord Cao still have Yingchuan?"

"Yingchuan is a rich land, and should be able to hold out for another two months."

Cao Cao employed Zao Zhi to cultivate land in Yingchuan, and his main source of income was indeed in Yingchuan.

Cao Cao sneered and said:
"Are you kidding me?"

"Use the land of Yingchuan to supply our two states' armies?"

"Even if I can hold out for two months, what will happen after two months?"

Li Yinai said:

"Now that we have formed an alliance to fight against Yuan, we must work together with one heart and one mind."

"If Cao Gong runs out of food, Xuzhou will never stand idly by!"

Hey! You!
Cao Cao was so angry that his beard was about to become crooked.

At first glance, Li Yi's words seemed quite loyal.

But if you think about it carefully, you will find that this guy has bad intentions.

Now that Yuzhou is in trouble, it would be fine if you don't help.

You actually want me to use up the savings that I have accumulated over the years, and only after it is used up will you, Xuzhou, agree to support me.

Are you too cruel, kid?

"...Okay, Ziyu."

Liu Bei waved his hand, signaling Li Yi to stop talking.

Then he turned to Cao Cao and said:

"Don't worry, Lord Cao. If Yuzhou is in trouble, we in Xuzhou cannot sit idly by."

"From now on, our army will supply 1,000 hu of military rations every day to help Mingzhou overcome the difficulties."

Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, and he held Liu Bei's hand and said:

"You know my mind very well!"

"If so, our allies will surely defeat Yuan Shao."

Li Yi was about to persuade him again, but Liu Bei said he had made up his mind.

Li Yi had no choice but to give up.

After leaving the camp, Li Yi asked Liu Bei about the reason.

Liu Bei, however, turned around and blamed Li Yi:

"I know that when you came out of the mountains, you nearly died at the hands of Cao's army."

"It was you who pushed for an alliance between Cao and Liu to fight against Yuan Shao."

"Now that the two families have joined forces, we should put aside our old grudges and not sacrifice public interests for personal gain."

Obviously, Liu Bei thought that Li Yi treated Cao Cao so harshly because he must be holding a grudge against him.

Because they had been together for such a long time, Liu Bei knew that Li Yi had a very kind character.

But when facing Cao Cao, he always kills him.

Liu Bei could understand Li Yi's feelings.

But Liu Bei believed that with a powerful enemy at hand, he should put the overall situation first.

Li Yi raised his eyebrows and asked seriously:
"Who do you think Li Yi is?"

"Since entering Xuzhou, Yi has devoted all his energy to this matter."

"I have never failed to live up to my heart in all my actions."

"I just hope that the world will be unified soon, and the people will live in peace and not be burdened by war anymore."

As a second-generation rich man, Li Yi originally had no feelings for the lower classes.

But on the first day of the time travel, he was almost killed by Cao's soldiers.

It is precisely because of this that Li Yi can empathize with the people at the bottom of society and knows how difficult life is in this world.

He never hated Cao Cao, what he hated was the chaotic world that almost killed him.

He was not targeting Cao Cao, but he had a longer-term vision.

After Yuan Shao is destroyed, Cao Cao will undoubtedly be Liu Ying's biggest enemy.

Cao Cao is more capable than Yuan Shao. When he rises, he will be a more difficult opponent than Yuan Shao.

Therefore, Li Yi tried his best to restrict the development of the Cao family from beginning to end.

Just as he said before, he advocated waiting until Cao's camp was completely exhausted before Xuzhou would provide food aid.

This can be considered as sticking to principles and limiting the Cao family's limits without backstabbing their allies.

"…If we defeat Yuan Shao, our army will definitely head north."

"Does the Cao family have more land in Hebei? Does the Liu family have more?"

Li Yi asked a soul-searching question.

Old Liu, if you don't restrict Cao Cao now, we will defeat Yuan Shao and divide his land.

When Cao Cao took away a large amount of rich land and left, you would have had the chance to cry.

Liu Bei hesitated for a while, and then said:
"The current battle situation is unclear, and the outcome is still unknown."

"It's hard to judge with just one word."

"If we really wait until then, we'll talk about it then!"

……Um.

Li Yi was speechless for a moment. It was not until this moment that he realized that Lao Liu was different from himself.

I think about problems completely from the perspective of a politician, not talking about feelings, only talking about gains and losses.

But Lao Liu still retains a chivalrous spirit since he started his business.

He was willing to help Cao Cao immediately, both out of sympathy for his old friend and out of loyalty to his ally.

This indeed shows Liu Bei's chivalrous side.

But Li Yi felt vaguely uneasy.

Liu Bei's temper was sometimes very stubborn, so stubborn that even a donkey couldn't pull him back.

When he gets too excited, he will bring his chivalrous spirit into the officialdom and even onto the battlefield.

I don't know if this habit is good... or bad...

"Sir, do you think Bei did something wrong?"

Liu Bei also felt that his words just now were a bit harsh.

When he invited Li Yi to come out of seclusion, he made it clear that he would treat him as a teacher.

But I was a little excited just now and seemed to be rude.

"……Do not."

Li Yi shook his head and smiled with a look of relief.

"Yi just said that I have never failed to live up to my heart."

"So I ask not to send food to Cao's camp."

"But the lord took the initiative and insisted on sending grain to Cao's camp."

"I think that my lord has always been sincere and has never let anyone down."

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard this.

He stepped forward and took Li Yi's arm, then said:
"In this case, I hope that you and Bei will not regret what you have done in the future."

As he said this, he wanted to take Li Yi with him to have dinner together.

Li Yi refused, saying he had to deal with official business first.

Liu Bei asked what the matter was, couldn't it be handed over to someone else?

Li Yi smiled and said:

"Yi, go and count the food and fodder to be sent to Cao's camp tomorrow."

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Both men laughed.

……

A poem praised this:

If we look for the emperor and his ministers at the end of the Han Dynasty, Li Lang’s talent is a match for Liu Jun.

The friendship we had when we first met in Tan County is still there, and we still work together on this picturesque landscape.

(End of this chapter)