Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 87: War breaks out again
Yan Yi attached great importance to recruiting Zhou Tai. Sometimes he frowned in thought, and sometimes he unfolded the bamboo slips and looked at them repeatedly.

Judging from Pei Ji's feedback, it is very difficult to recruit Zhou Tai.

Since ancient times, wise rulers seeking to recruit talented individuals have always first surveyed their territory, promoting local heroes to consolidate their foundation before planning for the future. This is what is known as "those who are near the water get the moon first."

In history, Sun Ce was able to easily recruit Zhou Tai under his command because of the Sun family's extraordinary influence in Jiujiang County.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Sun Jian participated in suppressing the rebellion as an assistant military commander. His first group of troops were soldiers from the Huai and Si regions recruited from Jiujiang County.

After Sun Jian's death, Sun Ce, Sun Ben and other descendants of the Sun family continued to frequently operate in Jiujiang County, which enabled the Sun family to maintain a high reputation in the county.

Even when Yuan Shu attacked Jiujiang, he had to rely on the influence of the Sun family in Jiujiang to expand his territory, and even at one point he thought of appointing Sun Ce as the prefect of Jiujiang.

Later, Yuan Shu regretted his decision and took back the post of Jiujiang prefect that he had promised to Sun Ce. This was probably because he was worried that the Sun family would become too powerful in Jiujiang and difficult to control. This move marked the beginning of the split between Yuan Shu and Sun Ce.

Compared with the Sun family, the Yan family's reputation and connections in Jiujiang are much worse, almost non-existent.

The vast majority of Jiujiang people only know Sun Ce but not Yan Yi.

Therefore, in the matter of recruiting Zhou Tai, Yan Yi was at an absolute disadvantage from the very beginning.

He had to put in a lot of effort to have a chance of recruiting him, but Sun Ce didn't have to do anything, Zhou Tai would come to him on his own.

Comparing the two, it's really speechless.

The only thing Yan Yi relied on was the information advantage brought by his memories of his previous life, which allowed him to recruit people before Sun Ce.

As for how to recruit them, it’s a bit of a headache.

Just sending a letter would definitely not work. Asking someone to do it, but there is no suitable person.

Although Zhou Mi and Zhou Tai were of the same clan, she was just a woman after all, and she had not had any contact with Zhou Tai for many years.

Yan Yi thought over and over, still undecided about how to recruit Zhou Tai. So he went to ask Zhou Mi for his advice: "I want to recruit Zhou Tai as a general, but I don't have a good idea. Do you have any suggestions?"

Zhou Tai was Zhou Mi's cousin. If he were recruited by Yan Yi as a general, it would be of great benefit to Zhou Mi. She gazed in deep thought for a moment, then said softly, "Zhou Tai has a deep bond with his mother and is extremely filial to her. He prioritizes loyalty and loyalty to his friends, protecting them as he would himself. If Young Master can secure Zhou Tai's mother's help, your plan will be seventy percent successful. Add in the advice of one or two of his closest friends, and everything will be a breeze."

Yan Yi couldn't think of a better solution for the time being, so he said, "You have nothing to do in the mansion, so think of a way for me to impress Mother Zhou."

Zhou Mi hummed softly, looking at his face, and said, "The frequent exchanges between our two families have fostered a deep bond. Mother Zhou and I are relatives, and our relationship has been quite harmonious in the past. Why don't I send a few close relatives back to Xia Cai to check on the situation?"

Yan Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Yuncheng is three hundred miles from Xiacai, and the journey there and back is quite time-consuming. The person I send must be carefully selected. If they can persuade Mother Zhou, I will reward them handsomely."

Zhou Mi nodded, and suddenly a look of worry appeared on her face as she thought of something. "Originally, Zhou Yu is the most suitable person to do this, but I haven't seen him for several days. I don't know where he went."

Yan Yi didn't care much for Zhou Yu. He frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "Zhou Tai has a strong character. Although your brother is good at pleasing women, his temperament is completely different from Zhou Tai's, which is not good. Mother Zhou is very smart and will certainly be extremely cautious when it comes to the future of her and her son. Now that we have the support of family ties, it is better to send someone loyal and honest. It will be easier to gain the trust of Zhou Tai and her son."

It must be said that men and women sometimes have completely different perspectives on issues. Zhou Mi thought for a moment and said softly, "Young Master, your words make sense. I know what I should do now."

Yan Yi reminded: "Zhou Tai seems to be planning a long journey, you must hurry up and don't delay." Zhou Mi nodded seriously.

In the next few days, Yan Yi's focus of administration began to shift from government affairs to military affairs.

Originally, he wanted to launch an expedition against Zou Ta in mid-June, but an unexpected event disrupted his plans, forcing him to send troops ahead of schedule.

The origin of the matter has to start with Li Jue.

After Li Jue captured Chang'an, he controlled Emperor Xian, but his power was primarily concentrated in the Guanzhong region, leaving him with limited influence in Guandong. To prevent unrest in Guandong, Li Jue appointed Ma Riti as Grand Tutor and Recorder of the Secretariat, and sent him on a diplomatic mission to Guandong with Zhao Qi, Grand Coachman, to try to appease the local vassal states.

In addition, Li Jue also intended to win over Yuan Shu and attack Yuan Shao, so he asked Ma Ritian to appoint Yuan Shu as the Left General and Marquis of Yangdi.

However, Yuan Shu did not take Li Jue seriously and not only detained Ma Riti, but also seized his imperial seal and used it to recruit his own subordinates. It was during this time that Sun Ce was appointed as the Huaiyi Commandant, and Zhu Zhi, because he was valued by both Yuan Shu and Ma Riti, was promoted to the Wu Commandery Commandant.

Zhu Zhi was an old subordinate of Sun Jian. Before leaving, he earnestly advised Sun Ce to break away from Yuan Shu and establish his own power as soon as possible, and then went to Qiantang alone to take up his post.

Sun Ce's later independence from Yuan Shu was closely related to Zhu Zhi's advice.

After Zhu Zhi arrived in Qiantang, he worked diligently and won over the hearts of the people. He quickly recruited a group of troops. In addition, his hometown Guzhang was very close to Qiantang, and the two cities were only a hundred miles apart. Therefore, Zhu Zhi relied on the two cities to develop his power rapidly.

How close is it?

In history, Zhu Zhi started his army directly from Qiantang, and with only his own troops, he completely defeated Xu Gong without relying on Sun Ce.

If Sun Ce is compared to a ferocious tiger, then Zhu Zhi is a wolf with a keen sense of smell.

When the news that Qian Tong was defeated by Yan Yi reached Qiantang, Zhu Zhi immediately realized that his opportunity had come.

If he could swallow up Zou Ta's tribe, which was only sixty or seventy miles away from Qiantang, his strength would surely take a leap forward.

However, Zhu Zhi had not yet completely controlled Qiantang at this time. He had to obtain the support of Qiantang Ling and several local big families before he had enough troops to conquer Zou Ta.

This gave Yan Yi time to react and correct his mistakes.

The situation was that Yan Yi was preparing to launch his army from Yuncheng, advancing from east to west to attack Zou Ta. Zhu Zhi, on the other hand, planned to launch his army from Qiantang, attacking Zou Ta from south to north. Yan Yi had delayed in Yuncheng to stabilize his newly conquered territory, while Zhu Zhi had also delayed in Qiantang to gain support from other local forces.

Zou, who was alone and powerless, was struggling to survive in the cracks. His defeat was already doomed. The only difference was who could get the fat piece first.

When Yan Yi learned that Zhu Zhi was showing signs of raising an army to attack Zou Ta, he broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly ordered his generals to gather their troops and march to Rencheng that day.

After the military order was issued, the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere in Yuncheng suddenly became tense. Not only was the time for closing the city gates advanced from Youshi to Shenshi, but the number of scouts around the city also began to increase significantly.

At the same time, a famous cavalryman rushed out of the city gate with a letter written by Yan Yi in his own handwriting, rushing in all directions.

(End of this chapter)