Three Kingdoms Mythology World.

"General Yuan Shu, I have come here to ask you for a favor. I plan to attack Dong Zhuo by water, but I am extremely short of ships, so I have come here to borrow some."

"Currently, among all the warlords, only General Yuan has a large number of ships at his disposal."

Upon hearing Sun Jian's request to borrow ships, Yuan Shu's expression changed slightly.

He secretly pondered that Sun Jian's borrowing of the boat was definitely not for good purposes; he must be planning something on the Yellow River.

This is going to be a different approach!

Of course, Dong Zhuo's army was not absent from the Yellow River. They had long been prepared for the Guandong Coalition to advance by water and directly attack Luoyang.

"General Sun, I don't have many ships in my camp to begin with, and they are also used for daily patrols and transporting supplies. It's really difficult for me to lend you any ships," Yuan Shu said, frowning as he politely declined.

Sun Jian's face darkened, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes.

He knew that Yuan Shu would not agree to such a request so easily.

But in order to successfully acquire the ships, he suppressed his displeasure and said with his hands clasped, "General Yuan, Dong Zhuo's relocation of the capital this time involves transporting a large amount of supplies by water. This is an excellent opportunity. If we can intercept these supplies, it will be a great help to our allied forces. I am borrowing the ships for the sake of the allied forces' great cause."

Yuan Shu sneered, crossed his arms, and looked arrogantly at Sun Jian, saying indifferently, "General Sun, your words are rather high-sounding. Everyone knows you are ambitious, and you probably borrowed the boats for your own personal gain."

Sun Jian was so angry at Yuan Shu's words that he trembled all over.

However, he still held back his emotions and did not explode. He took a step forward and whispered in Yuan Shu's ear, "General Yuan, I, Sun Jian, am wholeheartedly dedicated to defeating Dong Zhuo and have no selfish motives whatsoever. If you distrust me so much, how about we sign a contract? Of the looted supplies, 60% will be mine, 40% will go to the allied forces, and you, as the person in charge of logistics, will be under your command. What do you say?"

"Oh..." Yuan Shu gave a faint "oh" and didn't say anything more.

"Fifty-fifty!" Sun Jian gritted his teeth and said.

He understood from Yuan Shu's "oh" that the price paid... wasn't enough!
However, Yuan Shu was still not satisfied with the 50/50 split. He calmly raised his wine cup, took a sip, and remained silent.

Now the initiative is in Yuan Shu's hands, so he should try to squeeze some profits out of him!
"I get four, you get six!"

Yuan Shu remained silent.

"I'll just state my bottom line: you get 80%, I get 20%! If you don't agree, then forget it." Sun Jian gritted his teeth and stated his final condition.

"Haha!! That's bold!!" Yuan Shu was satisfied now.

“However, words are not enough. We will sign a covenant between heaven and earth. At the same time, I need you to pledge one person here as collateral: your son, Sun Ce!” Yuan Shu was not entirely foolish. He understood the advantages and disadvantages of the situation and also knew how to prevent Sun Jian from cheating him.

“My son, Sun Ce, is a key force in this battle and cannot be lost,” Sun Jian shook his head and refused.

“Then let’s choose Cheng Pu. He is a fierce general under your command and extremely important to you. You can use him as collateral,” Yuan Shu said solemnly, taking a step back.

Judging from Yuan Shu's expression, this was clearly his bottom line.

Sun Jian took a deep breath and said firmly, "Okay!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu nodded in satisfaction.

In this plan, he only lent out ships and gained something without losing a single soldier or a single grain of food. How wonderful!
Afterwards, the two parties quickly communicated and completed the signing of the contract.

As for Cheng Pu, he entered Yuan Shu's camp again during the subsequent handover of the ships.

Behind the tent, Lin Mu, upon hearing Sun Jian's purpose, sighed deeply and said, "Truly, you are Sun Jian."

"Goodness, this is a family tradition!"

Sun Jian borrowed ships from Yuan Shu, and after Sun Jian died, his son Sun Ce borrowed troops from Yuan Shu. Isn't this a continuation of the family tradition?

Lin Mu had a premonition that Sun Jian's borrowing of the ships this time would be just like Sun Ce's borrowing of troops—borrowed but never returned!
His coming to eavesdrop this time is to confirm this matter.

Sun Jian had been so calm during the meeting, like an observer, and his behavior was also unexpectedly calm when he killed Hua Xiong and attacked Hulao Pass.

It's important to understand that Hua Xiong was the mastermind behind the killing of Zu Mao. Given Sun Jian's personality, he would have already volunteered to kill Hua Xiong. But he didn't…

Furthermore, given Sun Jian's current resources, it would be impossible for him to swallow Dong Zhuo's fleet whole; he would need to prepare a large number of ships beforehand, just like he did in the Great Wilderness Territory.

Sun Jian had no ships, so he had to borrow some. Among the warlords, Yuan Shu currently possessed the most ships. This was because large quantities of grain were transported to Suanzao City by water, and later, to Hulao Pass, also via water transport. Therefore, Yuan Shu had a considerable number of ships at his disposal.

Lin Mu's judgment was correct!
Lin Mu had a plan in mind. He knew that Sun Jian was also quite capable and had obviously made preparations for plotting against Dong Zhuo's navy. But he had to confront Sun Jian!

Based on the events of the previous life, Sun Jian likely succeeded, though whether he shared the spoils with Yuan Shu is unknown. After his successful raid, Sun Jian also obtained the Imperial Seal, placing him directly in the limelight.

Unfortunately, Sun Jian was short-lived; he was killed by Liu Biao on his way back south, and the supplies he plundered likely enriched Liu Biao. This greatly increased Liu Biao's power, allowing him to easily control Jingzhou.

Lin Mu frowned, pondering a solution.

In fact, he could have launched a surprise attack on Sun Jian's triumphant return, just like Liu Biao did, and robbed everything. But that would have been too passive; if Sun Jian had secretly transported the supplies back to his base along the way, things would have been much worse.

This kind of thing happens frequently in the Great Wilderness Territory.

Therefore, this time, the Great Wilderness Territory should not be allowed to play the victim.

However, we can't let Sun Jian become the mantis. We must eliminate Sun Jian before he attacks Dong Zhuo's navy!

That way, we can be absolutely certain!
He arranged for Guo Jia to go there early on because he was afraid that the band of river pirates was too powerful and Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin would not be able to control them.

Now that we know the identities of those people, Guo Jia's arrangements were truly prophetic.

After pondering for a long time, Yuan Shu's voice came.

"General Lin, what's your opinion on Sun Jian's matter?" Yuan Shu didn't mince words and directly brought the matter up.

"Sun Jian's ability to find such an unconventional path is truly outstanding. I admire him greatly," Lin Mu said calmly.

"What, General Lin isn't going to get a share?" Yuan Shu said meaningfully.

"My target remains Dong Zhuo on land."

"Dong Zhuo may not necessarily withdraw his supplies from Chang'an this time; he just wants a safe rear area and a stable supply reserve."

"As long as we get rid of Dong Zhuo, we'll have everything!" Lin Mu said arrogantly, as if Dong Zhuo was already a dead man under his gun.

“You share the same view as Cao Cao,” Yuan Shu said with a hearty laugh.

Regarding the killing of Dong Zhuo, he believed that neither Lin Mu nor Cao Cao were the ones who actually killed Dong Zhuo; the one who truly killed Dong Zhuo was their Yuan family!
This was decided before the various lords were summoned to attack Dong Zhuo.

This is the confidence of the Yuan family!

"General Yuan, I've had my fill, so I won't stay any longer. You still have so many military affairs to attend to," Lin Mu said meaningfully.

“General Lin Mu is a smart man,” Yuan Shu said quietly.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mu smiled calmly and then left.

As Lin Mu stepped out of the camp, he looked up slightly at the northern night sky.

"Yuan Shu's generals and strategists are all away. It seems that Yuan Shao has borrowed them all to the grasslands. I wonder if Yuan Shao will be able to successfully retrieve the resurrection artifact?" Lin Mu pondered to himself.

Good heavens, besides finding out about Sun Jian, Lin Mu also managed to find out Yuan Shu's current situation.

In fact, he hoped Yuan Shao would succeed. For the Great Wilderness territory, the resurrection artifact was less dangerous in Yuan Shao's hands than it was in the hands of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands.

Lin Mu, Dian Wei, Wang Yue, Huang Zhong, Yue Jin, and others were summoned upon returning to their own tents.

After that, it was decided that Dian Wei would go to support Zhou Tai and his group.

If needed, Huang Zhong and Yue Jin will also go to provide support, serving as a mobile unit. After all, the second battle at Hulao Pass won't break out so soon; it will have to wait until Dong Zhuo wipes out the entire Yuan clan in Luoyang.

Just as Lin Mu and the others were discussing matters, on a huge ship hidden in the middle of the Yellow River, Guo Jia raised an eyebrow and looked upstream.

"A familiar opponent!" (End of Chapter)