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

How could Gu Rubing not understand what Zhang He said?

The reason why he came here in person was simply to end the battle quickly. Otherwise, with battlefields everywhere, he would not be able to hold on even if he owned eleven states.

Who would have thought that the battle was not over yet, but instead gave Shi Xie an opportunity, and he would also lose a million grains of food.

But no matter what, Wei Yan must be rescued, no matter if it is because of his identity as lord or as a private friend, he must save him. In the past, he could go to Xu Du of Cao Cao to rescue people with just a few spies, not to mention that he is now a general.

"No need to say more, go and prepare food and fodder. Now that Wei Yan is in someone else's hands, we don't have that many choices."

"Well... okay, but my lord, the letter asks you to deliver the food yourself, but I feel that Shi Xie may not be reliable, so let your subordinates deliver the food."

"No, I want to go there myself. I want to see if Shi Xie dares to attack me."

Zhang He wanted to refuse, but was stopped by Gu Rubing with a wave of his hand.

Looking at Gu Rubing who was so determined, Zhang He sighed helplessly.

In the current situation, unless Zhuge Liang steps in, this is impossible.

As Gu Rubing issued the order to raise grain, Lu Su in Xudu was in trouble.

The issue of food and fodder dispatch has always been mediated by Lu Su.

Looking at the shortage of food and grass, Lu Su suddenly had the idea of ​​going on strike.

Lu Su threw the grain account book in front of him onto the table.

"It's food again. This time they're asking for one million shi right away. My lord, you might as well sell me and see if you can get one million shi."

Seeing this, the people around smiled helplessly and expressed their understanding.

After all, the grain and fodder collected every year is enough to fill more than a dozen granaries, but with the start of the war, it won’t be long before these granaries become empty.

It's like working hard for a year and finally saving up a mountain of gold, but in the blink of an eye, the gold mountain is taken away. If it's only like this for one year, everyone can still tolerate it, but if it's like this every year, no matter who you are, it's unbearable.

After venting for a while, Lu Su sighed, picked up the account book on the ground again, looked through it several times, but could not find any solution. Finally, he passed the news directly to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang had now rebuilt the defense line, and Liu Zhang had no intention of expanding outward, so he simply took away the entire Yulin County.

This made Zhuge Liang relax a lot.

However, the news he received from Gu Rubing frightened Zhuge Liang.

First, Wei Yan's report to Gu Rubing made Zhuge Liang very worried. Just when Zhuge Liang was thinking about whether he should go to Youzhou, he received news that Wei Yan was captured, and Gu Rubing had to pay one million dan of grain to redeem him, and there was also Lu Su's report about the shortage of grain.

Zhuge Liang did not expect that such a small Youzhou would cause so many troubles.

After looking at the reports in front of him for a long time, Zhuge Liang suddenly discovered something.

The shortage of food and grass in Youzhou is definitely not a new thing. It must have been discovered a long time ago. If Wang Yue wanted to capture Wei Yan or Zhang He and others to threaten Gu Rubing, it should be an easy task.

But why didn’t they arrest anyone before, but want to arrest someone now?
There must be someone giving the instructions.

Zhuge Liang opened the map and thought for a long time, and finally thought of a person, that is Zhou Yu.

Youzhou is located in a remote area, and even if Liu Zhang or Cao Cao wanted to help, it would be difficult for them to contact Shi Xie. The only one who could help Shi Xie was Sun Jian.

Moreover, even if Sun Jian wanted to help Shi Xie, he could not go through Liangzhou, but could only go through several Hun territories outside the Great Wall. This was a considerable risk, but no matter what, this was the only way for Shi Xie to get support.

Zhuge Liang looked at the map for a long time and finally set his sights on a place, Kuaiji County.

Today, Sun Jian has built Kuaiji County quite well. Many people from the Han Dynasty have already moved into Kuaiji County. Now it has become the most important commercial hub between the Han Dynasty and the Anluo Empire.

Therefore, Sun Jian also sent a number of people to protect Kuaiji County, led by Sun Jian's son, Sun Quan.

After Zhuge Liang handed over the defense line to Guan Yu, he took only Zhang Liao and five hundred iron monks and rushed to Kuaiji County.

After Sun Quan learned that Zhuge Liang, Zhang Liao and the Iron Buddha had entered Kuaiji County, he felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.

It’s okay for others, but for them, Zhang Liao is a completely terrifying existence.

Looking at Sun Quan who was on high alert, Zhuge Liang just laughed.

He wanted this effect, and it would also give him a lot of advantages in their subsequent conversations.

"Second Master, I am Zhuge Kongming. Please open the city gate and let me in. I have something to discuss with you in detail."

Sun Quan did not reply, but waited.

After a long time, several soldiers came running over.

"Young Master, they only have these 500 people, there is no one else around."

Hearing this, Sun Quan breathed a sigh of relief and slowly opened the city gate.

"It turned out to be the Prime Minister. I thought it was the bandits around who were going to attack the city. I am so sorry for the misunderstanding. That's why I kept you waiting for so long."

Zhuge Liang didn't care about this at all. He had already heard that this was an excuse.

"It's okay, as long as there is no misunderstanding. I don't want such a good county like Kuaiji to be involved in war."

"Yes, yes, Prime Minister, please come in."

Soon everyone slowly entered the city.

Inside the city lord's palace.

After everyone sat down, Sun Quan looked at Zhuge Liang.

"Prime Minister, I wonder what brings you here this time?"

"Second Master, this time I have some knowledge I want to ask you, or rather, I want to ask the King of Wu."

"Ask father? What did the Prime Minister talk about?"

Sun Quan looked at Zhuge Liang in confusion, but seeing how confident he was, Sun Quan's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that Shi Xie's conspiracy was exposed?
Just as Sun Quan was thinking this, Zhuge Liang asked directly: "I wonder how much support the King of Wu has given to Shi Xie in Youzhou?"

"No, how could we possibly help Youzhou Shi Xie? He is King Lie's enemy. King Lie and we are allies. Isn't my sister still with your King Lie? In fact, King Lie and we are a family."

"Really? Second Young Master, what you mean is that our intelligence is wrong? It seems that we really need to send more spies into the Anluo Empire, otherwise this intelligence is indeed a bit inaccurate."

Upon hearing this, Sun Quan stood up and looked at Zhuge Liang with anger in his eyes.

"Humph!"

At this moment, Zhang Liao snorted coldly, directly dispersing Sun Quan's momentum.

Seeing Zhang Liao, Sun Quan snorted angrily and sat back in his chair.

"Prime Minister, aren't you bullying us a bit? Are you trying to force us to admit that we support Shi Xie?" "Not really, I just want to hear the truth from you. After all, I don't need to tell you how powerful our King Lie's spies are, right?"

"you……"

Sun Quan hesitated for a long time, looked at Zhuge Liang, and finally chose to give up struggling.

"Well, in that case, let me make it clear. We did not help Shi Xie. We just acquiesced to his departure. We did not know that Shi Xie had colluded with Wang Yue. If we had known, it would cause such a big trouble for King Lie. We would never have let him leave like this."

Looking at Sun Quan's extremely sincere eyes, Zhuge Liang just laughed.

"Please inform the King of Wu that we have been busy with battles recently and we are running low on food and fodder. I don't ask for more, just two million dan of food and fodder."

"Two million? Are you kidding me? Prime Minister, are you taking advantage of our Anluo Empire? I'm afraid no one can come up with such a large amount of food and fodder, let alone us?"

"Can't you produce it? I'm a little curious. Your Anluo Empire has always been relatively stable, so how come you don't have food? If you insist that you don't have food, then don't blame me for investigating Shi Xie's matter. I believe that Shi Xie's matter is definitely not that simple."

When Sun Quan heard this, his face suddenly changed. After hesitating for a long time, Sun Quan finally spoke.

"Prime Minister, I don't know what you are talking about, and I can't make a decision, so I need to consult with my father. Please give us some time."

"Okay, it will take at most half a month. I need to know the result. Remember I said the result."

"Ok."

Sun Quan did not dare to waste time. After sending Zhuge Liang away, he immediately prepared a ship and rushed to the Anluo Empire.

"Prime Minister, will Sun Jian give us two million grains? This is a huge number, even Sun Jian would probably feel pain for a while."

"Don't worry, if they want peace, they will give it to us, unless they want to go to war with us."

Soon, Zhuge Liang sent a message to Lu Su, asking him to gather all the food and grass, make up one million, and hand it over to Gu Rubing. As for the rest, he would find a way.

Gu Rubing was at the foot of Qiyuan City at this time, and was also a little anxious.

One million grains of food, considering his current grain storage, is almost all he has. He also doesn't know whether Lu Su can find a way to raise the food.

After a few days, Gu Rubing finally received Zhuge Liang's letter.

In the letter, in addition to talking about some of Gu Rubing's previous unauthorized actions, he also said that Lu Su had already delivered the food and grass to him. He also said that Shi Xie's affairs were closely related to Sun Jian, and that he had already asked Sun Jian for two million food and grass.

Gu Rubing did not expect that Shi Xie’s affairs were actually related to Sun Jian.

And the person who alerted Wang Yue to capture Wei Yan must be Zhou Yu.

"Sun Jian, this matter cannot be solved with just two million grains of fodder."

Soon, with the arrival of one million grains of food, Gu Rubing brought the grain directly to the foot of Qiyuan City.

Shi Xie and Wang Yue saw that the endless supply of food and fodder was lined up in two lines, the length of which was so long that there was no end in sight.

Looking at these food supplies, Shi Xie and Wang Yue's eyes lit up.

The food and grass that Sun Jian supported was indeed a lot, but it was only enough for the soldiers on the front line. But now there is no food and grass in the entire Youzhou, and the soldiers and civilians in the rear are all starving. With these one million food and grass as support, it is more than enough to last until the new food and grass is harvested next year.

Soon the city gates opened.

Gu Rubing slowly walked into the city with food and fodder, accompanied by Zhang He.

"King Lie, I really have to thank you this time."

Shi Xie walked forward and looked at Gu Rubing, excitement and pride fully revealed on his face.

Looking at Shi Xie's appearance, Gu Rubing felt like punching him.

"Where's Wei Yan?"

"Why is King Lie so anxious? Why don't we just talk first?"

"Why, you want to break the contract?"

"Haha, King Lie, how can this be called breaking the contract? We just want to gain the greatest benefit for ourselves."

Gu Rubing snorted coldly and followed Shi Xie and Wang Yue into the City Lord's Mansion.

"Tell me, what else do you want?"

"King Lie, I used to be the governor of Jiaozhou, but later I lost, so I gave up the position of governor of Jiaozhou. But now I have occupied Youzhou. What do you think of the position of governor of Youzhou?"

"I give you!"

It's just a title, compared with Wei Yan, it's totally not worth mentioning.

"King Lie is righteous. Since I am already the governor of Youzhou, shouldn't all the territory of Youzhou be given to me?"

"Youzhou?"

When Gu Rubing heard this request, his face instantly turned gloomy.

Now they have finally taken over Dai County, and they have only taken a few counties in Shang County.

If Shi Xie wanted to take away the entire Dai County with just a few words, wouldn't all my efforts over such a long time be in vain?
Just when Gu Rubing was about to refuse, he suddenly remembered his plan and nodded in agreement.

Shi Xie didn't expect that Gu Rubing would be so easy to talk to, and he hurriedly wanted more.

However, just as Shi Xie was about to open his mouth, Gu Rubing stopped him with a wave of his hand.

"Shi Xie, I advise you not to be too greedy. Be careful not to get anything and even lose your life."

After hearing this, Shi Xie's excited heart calmed down completely.

He could already feel the coldness emanating from Gu Rubing.

"Haha, King Lie, rest assured. I won't go too far. Since you have given me everything I wanted, I won't say anything. King Lie, rest assured. I will return General Wei Yan to you now. General Wei Yan is well fed and well provided for by me. He has never suffered a bit."

Not long after, Wei Yan was brought over.

After seeing Gu Rubing, Wei Yan knelt directly in front of Gu Rubing.

"My lord, I am sorry for you. Please punish me!"

"Let's talk about it when we get back!"

After saying this, Gu Rubing stood up and looked at Shi Xie.

"I will do everything you ask of Daying. Give me five days and I will give you Youzhou. I will also have His Majesty issue an order to give you the title of governor as soon as possible."

"Haha, thank you King Lie for your help. The food here is a bit simple, so I won't keep King Lie here for dinner. Goodbye, King Lie."

Gu Rubing didn't even look at Shi Xie, and turned around and led his men away. Before leaving, Wei Yan stared at Shi Xie and Wang Yue for a long time. (End of this chapter)