Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

"Please rest assured, King Wu. Since I have said I want to borrow your troops, I will definitely pay you accordingly. I will definitely not let you work for nothing."

"remuneration?"

Sun Jian looked at Gu Rubing with a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Zhou Yu stepped forward immediately upon seeing this.

"King Lie, I wonder what the reward you are talking about is?"

Gu Rubing did not answer Zhou Yu's words, but looked at Sun Jian.

"I wonder if the King of Wu has any other ideas about Yangzhou?"

When he heard the word Yangzhou, Sun Jian's face changed.

Yangzhou has fertile soil and extremely developed business. The most important thing is that I started my business in Yangzhou and I am quite familiar with some of the conditions in Yangzhou. Moreover, Yangzhou has a wharf, which makes it convenient for me to provide support at any time.

"King Lie wants to give me Yangzhou as a reward?"

"A Yangzhou? King Wu, you are really kidding. I can give you Kuaiji County in Yangzhou. If you agree, then agree. If you don't disagree, since Cao Cao was able to find Ping Ming with money, I think I can too. I'm not necessarily poorer than Cao Cao, am I?"

Sun Jian heard this and remained silent for a while.

"King Lie, please give me some time to think about it."

Gu Rubing nodded, turned around and left with Zhao Yun.

After walking out of the palace, Zhao Yun looked at Gu Rubing.

"My Lord, will Sun Jian agree to our request? No matter what, Sun Jian is still our enemy, right?"

"Haha, Zilong, remember, there are no friends with these people. There are only interests. As long as the interests are enough, they can do anything you think is impossible. As for this time, I believe Sun Jian will agree. That is Kuaiji County in Yangzhou. Sun Jian must be considering using Kuaiji County as a springboard to take over the whole Yangzhou."

After saying this, Gu Rubing laughed and walked straight towards the post station.

And at this time, Sun Jian was indeed thinking about the affairs of Yangzhou as Gu Rubing said.

"Gongjin, what do you think is the chance that we can capture Kuaiji County and Yangzhou?"

Zhou Yu looked at Sun Jian, who had fallen into the beautiful dream woven by Gu Rubing, and gave a helpless smile.

"My Lord, you really don't believe that Liu Bei would be so easy to talk to and really give us Kuaiji County? And even if he did, he would definitely be on guard against us in secret. I'm afraid Liu Bei has already guessed what we want to do. This is the trap Liu Bei has set for us."

"trap?"

Sun Jian frowned. He actually felt that something was wrong with this matter, but Gu Rubing had given him too much, leaving him with no way to think.

"My lord, the Han Dynasty is now a whirlpool. We are in Anluo and have already withdrawn from the outside. No matter how deep the water of the Han Dynasty is, it cannot flood us. But if we occupy Kuaiji County, even if we want to send troops, Liu Bei will not agree."

Sun Jian looked at the map in front of him, which showed the current situation of the Han Dynasty and the territorial scope of each person.

According to the latest intelligence, Gu Rubing has lost Jianmen Pass, which means that Gu Rubing is completely locked in Guanghan County, while Kuaiji County belongs to Gu Rubing's rear.

Sun Jian knew that Gu Rubing would definitely not feel at ease with him making trouble in his rear and would definitely plot against him.

Seeing that Sun Jian was thinking, Zhou Yu stopped talking and waited for Sun Jian quietly.

Zhou Yu was also very hesitant at this time.

After completely occupying the Anluo Empire, Zhou Yu discovered that the economy here was very backward. Those strange and wonderful commodities did exist, but they had always been circulated within the Anluo Empire and had no way to be sent outside. They could only be circulated by those caravans, allowing these caravans to make a lot of money, while they could only watch here.

But if they controlled Kuaiji County and the port, they could trade with the Han Dynasty by water.

This waterway is completely under the control of Sun Jian. Whether or not he wants to share the meat with these caravans depends entirely on their own ideas.

But entering Kuaiji County would mean falling into the Han Dynasty's trap, and they would be completely drawn into the vortex.

Liu Zhang is the best proof. He could have been a free and easy king in the Anluo Empire, but he insisted on getting involved in the affairs of the Han Dynasty. As a result, now even his territory has been taken away by himself and others.

No matter what, each has its advantages and disadvantages.

"I made a decision!"

Sun Jian's words awakened Zhou Yu who was thinking.

"My Lord, what do you decide?"

"Join the game!"

Gu Rubing and Zhao Yun were resting in the post station when a guard knocked on the door.

"Two messengers, the king invites you to come over."

Gu Rubing smiled when he heard this. Sun Jian already had the answer.

Not long after, the two of them, led by the guards, walked into the palace. Sun Jian and Zhou Yu were looking at him.

"It seems that King Wu has made his decision. I wonder what the result will be?"

"I agree with the conditions King Lie said. I wonder how many troops King Lie is prepared to borrow?"

"One hundred thousand."

"One hundred thousand?"

When Sun Jian heard this number, he stood up from his chair.

Seeing Sun Jian's behavior, Gu Rubing immediately realized that he seemed to be asking for a little too much.

"Then how much can you give me?"

"Fifty thousand at most, no more."

"Fifty thousand? Do you really think I'm a beggar?"

Cao Cao could find 100,000 soldiers and horses in Anluo, so why did he, as an ally, agree to give a county city in exchange for 50,000 soldiers and horses? Isn't this bullying?
"King Lie, we can only give so many to these people. We really can't give more. If you agree, we can exchange. If you don't agree, then forget it."

"Okay, I agree."

"In that case, when will you give us Kuaiji County?"

Zhou Yu stared at Gu Rubing. What they really cared about was nothing more than Kuaiji County.

"Wait until we take Yizhou."

"What? King Lie, are you teasing us?"

If Yizhou was taken by Gu Rubing, then all the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty would be in Gu Rubing's hands. What could Liu Zhang, who only had two county towns, do? It was only a matter of time before Liu Zhang was destroyed. How could Gu Rubing give them Kuaiji County by then?
In other words, even if Gu Rubing, who owned the Thirteen States of the Han Dynasty, broke the agreement, what could they do? Could they attack Gu Rubing? How could they have such strength?

When Zhou Yu thought of this, he stood up and couldn't help but put his hand on the sword he carried with him, as if he was going to draw the sword if he disagreed with something.

Zhao Yun felt the murderous aura emanating from Zhou Yu and stared at him, his eyes seeming to have sentenced Zhou Yu to death.

"Well, we are all allies. There is no need to be so unhappy. Even if the deal fails, we can still be righteous. At worst, we can just pretend that King Lie never came."

Sun Jian immediately stopped Zhou Yu who was about to get angry.

Letting Zhou Yu fight Zhao Yun, isn't this asking Zhou Yu to die?

With Sun Jian's obstruction, Zhou Yu finally reacted and slowly loosened his hand holding the sword.

Zhao Yun withdrew his gaze with some regret. As long as Zhou Yu dared to take action, he was sure that he could kill Zhou Yu with one blow. Without Zhou Yu, Sun Jian was nothing to worry about.

"King Lie, I'm so sorry. When will you give us Kuaiji County and the 50,000 reinforcements? Otherwise, this deal is over." Gu Rubing knew that Sun Jian had made up his mind and there was no room for negotiation.

"Okay, King Wu, wait for my news. I will go back and discuss it with the military advisor."

After Gu Rubing and Zhao Yun returned to the post station, they opened the map. This map was handed to him personally by Zhuge Liang before he left. All the ports were marked on it, as well as some unknown paths within the territory of the Han Dynasty.

On this map, the area of ​​Kuaiji County had actually been assigned to Sun Jian.

"Alas, the Prime Minister thought that Sun Jian would definitely agree to their proposal, but this time the Prime Minister's plan was in vain. Sun Jian had no intention of agreeing at all."

Gu Rubing smiled self-deprecatingly, and Zhao Yun also smiled bitterly in helplessness.

Let alone Sun Jian, even if he were Sun Jian, he would not agree to such a deal.

But this was Zhuge Liang's plan after all, so Zhao Yun didn't dare to say anything.

Just when Gu Rubing was about to put the map away, a brocade bag fell from the map.

There was a piece of paper inside the brocade bag with only one sentence on it.

No matter what Sun Jian asks for, the lord just needs to agree to it.

"Ok?"

Gu Rubing looked at the handwriting on the note and confirmed that it was undoubtedly from Zhuge Liang. He looked at Zhao Yun helplessly.

It turns out that Zhuge Liang had already guessed that Sun Jian would not agree, so he kept this backup plan. Then why should he make himself like a rogue and negotiate with Sun Jian?

"Let's go, let's go find Sun Jian again."

Zhao Yun nodded. He was also a little confused about what Zhuge Liang meant.

"King Lie, what are you doing here again?"

When Zhou Yu saw that Gu Rubing had come back with Zhao Yun, he looked at him with an unfriendly expression.

"Zhou Yu, if you dare to speak to my lord like this again, don't blame me, Zhao Yun, for the silver spear in my hand doesn't recognize anyone."

Zhou Yu's face changed when he heard this, but he looked at the silver spear in Zhao Yun's hand, hesitated for a moment, and still didn't say anything.

Seeing that Zhou Yu's arrogance had been suppressed, Sun Jian immediately stood up in order to ease the atmosphere.

"General Zhao, don't get excited. Gongjin has absolutely no intention of being disrespectful to King Lie. King Lie doesn't know why you're here this time, but what else is there?"

"King Wu, I agree with what you said. I will give Kuaiji County to you now."

"Really?"

"King Wu thinks I'm joking?"

Sun Jian looked at Gu Rubing, smiled and shook his head.

"Okay, in that case, the moment we enter Kuaiji County, 50,000 troops will arrive in Yizhou."

Gu Rubing nodded, turned around and left with Zhao Yun.

This time both parties got what they wanted and were quite satisfied.

Soon, the news that Liu Bei went to Sun Jian to borrow troops also reached Cao Cao.

Cao Cao suddenly became very anxious, and wanted to gain as much benefit as possible before Gu Rubing returned. He wanted to make a full effort to take back the three lost counties of Yizhou.

But this idea was quickly stopped by Xun Yu.

"My lord, the troops we have now should be enough for defense, but it is definitely not enough for an attack. We don't have strong backup like Liu Bei."

Hearing this, Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu and sighed.

He knew this fact very well, but he did not have many choices at the moment. Once Gu Rubing came back, he was not sure that he could withstand Gu Rubing's offensive with his current strength.

"What do we do now?"

"My lord, we should still do the old way and borrow soldiers!"

"Still borrowing troops?"

The last time I borrowed 100,000 soldiers from Sun Jian, I spent most of my savings. If this happens again, I will be the first prince to die of poverty."

Seeing Cao Cao’s reaction so big, Xun Yu smiled and comforted him.

"My lord, don't worry. This time, we won't borrow from Sun Jian, but from Liu Zhang. I heard that when Liu Zhang left the Anluo Empire, he took away a lot of people. Currently, Liu Zhang has 200,000 mercenaries, but this is not all his troops. It's just that the food and fodder can only supply this much. We can find him and ask him to give us some civilians. We will have time to train these people into soldiers."

"Borrow civilians?"

Cao Cao reacted immediately after hearing this.

Yes, I fell into a misunderstanding. Liu Zhang must have people in his hands, and as long as they are people, they can be turned into soldiers.

"Contact Liu Zhang immediately. I want to meet him."

The two finally agreed to meet at the border between Yulin County and Yizhou.

Liu Zhang was also in a difficult situation at this time.

He brought too many people from the Anluo Empire, and his territory only had two counties. These civilians who came with him didn't even have a place to live.

He wanted to conquer more territory, but was suppressed by Zhuge Liang and had no way to expand his territory. Cao Cao was also in trouble now and had no way to help himself.

At this time, Liu Zhang received a letter from Cao Cao, asking for a meeting.

Although he didn't know what Cao Cao was going to do, Liu Zhang had made up his mind this time that he must ask Cao Cao to take away some of his people, otherwise his territory would really explode.

As soon as the two met, Cao Cao couldn't wait to tell them his purpose, which was to use gold and silver to buy the people from Liu Zhang.

When Liu Zhang heard that the people could still make money from selling things, and that there was such a good thing, of course he would like to see it.

Soon Cao Cao used one million gold to buy one million civilians, including nearly 100,000 young and strong men who could participate in the war.

This also took away half of Liu Zhang's people.

Cao Cao was very satisfied with this transaction. In order to express his sincerity, he even gave Liu Zhang 600,000 shi of grain.

Gu Rubing originally wanted to return directly to Yulin County to tell Zhuge Liang the news and quickly sort out Kuaiji County.

But when he thought about the incident at Jianmen Pass, Gu Rubing decided to take a look in Yizhou now.

When Deng Ai learned that Gu Rubing was coming, he immediately brought Wei Yan to Gu Rubing.

"Lord!"

When everyone saw Gu Rubing, they knelt down immediately.

After the defeat, no one had a happy look on their face.

Especially Wei Yan.

At this time, Wei Yan's face was red and he lowered his head. Even though everyone had stood up, Wei Yan still knelt in front of Gu Rubing.

He knew the importance of Jianmen Pass and even the importance of Yinping Trail, but he lost both places.

'(End of this chapter)