The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 101: Going to the meeting alone? Li Yi also did it!

The Xuezhou mentioned by Chen Deng was not a river bandit, but a pirate.

There are tens of thousands of them roaming the Yangtze River and the sea, and they are indeed a force that cannot be ignored.

"Since I took office as the governor of Guangling, I have also sent troops to suppress pirates in various places."

"Only this route of Xuezhou, usually on the big rivers, they come and go without a trace, allowing their soldiers to plunder and kill the rich."

"It is difficult to track them down. Even if we follow Zi Yu's advice and send people to recruit them, there will be no way out."

Ok……

"Since Xuezhou is a pirate, there will always be a day when he comes ashore to rob. We just need to keep a close eye on him."

Li Yi nodded slightly and asked:

"Just now you said that it is inconvenient to build a port in Jiangdu, firstly because of pirates, and secondly because it is easy to be threatened by Dantu."

"Dantu belongs to Wu County, and Wu County is Liu Yao's territory."

"...Yes." Chen Deng then added:
"But not long ago, Yuan Shu's general Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao's main force in Qu'a, and Liu Yao withdrew his troops to Yuzhang."

"Now both Dantu and Qu'a counties belong to Yuan Shu."

Li Yi smiled slightly, "Maybe not?"

Oh?
Chen Deng raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean, Ziyu?"

"Sun Ce is a man of wisdom, determination and courage."

"Since our father died in battle, the young men joined forces and fought across thousands of miles to avenge their father."

"However, his tactics are slightly better than his father's. Now he dares to lead his troops to bypass Moling and fight a decisive battle with Liu Yao at Qu'a."

"It can be seen that his ambition is not small. After occupying Qu'a and Dantu, he will have the potential to become a three-legged warrior."

"I expect he will eventually be no less than Yuan Shu."

Li Yi asserted that Sun Ce would rebel against Yuan Shu in the long run.

Chen Deng also admired Li Yi's unique insights.

"Zi Yu was in Xia Pi, but he knew everything about Jiangnan."

"No wonder Liu Shijun often praised Ziyu for his broad knowledge and ability to see into the secrets of heaven."

At the same time, he secretly thought that if Sun Ce really had a rebellious heart, he would rebel against Yuan Shu soon.

Isn't that a force we can win over?
Yuan Shu controlled Huainan and had a well-trained army and sufficient food supplies. It would not be easy for Liu Shijun to deal with him.

But if we could cause a fire in Yuan Shu's backyard, so that he could not take care of himself, that would be another matter.

At this time, several soldiers lit torches and came to the top of the city.

The two men then realized that they had been so engrossed in their conversation that they had not noticed that it was already night.

The lights in Guangling City were bright, but outside the city it was pitch black, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you.

"Huh? Ziyu, look!"

Chen Deng suddenly patted Li Yi on the shoulder, shook his hand and pointed forward.

I saw dozens of boats sailing on the river, all with lights on.

The river surface was illuminated as bright as day.

"not good!"

"Could it be an enemy attack?"

Zhou Tai hurried over with a knife in hand and reported the military situation to Chen Deng.

"My Lord, Military Advisor, there are dozens of boats on the river. It could be an enemy attack!"

Li Yi and Chen Deng both looked normal.

"These are small boats, carrying no more than 800 men."

"Even if the enemy attacks, after they land, we can easily defeat them by sending a strong force."

"Why should I be afraid?"

Li Yi said lightly.

"exactly."

Chen Deng also appeared very calm.

If Liu Bei's army had not arrived yet, this military force might have aroused his vigilance.

But now that Liu Bei's army has arrived, this team of several hundred people has become a mere gift to their heads.

"Yuan Shu's army took the western route, so it shouldn't have come from the south of the Yangtze River."

"So this army is definitely not Yuan Shu's troops."

"...Yes, the south of the Yangtze River in Guangling is Dantu." Li Yi also nodded in agreement, "Yuanlong just said that Dantu has been taken by Sun Ce, so this army..."

As they were talking, all the small boats had already reached the shore, but none of them had landed.

A man came out from the leading boat and shouted loudly to the top of the city wall:
"I am here to destroy the bandit general Sun Ce and ask to see the governor of Guangling!"

The voice was like a huge bell and a thunder. Even though it was across the river, people on the city wall could hear it clearly.

"Sun Ce actually came in person?"

Chen Deng was a little surprised. Why did Sun Ce suddenly come to Guangling and want to see him?

So he just shouted from the top of the city:
"I am Chen Yuanlong! I wonder what General Sun is doing here?"

Sun Ce got straight to the point and said loudly:

"I am leading troops in Qu'a, and the army is short of food."

"I heard that Lord Chen was in Guangling, inspecting the land and fields, making full use of irrigation, and the rice was plentiful."

"I want to borrow 100,000 hu of grain from you, Lord!"

Oops...

Chen Deng was so angry that he laughed. Sun Ce had no relationship with him at all, yet he came with hundreds of strong soldiers in the middle of the night.

He asked for 100,000 hu of grain as soon as he opened his mouth.

Are you here to borrow grain, or to eat the rich?
Li Yi on the side couldn't help laughing. This Sun Ce was really honest and didn't hide anything.

But you want to borrow the grain, but what do you want to do with so many people here?

You wouldn't be thinking of using courtesy first and then force, and leaving if you can borrow some food, and buying it directly for free if you can't?
In fact, purchasing for free is an old tradition for the people of Dongwu.

When Zhou Yu was appointed the chief of Juchao, he was short of food and grass. He heard that Lu Su in Dongcheng was kind and generous, so he brought several hundred people to Lu Su to ask for sponsorship.

Why must it be Lu Su?
Because Juchao is two hundred kilometers away from Dongcheng in a straight line.

The meaning of going so far to solicit sponsorship is very clear.

They said they were borrowing grain, but in fact they were just going to other people's territory to take advantage of the situation.

After I’m done with this one, I’ll block you and never have any contact with you again.

However, Lu Su was unexpectedly very generous, which was beyond Zhou Yu's expectations.

Lu Su had been a money-giving boy for many years, but he still had 6,000 hu of grain in the treasury.

Lu Su waved his hand and gave Zhou Yu half of the grain, which was three thousand hu.

It means that brothers can move anywhere and don’t be polite to your elder brother.

Zhou Yu was shocked by Lu Su's generosity. Even though he brought the troops here, he had no choice but to give them.

But usually rich people would cry poor and beg for mercy first. This is the first time I have seen someone so straightforward and generous.

Lu Su's style of doing things is very similar to that of Zhou Yu. When Zhou Yu was 16 years old, he generously gave Sun Ce a luxury house.

Because the two of them had similar personalities, they became good friends.

Fortunately, Lu Su had been successfully intercepted by Lao Liu, so he was not bought by Dongwu for zero yuan.

But unexpectedly, Sun Ce came to Chen Deng again, wanting to make a free purchase in Guangling.

Seeing that he brought so many light boats and small ships, he probably wanted to use courtesy first and then force.

If borrowing grain fails, they will go ashore and raid the surrounding counties and towns directly, rob a lot and then leave.

This type of looting is very similar to pirates.

Taking advantage of the convenience of small boats, they could quickly land and plunder.

Then if your government wants to deal with them, you must assemble a large army.

But by the time the army had assembled, the other people had already returned with their full loads and boarded the ship.

"I am building the Han Canal in Guangling, and the food supply to the people is not enough, so how can I have extra food for you?"

Chen Deng did not treat Sun Ce well for his shamelessness and decisively rejected his proposal to borrow grain.

The words fell,

He also ordered Zhou Tai to immediately lead several hundred warriors and prepare boats to prevent Sun Ce from landing and plundering the surrounding villages.

"Wait a minute!"

Li Yi stretched out his hand to stop Chen Deng.

"Why? Does Ziyu want to lend food to Sun Ce?"

"This fellow has a big appetite. He asked for 100,000 bushels of grain right away."

"Now I am in Guangling, repairing the Han Canal and conscripting civilians, which consumes a huge amount of food every day."

"Besides, General Liu's army needs food supplies every day when they arrive here."

No problem…

Li Yi patted Chen Deng on the shoulder, signaling him to stay calm.

"One hundred thousand hu of grain is indeed too much. We naturally cannot give it to him."

“But I think everything can be discussed.”

Li Yi's occupational disease has come back.

In his opinion, no matter what the matter is, there is never only one solution.

If so, it must be because the money was not given enough.

"How is it, has the Lord of the Mansion come to an agreement?"

Sun Ce’s shout came from the river.

Li Yi stood on the wall and shouted to Sun Ce:

"General Sun, please come to the city for a chat!"

When Sun Ce heard Li Yi's call and saw that he was asked to go ashore and come to the city, he knew that things were turning around.

Then he asked loudly, "Who are you?"

Li Yi answered loudly: "I am Li Ziyu, the humble one, and I am honored to be the military advisor of Xuzhou."

Li Ziyu...

Sun Ce turned around and asked everyone:
"Do you know this person?"

Although I couldn't see his face clearly because it was dark, his voice sounded very young.

This Li Ziyu must have extraordinary abilities to be able to become Liu Bei's military advisor at such a young age.

"This man's name is Li Yi. He was captured by Liu Bei last year and is deeply trusted by Liu Bei."

"Liu Bei usually uses Li Yi's strategies."

The person who spoke was Lu Fan, a counselor under Sun Ce.

This man had a handsome face and was originally a counselor under Yuan Shu.

Seeing that Yuan Shu could not accomplish anything, he found an excuse and followed Sun Ce to attack Liu Yao.

So he stayed in Sun Ce's army and served.

I see……

Sun Ce was secretly surprised and said:
"This person is about the same age as me, and he is able to hold a high position in Xuzhou. I believe he must have the talent to manage the country and save the world."

"Let me try his courage."

After that, he shouted to Li Yi:
"I have long heard of Mr. Li's great name. Why not come to Jiangshang to have a chat?"

This person is so rude!

Even Zhou Tai who was standing by couldn't bear to watch it anymore.

Now it is you, Sun Ce, who needs my Xuzhou, and you even dare to make demands.

"Zi Yu, don't pay attention to him."

Chen Deng looked unhappy and said in a deep voice, "What can his eight hundred men do to me?"

"I ordered Zhou Tai to lead his troops to lie in ambush to the west of the city, and Jiang Qin to lead 20 boats to lie in ambush on the river."

"I will place more bows and crossbows on the city walls, and prepare enough feather arrows."

"If Sun Ce dares to come, he will never return."

Chen Deng was efficient and quick in his work and was ready to guard against Sun Ce's attack.

Li Yi smiled and said:

"Since they used courtesy before force, we can also use courtesy before force."

"If he wants to see me, it's okay for me to go to the river to meet him."

Chen Deng's eyes narrowed, and he said seriously:
"I think Sun Ce is a brave and masculine man, so it's not appropriate for Zi Yu to go alone."

Li Yi replied:

"I'll let Zilong follow me."

Chen Deng then felt relieved and ordered his men to prepare a boat to send Li Yi out of the city.

He also ordered Jiang Qin to lead twenty small boats and lie in wait on the south bank of the river, so that if any accident occurred, they could rush to rescue immediately.

Li Yi led several small boats and more than a hundred strong soldiers and crossed the river to head towards Sun Ce's boat.

Zhao Yun held a gun in one hand and a sword in the other, guarding Li Yi.

A little while.

The distance between the two ships gradually approached each other.

Sun Ce shouted again:

"How about you and I each bring a small boat and meet each other?"

Li Yi readily agreed.

So Sun Ce sailed forward in a small boat.

Li Yi also drove his boat towards Sun Ce's boat.

……

(End of this chapter)