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

Chapter 108 Xun You is here, is Gan Ning far behind? (Subscribe!)

As soon as Lu Su arrived in Xiangyang, he sent someone to inquire about Xun Youzhi's whereabouts.

As soon as he got the news, he personally led several followers and rode there on horseback.

When they arrived at the destination, everyone dismounted and let the horses rest for a while.

The followers around Lu Su were all members of his Dongcheng Society.

Loyal and devoted, but lacking in courage and strength.

Everyone first took the salt, crushed it and mixed it into their rations.

Then shake it evenly and hang it around the horse's neck, letting the horse lick it by itself.

It seems that they have made preparations to not return empty-handed this time.

"Please wait a moment. Let me report to you, sir."

When the servants saw that Lu Su and his gang were powerful, they quickly reported the news to Xun You.

Xun You was calm and composed. He ordered people to invite Lu Su in, but he was the only one there.

Lu Su then asked everyone to wait outside the house, and he went into the house alone to meet Xun You.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, they took their seats.

Xun You secretly looked at Lu Su's appearance. He found that he was a man of strange build and quite strong.

"Mr. Zijing came from Xuzhou, how can you have time to come to Xiangyang to see a idle person like me?"

Xun You smiled implicitly and spoke in a very polite tone.

At this time, the maid served tea, and Lu Su drank it before speaking:
"Now my master Liu Xuande has established a career in Xuzhou. I heard that Mr. Gongda has a good reputation."

"So I was sent to conquer you."

Lu Su still maintained his habit of speaking directly to the point, without any beating around the bush.

Xun You tried to remain calm when he heard this, but Lu Su was able to detect a slight change in his expression.

"I heard that Mr. Gongda's uncle, Xun Yu, is currently the Sima of Cao Yanzhou."

"Yingchuan is your hometown. Since you don't want to go to Liu Xuzhou, why don't you go to Cao Yanzhou?"

Lu Su asked a key question.

Since you, Xun You, are from Yingchuan, and Yingchuan is a subsidiary force of Cao Cao.

Your uncle Xun Yu holds a high position beside Cao Cao, so why do you want to stay in Jingzhou?
In fact, Xun You didn't want to stay in Jingzhou.

He wanted to be the prefect of Shu County.

Because Shu is surrounded by steep mountains and strong cities, the people live a prosperous life.

It was only because the road was blocked that they were forced to stay in Jingzhou temporarily.

"Today, the world is not yet settled, and many heroes have emerged. It is still unknown who will be the hero."

Xun You took a sip of tea and answered Lu Su's question irrelevantly.

However, Lu Su was better able to guess what Xun You was thinking.

"...Haha, it's just as Mr. Gongda said."

"The world is in great turmoil today, and it is time for wise men to work hard."

"And you have been in Jingzhou for a long time, watching the changes in Shu Han?"

Historically, Xun You joined Cao Cao's camp five years after his uncle Xun Yu defected to Cao Cao.

Moreover, it was Cao Cao who took the initiative to recruit Xun You, so he went there.

So what was Xun You thinking during this period?

In fact, we can roughly understand the reason by using Cao Cao’s words to evaluate Xun You.

Cao Cao commented on Xun You:

——"Foolish on the outside, but wise on the inside; timid on the outside, but brave on the inside; weak on the outside, but strong on the inside; do not boast of your good deeds, and do not show off your hard work."

Xun You appears to be honest, timid and cowardly.

But in fact he is wise, brave and powerful.

Never show off your strengths or exaggerate your achievements.

That is, "Wisdom is attainable, but stupidity is unattainable."

Perhaps others can achieve Xun You’s wisdom, but no one can be as humble as him.

In fact, from this evaluation we can see that Xun You is a very low-key and introverted person who is good at hiding his edge.

He dared to sacrifice himself to kill Dong, but in order to protect himself, he would give up the position of Rencheng Xiang and instead seek the position of Shu County Prefect.

When Cao Cao was recruiting Xun You,

I once said to him, I know you are observing the situation in the world, and now I think you are able to make a judgment.

The implication is to tell Xun You that he already has the strength to compete for supremacy in the world, and you can come and join me.

Because at this time Cao Cao not only put down the rebellion in Yanzhou, but also expanded his power to Yuzhou.

He also welcomed the emperor and held the most important political bargaining chip in the late Han Dynasty.

Xun You believed that Cao Cao could accomplish his goal, so he chose to go north.

right now,

Xun You was keeping a low profile in Jingzhou, but in fact he was observing which of the princes in the world could accomplish anything.

What Lu Su wanted to do was to tell Xun You that he could accomplish great things by joining their Xuzhou family.

"Although my lord has fought with Yuan Shu, the outcome is still unknown."

"However, Guangling City is strong, with elite soldiers and sufficient food. It also has the talent of Chen Yuanlong and the courage of Zhou Youping and Jiang Gongyi."

"Even if there were millions of people, they could not defeat him."

"Now my Lord respects the wise and humbles himself, and is seeking the assistance of wise men."

"Gongda's wisdom and strategy are exactly what Xuzhou needs."

"If you don't come back with me to Xuzhou to build great achievements together, you will stay in Jingzhou and waste your time, and watch the fat on your thighs grow."

"Why?"

Xun You did not answer, but just drank his tea.

Lu Su suddenly had an idea and said:
"Today my lord is fighting a great battle with Yuan Shu in Guangling."

"Gongda and I are both ambitious, why don't we go to Guangling?"

What this means is that you should "interview" your boss first.

See if he suits your taste. If not, we can't force you to stay, right?
Anyway, you stay in Jingzhou all day eating, drinking and having fun, and you're just sitting around doing nothing.

This suggestion is quite pertinent.

Xun You was overjoyed and stood up to thank him:
"In that case, thank you very much for your kindness, Zijing."

As Li Yi said, these aristocratic families in the late Han Dynasty usually did not put all their eggs in one basket, but placed their bets on many sides.

In fact, the relationship between these nobles and their lords is more like that of shareholders than that of monarch and subject.

Only those who come from a poor family have a master-servant relationship.

This kind of support from a big family is called investment.

Since it is a shareholding, naturally, I will not bet on only one company. Especially now the situation in the world is unclear, no one can tell what the future will be like.

Therefore, Xun You decided to go to the Guangling front line to meet Liu Bei in person.

The battle between two armies is the time when a lord's courage and talent can be best demonstrated.

After seeing Liu Bei's performance, Xun You decided not to work for him in the end.

At least I can express my gratitude to him in person.

This is the etiquette between scholars.

……

Jingzhou, Jiangxia.

A large naval camp.

The governor of Jiangxia was Huang Zu, and Su Fei was appointed commander of his navy.

At this time, Su Fei was reading documents in the hall.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the hall, mixed with the sound of bells, but the guards outside the door had not announced anything.

Su Fei raised his eyes and smiled. The person who came was indeed his good friend Gan Ning.

He was wearing a brocade robe, a flowery hat, and a bell around his waist.

This bell was originally something Gan Ning wore when he was a pirate.

Although I have become a good woman now, I still wear it.

I guess he wants to use it to reminisce about the past.

Or maybe they simply think it's cool.

After all, the history books say, "He carried a banner and a bell, and when the people heard the sound of the bell, they knew it was Ning."

As soon as people heard the bell, they knew Gan Ning was coming.

Gan Ning may enjoy this feeling more.

"Brother, why did you call me here?"

Gan Ning had a very close relationship with Su Fei, so he had no reservations in front of him.

He walked up to him with a swagger and sat down next to him.

Su Fei shook the document in his hand and said with a smile:
"Xingba, guess what I received today?"

Gan Ning smelled strongly of alcohol and seemed to be still drunk. He lay directly beside him.

He ignored what Su Fei said.

"Brother, just speak frankly."

Su Fei suddenly felt bored, so he said directly:

"Today, I, Jiang Xia, received a document from my lord."

"The envoys from Xuzhou are coming to Jingzhou to purchase warships. The navy of Jiangxia will also come forward to assist the envoys in selecting warships."

Well!
Upon hearing this, Gan Ning sobered up immediately, flipped over and sat up, and asked hurriedly:
"The envoy from Xuzhou came to Jingzhou to buy ships?"

"do what!?"

Seeing Gan Ning's excitement, Su Fei felt both amused and a little distressed.

Since Gan Ning started reading military books, he has made up his mind to establish immortal achievements.

He served under Liu Biao, but found that Liu Biao was not familiar with military affairs.

Therefore, it was concluded that Liu Biao would ultimately achieve nothing in this situation of unrest in the world and conflict among warlords.

He originally wanted to leave, but his good friend Su Fei persuaded him to stay.

Su Fei knew that Gan Ning was a talented and capable person, so he tried several times to recommend Gan Ning to Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia.

However, Huang Zu refused to employ Gan Ning because he was a bandit from the Jinfan clan.

He even sent people to lure Gan Ning's men.

Gan Ning had long intended to leave, but Huang Zu refused to let him go.

So Gan Ning could only drink to drown his sorrows every day and was extremely depressed.

Su Fei saw it all and tried to find a chance to help Gan Ning escape.

"I heard that Liu Xuzhou and Yuan Shu fought a great battle in Guangling."

"Because there is a lot of water in the south of the Yangtze River, I want to find warships."

Su Fei secretly glanced at Gan Ning's expression.

As expected, Gan Ning's eyes became firm and he said seriously:
"If we just want to defend Guangling, why do we need so many warships?"

"Not to mention that we have to send people to Jingzhou to purchase additional warships."

"I think Liu Xuzhou has great ambitions, and I'm afraid he wants to take over Jiangnan!"

When Gan Ning said this, his tone became excited.

He abandoned evil and followed the right path in order to establish his own achievements.

He will go wherever he can display his talents.

Historically, Gan Ning defected to the Eastern Wu because he heard that Sun Quan was "recruiting talented people and hiring famous scholars" in Jiangdong.

At that time, Lu Su and Zhuge Jin had both become guests of honor in the Eastern Wu, so Gan Ning also wanted to try his luck.

Of course, during this period, Gan Ning was always trapped in Jiangxia by Huang Zu.

Although Gan Ning had made many military achievements, Huang Zu still refused to use him.

"I have recommended you several times, but my lord did not use you."

"Time passes, life is short, you should plan for the future, maybe you can meet a soulmate."

Su Fei patted Gan Ning's shoulder and comforted him softly.

Gan Ning sighed:
“Although I have this ambition, I don’t know what to do.”

Su Fei raised the silk book in his hand above his head and said with a smile:

"Isn't this a good opportunity for Xingba to escape from Jiangxia?"

Gan Ning's spirits perked up, and he hurriedly stepped forward and asked:
"What do you mean, brother?"

Su Fei explained:

"Now my lord, please select the warships and sell them to Xuzhou."

"There are more than 300 of them."

"With such a huge number of warships, how can we not send troops to carry them?"

"So yesterday, the prefecture issued an order to select elite soldiers to escort the warships and the Xuzhou envoys back to Guangling."

"From Jiangxia to Guangling, you have to cross most of the Yangtze River and also pass through Pengze Lake in the middle."

"Not only are the waves on the water very strong, but we also have to guard against pirates."

"Xingba, isn't this your chance?"

(End of this chapter)