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

Gu Rubing looked at the invitation in his hand and burst out laughing.

"My lord, the prime minister says that you must go this time."

"Huh? Why?"

Although Gu Rubing did not actually meet Zhuge Liang, he could sense from Zhang Liao's words that Zhuge Liang was speaking very seriously about this matter.

"The Prime Minister said that this meeting is very likely to discuss Liu Zhang's expedition to Youzhou?"

"Ok?"

Gu Rubing is currently in Youzhou and is unaware of what has happened in Jiaozhou.

Zhang Liao quickly recounted the events in Jiaozhou to Gu Rubing.

It turns out that after they obtained the seven port cities from Sun Jian...

Cao Cao generously destroyed everything and gave it all to Liu Zhang.

With these seven cities in place, Liu Zhang immediately relocated half of the population.

Now Liu Zhang's population is no longer overcrowded, everyone has their own house, and everything is back on track.

This would have been a very good situation.

But the biggest problem now is that Liu Zhang doesn't have enough food supplies.

The planting season has already passed, and in just one more month, it will be autumn.

The crops are all ripe.

Liu Zhang's grain production was pitifully low.

Liu Zhang tried to borrow grain from everyone he could, but no one was willing to lend him any. Even Cao Cao had little grain left.

Throughout history, when Liu Zhang's troops were reinforcing Youzhou, Liu Zhang and Cao Cao would first provide the army with provisions, and then Sun Jian would provide the remaining provisions once they reached Sun Jian's territory.

Although Liu Zhang contributed relatively little grain, he was still saving food by the skin of his teeth.

Now that Liu Zhang can no longer provide any supplies and everyone is refusing to help him, he has decided to stop supplying troops to Youzhou.

Without Liu Zhang as their main figure, Cao Cao and Sun Jian suddenly panicked.

Currently, only Liu Zhang and Sun Jian have the strength to reinforce Youzhou.

Sun Jian chose to provide provisions, while Liu Zhang chose to provide troops.

The cooperation was going well, but now that Liu Zhang has withdrawn, Sun Jian is asking him to provide both provisions and troops, which Sun Jian will definitely not agree to.

Cao Cao was thus in a dilemma.

Cao Cao wanted to see Liu Zhang, but Liu Zhang simply refused to meet with him.

Ultimately, Cao Cao had no choice but to plead with Liu Zhang until he reluctantly agreed to meet. However, Liu Zhang also invited Cao Cao and Sun Jian under the pretext of a birthday banquet, and also wanted to bring Gu Rubing along.

They even threatened that if Gu Rubing didn't come, the birthday banquet would be canceled.

Clearly, Liu Zhang was using Gu Rubing to suppress Sun Jian and Cao Cao.

Cao Cao and Sun Jian knew Liu Zhang's intentions, but in order to win him over, they had no choice but to agree.

After figuring out what had happened, Gu Rubing smiled helplessly.

After weighing the pros and cons, Gu Rubing decided to meet with Liu Zhang.

After this incident, Gu Rubing had a plan in mind.

A plan to use someone else to do the dirty work.

The battle at the North Camp ended quickly.

In the end, Wang Yue and Xun You left the Northern Camp with only 50,000 troops and headed to Yangle County.

Without taking a break, Gu Rubing led his troops directly to the outskirts of Yangle County.

Compared to the 40,000 lost by Wang Yue and his group this time, Gu Rubing and his group lost 10,000.

Gu Rubing still has 60,000 men under his command.

However, Xun You knew that his forces were no longer in a superior position, so he could only defend the city and wait for the next wave of reinforcements to arrive.

Looking at Yangle County before him, Gu Rubing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as we take Yangle County, we can reclaim the entire Liaoxi Commandery.

"My lord, we have less than half a month left. We should set off."

Hearing Zhang Liao's urging, Gu Rubing nodded, handed everything over to Lu Su, and then led Zhao Yun to follow Zhang Liao to Jiaozhou.

Ten days later.

Jiaozhou Camp.

After a long and arduous journey, Gu Rubing and his companions finally returned to Jiaozhou.

"Lord."

Zhuge Liang, along with all the soldiers of the Jiaozhou camp, greeted Gu Rubing thirty miles outside the camp.

Upon seeing Gu Rubing, Zhuge Liang took the lead and knelt on the ground.

"Okay, everyone, get up."

"Thank you, Lord!"

Soon everyone stood up.

Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang surrounded them at the same time.

"Brother, is the journey safe?"

"Don't worry, Second Brother, the journey is very safe. With Wen Yuan and Zi Long here, who can get close to me?"

After saying that, Gu Rubing burst into laughter.

"Alright, let's talk about it back at camp."

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he patted Guan Yu on the shoulder.

Before long, everyone returned to the camp.

"My lord, has something happened to the spies in Youzhou?"

Gu Rubing nodded and then recounted what had happened in Youzhou.

Upon hearing that more than sixty spies had died due to various accidents, Zhuge Liang immediately guessed that it was Xun You's doing.

However, when Zhuge Liang learned that Gu Rubing had actually used a clever tactic to turn the tables on Xun You and cause him to suffer heavy losses, he couldn't help but admire him.

The fact that Gu Rubing was able to come up with such a plan shows that he has grown very quickly.

"My lord, your growth rate has truly surprised me greatly."

"Alright, Prime Minister, stop flattering me. Zijing is currently establishing a new spy defense line in Youzhou, but these spies are not so easy to train. If we want to take Youzhou, we still need to rely on ourselves."

Zhuge Liang nodded, and then recounted the situation on Liu Zhang's side to Gu Rubing.

It's roughly the same as what Zhang Liao and Gu Rubing said.

"My lord, the reason I called you back this time is because I have an idea. Liu Zhang has fallen out with Cao Cao and Sun Jian, and I have a way to use someone else to do the dirty work."

"Using someone else to do the dirty work? Haha, Prime Minister, we're on the same page."

The two discussed things for a long time inside the tent, and sometimes loud laughter could be heard coming from inside, attracting curious glances from those around them as they looked towards the commander's camp.

Early the next morning.

Gu Rubing and Zhao Yun were about to set off when Guan Yu stopped them.

"Brother, are you going to Liu Zhang's place?"

Gu Rubing nodded.

“Brother, although Liu Zhang does not have any legendary generals by his side, it is said that Cao Cao brought Xu Chu and Dian Wei this time, and Sun Jian also brought Sun Ce and Gan Ning. If you only bring Zilong, I'm afraid Zilong will not be able to protect you if something happens.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing nodded; he had actually forgotten about it.

But now, his legendary generals, Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong, are in Youzhou, and Pang De has been transferred to Yizhou by Zhuge Liang. In the entire Jiaozhou camp, there are only two legendary generals, Guan Yu and Ma Chao.

As for Ma Chao, even if I brought him along, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to control those legendary generals. "Second brother, come with me."

Upon hearing this, Guan Yu immediately nodded.

Gu Rubing, along with Zhao Yun and Guan Yu, headed directly to Guangxin City in Jiaozhi Commandery, where Liu Zhang was located.

Inside Guangxin City.

Upon learning of Gu Rubing's arrival, Liu Zhang personally led a group to greet him at the city gate.

“King Lie, I have been waiting for you here for a long time.”

"Haha, King of the Otherworld, there's no need for us to be so polite. I've wanted to see you for a long time, but I just haven't had the time."

The two exchanged pleasantries as soon as they met.

If someone didn't know the two of them, seeing this scene, they would all think they were close friends.

But those in the know understand that although the two appear close, they secretly wish for each other's early demise.

Soon, the two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the Prince Yi's residence.

Cao Cao and Sun Jian were drinking tea in the hall at that moment.

Upon seeing Gu Rubing enter, the two immediately put down their teacups and stood up.

"King Lie, it's been a long time!"

"Yes, King of Wu, King of Wei, it has been a long time since we last met."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Liu Zhang invited the three of them to the birthday banquet.

Everyone was eating and drinking, and also celebrating Liu Zhang's birthday; no one discussed political matters.

After the birthday banquet ended and the tables were cleared away, the smile on Liu Zhang's face gradually faded.

Gu Rubing knew that they were about to get down to business.

"I invited you all here today not only because I wanted to use the occasion of a birthday banquet to get you all together, but also because we've been here for several years now and we're starting to miss home. Seeing you all makes me feel like I'm coming home."

Gu Rubing was somewhat suppressed by Liu Zhang's emotional appeal.

If we're talking about homesickness, who among them wouldn't miss it? But they'd rather go back home alive than be carried back as corpses.

"Another point is that, due to various reasons, Jiaozhou has experienced a significant shortage of grain supplies. I would appreciate it if you could help me gather more grain supplies."

Upon hearing about the provisions, Cao Cao instinctively looked at Sun Jian.

Sun Jian is now the major supplier of grain. Yizhou has long been out of supplies. If they hadn't moved the battlefield to Youzhou, and if Yizhou had remained in a state of war, Cao Cao would have run out of food long ago.

Even in its current state, Cao Cao's food supplies can only barely last until the autumn harvest.

However, Sun Jian was also somewhat devastated at this point.

Youzhou provides its own grain supplies. If Jiaozhou also has to provide its own grain supplies, then Jiaozhou will also have problems with its own grain supplies.

Both of these places are in a state of war preparedness, requiring a huge amount of food and supplies. Jiaozhou, in particular, needs to provide food and supplies to the local people. It's a bottomless pit that can never be filled.

When Liu Zhang saw that Cao Cao and Sun Jian remained silent when he mentioned the grain supplies, he could only turn his gaze to Gu Rubing.

"Prince Lie, can you help me?"

"How much do you need?"

Thirty million shi!

Upon hearing this number, Gu Rubing almost spat out his water.

Liu Zhang really asked for quite a lot this time.

Thirty million shi (a unit of dry measure) – that's about all the harvest a poor province can make in a year.

However, Gu Rubing also knew that Liu Zhang's demand for grain was relatively conservative. After all, his own people had little to eat. If they were in a state of peace and were careful with their grain, 30 million shi of grain might be enough to last a year. In the second year, when the grain from the seven cities of Jiaozhou and Anluo Empire was collected, Liu Zhang could produce his own grain without any problem.

Seeing Gu Rubing's surprised expression, Liu Zhang was also somewhat embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, please don't think I'm greedy. This is the minimum amount of grain I need, based on my calculations."

Gu Rubing nodded; what Liu Zhang said was true.

However, even if I wanted to take out these 30 million shi all at once, it would still be quite troublesome.

He definitely can't produce it now, but he might be able to after the national grain harvest.

When Cao Cao saw that Liu Zhang had already sought help from Gu Rubing, he immediately looked at Sun Jian.

Now Cao Cao can only turn to Sun Jian for help.

Sun Jian's heart was bleeding at this moment.

Thirty million koku! That's thirty million!

Just as Sun Jian was about to nod in agreement.

Gu Rubing's voice rang out from the side.

"Thirty million shi, no problem, but it will be delivered to you in a month."

Upon hearing this, both Cao Cao and Sun Jian's expressions turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Prince Lie, are you really willing to help me?"

“That’s right, and I don’t need anything from you. I know your current situation. I just hope you can stay out of things in Youzhou. If I find out that you still have people in Youzhou, don’t blame me for turning against you.”

"Haha, as long as King Lie is willing to help me, I naturally won't send any more people to Youzhou. However, King Lie, you should know that it's very difficult for me to recall the people I've already sent."

“I understand, as long as you don’t send anyone over there, it’s fine.”

"no problem."

The two men reached a grain deal in front of Cao Cao and Sun Jian, and judging from their appearance, they had clearly formed an alliance.

Without Liu Zhang's support, all aid to Youzhou would inevitably be cut off, and in that case, Youzhou would undoubtedly be defeated.

Cao Cao immediately stood up.

"Liu Zhang, do you know what you're doing?"

As Cao Cao stood up, Dian Wei and Xu Chu followed him toward Liu Zhang.

The imposing presence of the two legendary generals prevented Liu Zhang from standing up.

Cold sweat broke out on my body.

Upon seeing this, Gu Rubing waved his hand.

Zhao Yun and Guan Yu stepped forward at the same time.

Guan Yu immediately unleashed his killing intent.

When the murderous aura appeared, Dian Wei and Xu Chu felt their blood flow slow down instantly, and the momentum they had managed to suppress Liu Zhang completely collapsed at that moment.

Taking advantage of the situation, Zhao Yun used his killing intent to protect Liu Zhang.

This was to prevent Liu Zhang from being overwhelmed by the opponent's momentum again.

Liu Zhang was panting heavily, his clothes soaked with sweat.

Liu Zhang knew that Gu Rubing was protecting him.

With Gu Rubing's protection, Liu Zhang gained some confidence.

"Cao Cao, don't go too far! I need to live, and my men need to live too. You're not giving me supplies, what am I supposed to do? Cooperate with you on an empty stomach? What if I rebel? Do you think you can help me quell the rebellion? I bet you're only cooperating with whoever is stronger, right? Do you think I'm a fool?"

This was the first time Cao Cao had been so bluntly criticized by Liu Zhang, and he was somewhat angry. However, seeing that Xu Chu and Dian Wei were being suppressed, and that Guan Yu's eyes were constantly fixed on him, Cao Cao was very worried.

Judging from Guan Yu's expression, it seemed as if he would be killed by Guan Yu at the slightest provocation.

"Liu Zhang, I hope you won't regret what you've done today."

After saying this, Cao Cao turned and left with Xu Chu and Dian Wei.

Sun Jian showed no interest in participating throughout the entire process, instead simply watching the spectacle from the sidelines.

As for Sun Jian, he didn't care at all about the relationship between Cao Cao and Liu Zhang. (End of Chapter)