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

Chapter 111 Xu Shao reads Li Yi's face and finds him to be a genius beyond his time.

In his early years, Gan Ning was rampant in Shu. He killed people without restraint, hid in houses and lived on the run. He moved freely and was very famous.

Even his attendants were all dressed in brocade, and they looked bright and beautiful as they went in and out.

However, being neglected in Jingzhou for nearly two years greatly dampened Gan Ning's morale.

Now that there is finally someone who appreciates him, Gan Ning is naturally very happy.

He stepped forward and bowed to Li Yi, saying:
"It's just a humble name, it's Gan Xingba of Ba County!"

"Mr. Li's name is well-known, and I am lucky to meet him today!"

Li Yi was overjoyed, helped him up, held his hand, and looked happy:
"I have heard of Gan Xingba's name in Xuzhou for a long time."

"I have recommended him to the lord several times, and the lord also likes Xing Ba's talent, so this time he sent Zi Jing to Jingzhou."

"Come and conquer Xingba."

"We have a rare opportunity today, why don't you join us in the main hall and drink some good wine?"

Gan Ning's eyes were red with emotion.

Who were the people who entered the main hall with Li Yi and others?

They are famous scholars in the world like Xu Shao and Xun You.

A warrior like Gan Ning, who had a background as a Jinfan thief, was actually able to enter the main hall and feast with them.

What an honor is this?
"Ning has long heard that Liu Xuzhou is courteous to the wise and humble, and has long wanted to come and pay a visit."

"I didn't expect Mr. Li to treat me so well. I really don't deserve it!"

Gan Ning was a person who cared a lot about face. When he first arrived in Xuzhou, he was treated with courtesy by the second-in-command of Xuzhou.

Comparing the two with my previous experience in Jingzhou, I was naturally moved.

What he said to Li Yi were all from his heart.

Li Yi took advantage of Gan Ning's emotion and said:
"My lord has long admired General Gan's demeanor and has been looking forward to meeting him day and night."

"Now that General Gan has arrived here, this is the heavenly gift to General Xuzhou."

"It is a great relief to see you today."

"When my master returns from Sheyang, Yi will recommend Xingba to him."

Gan Ning was overjoyed and bowed to Li Yi again, his voice as loud as a bell:

"I would rather live in troubled times and go with the flow."

“I always long for a wise master and a mentor.”

"I am fortunate to meet you today. I would like to work hand in hand with you to assist Liu Xuzhou and support the Han Dynasty together!"

Well.

It was quite incongruous to hear Gan Ning say "support the Han Dynasty".

But I think he also knew Liu Bei's ambitions, so his answer was more tactful.

Li Yi took Gan Ning's hand and led him into the main hall for a banquet.

On the way, the current difficulties facing Xuzhou were explained.

"I think Xingba has just known that my master went to Sheyang Lake to inspect the navy."

"My lord places so much importance on the navy, it is time for a naval talent like Xingba to be put to good use."

Gan Ning nodded and said seriously:
"When I came to Guangling, I also saw that Guangling is close to the Yangtze River, and the territory is densely covered with water networks and many lakes."

"It's perfect for training boatmen and sailors."

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the table.

Li Yi arranged for Gan Ning to sit at the same table with Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, Xu Sheng and others.

Since they would be colleagues in the future, Li Yi introduced all the generals to Gan Ning one by one.

Gan Ning was proud of his bravery and was originally quite arrogant.

But after interacting with everyone one by one, I was deeply shocked.

Not to mention compared with the cavalry geniuses Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, and Qian Zhao.

In terms of commanding operations on land alone, Gan Ning admitted that he was not as good as Generals Tian Yu and Qian Zhao.

In single combat, Gan Ning, who was skilled in martial arts and archery and horsemanship, felt that he was no match for Zhao Yun.

And the water steering that he was proud of was only slightly better than Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin.

This shocked Gan Ning greatly, and he thought to himself that there were so many talented people in Guangling alone.

How many are there in the whole Xuzhou?
As a result, Gan Ning's arrogance suddenly diminished.

It seems that there are so many heroes in the world and they should not be underestimated.

in the future,

He should be careful and assist Lord Xuande with all his heart.

There is no way. There are too many heroes around Lao Liu, and he is quite competitive.

Gan Ning had no choice but to work hard to make progress.

Here, Gan Ning was chatting happily with the generals of Xuzhou, and over there, scholars such as Xu Shao, Liu Xian, and Xun You were also chatting together.

Especially Xun You and Xu Shao, they are fellow townsmen from Yuzhou and also old acquaintances.

We haven't seen each other for a long time, so naturally we have a lot to talk about.

But the two people have different political positions, so they are reserved when speaking.

The two smart guys quickly figured out each other's intentions.

Xun You knew that Xu Shao came to Liu Bei for help on behalf of Yangzhou.

Xu Shao also guessed that Xun You came to "interview" his future boss.

Xu Shao told Xun You everything he had seen, heard and felt in the morning.

"Is there really such a thing?"

Xun You was shocked after hearing this.

"I saw it with my own eyes, how could it be false?"

Xu Shao said with a solemn vow.

Xun You was silent for a while, then slowly asked:
"You are good at judging people. What do you think of Li Ziyu?"

Xu Shao pondered for a moment, stroked his beard and said seriously:

"Looking at his appearance, he has the bearing of a dragon and a phoenix, and a dignified appearance."

"As for his talent and knowledge, let me see for myself."

"Literature can clarify the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, and martial arts can achieve the skills of Sun Yat-sen and Wu Zetian."

"Those who think in a way that is natural and have wonderful plans are called art masters."

"His extraordinary talent is unprecedented in history and seems to be a figure not of this era."

hiss……

Xun You took a deep breath. He had only met Li Yi once just now and had no idea how close he was to him.

However, Xu Shao actually witnessed what Li Yi did in that year, and he was also good at judging people by their faces.

It can be given such a high evaluation.

And Liu Bei was able to make such a genius willing to assist him.

What is the charm?

Afterwards, the senior officials from Jingzhou also arrived and sat down after discussing etiquette. Soon, the banquet was served.

Li Yi and Chen Deng were in charge of the reception and urged everyone to drink.

We drank until late at night and then stopped.

Chen Deng arranged accommodation and ordered people to help the officials return to their rooms to rest.

Li Yi was not in a hurry to sleep, so he simply went to the top of the city wall to enjoy the evening breeze.

Chen Deng also felt uncomfortable in his stomach, so he accompanied Li Yi to the top of the city wall to get some fresh air.

The two were chatting casually when they suddenly saw sparks rising in the distance and heard faint shouting.

Li Yi and Chen Deng looked at each other.

"Is it an enemy attack?"

Chen Deng exclaimed.

Li Yi quickly took down the telescope and looked around.

This telescope has night vision function, so you can see clearly at night.

Fortunately, the twenty thousand dollars was not wasted, it really is true that you get what you pay for.

"…They are not Yuan Shu's men."

Li Yi said lightly.

The guards on duty hurriedly beat drums to give orders, shouting that the enemy was attacking.

The soldiers had fought for a long time in Guangling and were already accustomed to the enemy's night attacks.

So they all slept in armor, and when they heard the drum sound, they all rushed to defend themselves with weapons in hand.

What surprised Li Yi was that the first person to come was the newly joined Gan Ning.

It turns out that Gan Ning also had the habit of enjoying the river breeze after getting drunk.

He was the first to see the enemy attack, so he ran to report to Li Yi immediately.

"Military Advisor, order Ning to lead our troops to intercept and kill this fleet."

"It only takes one hour, and Ning Ding will kill the bandit leader and return!"

Gan Ning was indeed an extremely brave man, but he also had shortcomings.

It's cruel and bloodthirsty.

Like Zhang Fei, he likes to abuse his subordinates.

But Zhang Fei would just whip him a few times and forget about it after two days.

Gan Ning, on the other hand, would either not abuse someone or not, but if he did abuse someone, he would abuse them to death.

No chance for revenge.

This is also the reason why Gan Ning was not assassinated by his subordinates.

"It's pitch dark at night, and we don't know how many enemies are coming. Xingba must not act rashly."

Li Yi held down Gan Ning who was eager to try.

But thinking that he came to me so actively, he must be anxious to achieve something and prove himself.

So he added:

"I can give you seven boats, and you can take forty people to explore."

"See how many enemies are coming so I can prepare for this."

Gan Ning was immediately overjoyed and bowed respectfully:
"Don't worry, Military Advisor. I'll be back soon."

The huge commotion also awakened the drunken officials of Jingzhou.

Many people put on their clothes and stood up to see what had happened.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Li! What happened?"

Suddenly the city became crowded and noisy.

Li Yi looked normal, calmly trying to reassure everyone:
"There has been no major disaster, just a few scoundrels who came here to cause trouble."

"I have sent someone to investigate the situation, and they will be back soon."

"You can go back to your rooms and rest. Don't worry about anything outside."

This……

The officials looked at each other and looked outside the city.

But seeing the dots of fire on the river, how could it be just a few scoundrels?

Chen Deng also came forward to calm everyone down:
"You are guests, don't worry."

"Zi Yu and I will take care of this place, you can go back without any worries."

"Tomorrow morning, I will ensure that the river is calm."

"Then Chen will personally escort you to the ship and return to Jingzhou."

Chen Deng, as the prefect of Guangling, did not expect such a thing to happen when he was receiving guests from Jingzhou.

This made him feel very ashamed, and he secretly vowed to teach these ignorant thieves a lesson.

Xun You took the initiative to offer his opinion:

"From my perspective, this fleet doesn't look like a regular army, but more like pirates."

“It’s just that we don’t know how many people will come.”

"Why not load some tinder on a small boat, set it on fire, and drive them ashore first."

"To be on the safe side."

Li Yi immediately followed the advice and ordered his men to prepare some flammable materials and place them on the boat.

They made fireboats and sent them out to the river to block the road.

Sure enough, the boats on the river saw the fireboat and were afraid of getting burned, so they dared not move forward.

After a while, Gan Ning hurried back.

"Report to the military advisor!"

"There are so many ships coming! I don't know how many people are on the river."

When Gan Ning reported back, he felt a little scared.

He just boasted that he would behead the bandit leader within an hour.

But he didn't expect that after he went to see it in person, he found that the number of boats on the river far exceeded his imagination.

Even a local governor might not be able to provide such a number of ships.

But Gan Ning was not afraid of death. What he was afraid of was not fulfilling the promise he had just made and losing face.

Fortunately, Li Yi persuaded him to stop, otherwise it would have been a huge embarrassment.

"The one coming must be a pirate."

Gan Ning said this to Li Yi solemnly.

"Oh? Why is Xingba so sure?"

Gan Ning folded his arms and explained:
"Ning was a pirate before, and most of the boats he prepared were small boats."

"Because it can ride the waves, steer the ship, and carry oars, flags, and sails."

"If we encounter soldiers, we can split up into boats and escape, hiding on the river."

(End of this chapter)