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

Chapter 163: The Phoenix returns, can the Sleeping Dragon be far behind?
One million hu of grain!
When Liu Bei said this number, Pang Ji's eyes almost popped out.

"...How much...how much?"

Pang Ji couldn't believe his ears.

It’s not that Jingzhou couldn’t provide one million hu of grain, but it’s impossible to give it to other states and counties.

Food is the most important resource in troubled times.

On weekdays, small sums of money can be used as an exchange of interests, which can be considered a small matter.

But when it comes to large numbers, it's not an issue that can be discussed.

If it really costs a million hu of grain, Jingzhou might as well go directly to negotiate with Cao Cao, which might cost even less.

It might even be better to just go all out and do it.

Pang Ji determined that Xuzhou was not sincere in wanting to negotiate and was about to leave in anger.

Li Yi said:
"Don't worry, Minister Pang. My lord hasn't finished speaking yet."

Pang Tong on the side also advised:

"Uncle, it's not too late to wait until General Liu finishes speaking."

Pang Ji then sat down again, calmed down, and asked seriously:
"General Liu really intends to ask Jingzhou for one million hu of grain?"

"……good."

Liu Bei nodded and glanced at Li Yi beside him.

Li Yi then chimed in and said:
"But I, Xuzhou, am not asking you, Jingzhou, for a million bushels of grain and fodder. I am buying it."

purchase?
Pang Ji frowned. From what Li Yi said, it seemed that he was not planning to get it for free.

"Appreciate further details."

"Previously, the trade between Jing and Xu states was mostly based on grain."

"The annual grain market is only 500,000 to 600,000 bushels."

"Xuzhou hopes to increase the transaction volume to one million bushels of grain."

After hearing Li Yi's conditions, Pang Ji began to think seriously.

If one million hu of grain were to be delivered on an annual basis and paid for, it would indeed be worth discussing.

Liu Bei also said before that Henan is making all-out preparations for war with Hebei.

So food will be stored at all costs.

If millions of grains are really transported to Henan every year.

Then it would be difficult for Liu Biao himself to be a fence-sitter.

Henan and Hebei will sooner or later fight a war, and Liu Biao wants to reap the benefits, but Xuzhou uses Lujiang as bait and forces Liu Biao to join the team.

If you want Lujiang, make your choice.

If Liu Biao really agreed to transport one million hu of grain to Henan every year, Hebei would never accept the olive branch thrown by Jingzhou.

Because in a war, this move would definitely aid the enemy.

Liu Bei said:
"If Brother Jingsheng agrees, I am willing to guarantee Lujiang, and I believe that Cao Sikong will also guarantee Lujiang."

Liu Bei was confident that Liu Biao would really provide one million hu of grain to Henan every year.

Cao Cao was absolutely willing to give South Lujiang to Liu Biao.

In other words, this was the protection fee that Liu Biao paid to Henan.

Yanzhou and Xuzhou are willing to jointly guarantee Lujiang and will not expand southward at least until the war with Yuan is over.

During this period, Liu Biao could fully consolidate his power in Huainan and expand towards Yangzhou.

Henan certainly did not lose out.

In addition to obtaining important food resources, the most important thing is that it further intensified the conflict between Jingzhou and Sun Wu.

Liu Biao and Sun Ce had a feud over the murder of their fathers.

Sun Ce's subordinates, led by Zhou Yu, had basically all of the Huainan families that supported him in Nanlujiang.

However, Nanlujiang was now controlled by Liu Biao, so it would be unreasonable for Sun Ce not to attack Liu Biao.

In addition, Cao and Liu had tacitly allowed Sun Ce to expand towards Chaisang, threatening the core interests of Jingzhou.

After two operations, the conflict between Liu Biao and Sun Ce had reached an irreconcilable point.

The outbreak of their war was almost a foregone conclusion.

but now,
Li Yi decided to add the final fuel to the conflict between Sun and Liu.

"Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, was an official appointed by the imperial court himself."

"When he was in Qu'a, he was defeated by Sun Ce and retreated to Yuzhang and Poyang."

"I recently heard that Liu Yangzhou is seriously ill and I'm afraid he won't have much time left."

"If Liu Yangzhou died of illness, the position of Yangzhou governor would be vacant."

"At that time, I, Xuzhou, would like to invite Liu Jingzhou to come and discuss and nominate a new governor of Yangzhou."

What this meant was that the Yangzhou governor's right to make memorials was granted to Jingzhou.

This was a new pie that Li Yi painted for Liu Biao.

Haven't you always wanted to get involved in Yangzhou affairs?
Now we encourage you to get involved in Yangzhou, just go ahead and do it.

Yanzhou and Xuzhou will both acquiesce to your invasion of Yangzhou.

This condition is too tempting for Jingzhou.

It perfectly fits Liu Biao's foreign policy of preserving Jingzhou and intervening in all directions.

He supported Liu Xun in Yangzhou because he wanted an agent to keep the internal turmoil in Yangzhou going.

In this way, the eastern part of Jingzhou will never be threatened.

"I already know what General Liu meant. I will discuss this matter with my lord after I return."

After listening carefully, Pang Ji breathed a sigh of relief.

One million hu of grain was to be delivered in one year and paid for. This condition was acceptable to Jingzhou.

And this mission actually brought some unexpected gains.

Xuzhou actually granted the Yangzhou governor's right to make memorials to the emperor to Jingzhou.

According to the historical line, Liu Yao would die of illness this month, and Hua Xin, the prefect of Yuzhang at that time, was quite popular.

Everyone planned to nominate Hua Xin as the new governor of Yangzhou, but Hua Xin himself refused.

Sun Ce took advantage of Liu Yao's death to expand further westward and took the initiative to attack Jiangxia to avenge his father.

Therefore, even without Li Yi's instigation, a war between Jingzhou and Sun Wu was inevitable.

It’s just that Li Yi further exacerbated the conflict between the two places.

When facing the envoy of Sun Wu, he encouraged him to invade Jingzhou and expressed that Henan would support him.

When facing the envoy from Jingzhou, he encouraged him to invade Yangzhou and also expressed that Henan would support him.

In a word, speak the truth to real people and lies to ghosts.

This is a basic operation of a politician.

If there are no conflicts between the two places, create conflicts for them.

If there is a conflict between the two places, the conflict will be further expanded.

In fact,
Historically, Sun Ce's desire for Jingzhou was far deeper than his desire for Yangzhou.

After all, the southern part of Yangzhou was regarded as a "malaria-ridden area" by people at that time, making it difficult to start a business there.

Therefore, Sun Ce wanted Jingzhou, where Liu Biao had been cultivating for many years, even more.

His foreign policy was to ally with Cao Cao in the north, Liu Zhang in the west, and then besiege Liu Biao from three sides.

Before Jiangdong was pacified, they had already reached Jiangxia, not only killing more than 20,000 enemies but also seizing thousands of ships.

He became rich all of a sudden, and then turned back to pacify the remaining counties in Jiangdong, such as Yuzhang.

Therefore, Sun Ce's foreign policy in this dimension remains unchanged.

He still allied with Cao and Liu in the north, Liu Zhang in the west, and then attacked Jingzhou in the west.

The reason why Sun Ce was able to succeed in the battle of Jingzhou was mainly because Cao Cao misjudged the situation.

Chen Deng, the prefect of Guangling at the time, urged Cao Cao to adopt a high-pressure policy against Sun Wu.

However, Cao Cao believed that Sun Ce's forces were too weak and adhered to the principle of helping the weak rather than the strong.

In the war between Sun Ce and Liu Biao, Cao Cao chose to stand on Sun Ce's side.

Unexpectedly, Sun Ce was so fierce that he almost wiped out Huang Zu's entire army and captured all his wives.

Then Sun Wu's power suddenly took off, and Cao Cao could only sigh helplessly:
"I regret not using Chen Yuanlong's strategy earlier and letting Feng Zhu raise his minions."

Therefore, Li Yi made a patch in this dimension and encouraged Jingzhou and Sun Wu to attack each other.

Then Henan did not participate.

Compared with the historical Sun Wu, Sun Ce in this dimension lacks the support of Henan.

And the two big counties of Danyang and Lujiang were missing.

The southern part of Lujiang was handed over to Liu Biao by Henan, and the strength of the two families was basically balanced.

The internal strife will not last long.

In Huainan, Cao Cao and Liu Bei each had two buffer zones, the northern part of Lujiang and Danyang County.

You can sit back and watch the cricket fight in Jiangnan.

"In this case, I would like to thank General Zuo."

Pang Ji stood up and thanked Liu Bei and Li Yi again.

Liu Bei was just about to see Pang Ji off when someone suddenly reported that Kong Beihai had arrived.

When they heard that Kong Rong was coming, Pang Ji and Pang Tong, uncle and nephew, were all excited.

Kong Rong is almost the representative of scholars in this era. If he were in modern times, he would be a top star. Who wouldn't want to meet him?
"How did Kong Beihai come here in person?"

Liu Bei still respected Kong Rong very much and went up to him to ask about his well-being.

Kong Rong looked a little anxious and asked:
"I just heard that Ni Zhengping had been to Xia Pi. I wonder if this happened?"

Liu Bei answered yes.

Kong Rong sighed:

"...Ah, how can we drive it away, General?"

"Zheng Ping is a man of learning, virtuous character, and outstanding talent."

"When you first encounter art and literature, you will see the mysteries of the art world."

"Whatever I see, I recite."

"What the ear hears, the heart never forgets."

"When nature and Tao are united, thoughts are like those of God."

"A truly famous person in the world should be by the emperor's side."

"His talent is ten times greater than mine. I will recommend him to the emperor."

"Or you can be the general's right-hand man or his left hand, or a loyal subject."

Kong Rong was good friends with Ni Heng. When he heard that Ni Heng was driven out of Xia Pi by Liu Bei, he came to plead for Ni Heng.

Liu Bei explained:
"Although Ni Heng is talented and learned, his words and actions are disrespectful to others, and he is confused without realizing it."

"He insulted the guests at the banquet, so he was driven out."

Upon hearing this, Kong Rong couldn't help but sigh, thinking that Ni Heng still hadn't changed his bad habits.

How could he be so arrogant and rude while sitting on a high seat in Xuzhou?

"You have always been insane, and today you may have had a mad attack. General, please don't blame me."

"I will blame him later."

Ni Heng had already known Kong Rong when he was twenty years old.

The two had been friends for five or six years, and Kong Rong knew Ni Heng very well.

He believed that although Ni Heng's words were rude, he certainly had no ill intentions and it must be his madness acting up.

Li Yi smiled and said:
"...Kong Beihai is right."

"But these people always like to talk about illness, and their illnesses are countless."

What I mean is that both you and Ni Heng like to say that he is sick, so the number of times he gets sick is too many.

Many people said that Ni Heng was faking illness when he claimed to have madness, and he simply didn't want to see Cao Cao.

But if you really look at Ni Heng's life, it's hard not to wonder if there's something wrong with this man's brain.

Take Liu Biao for example. He was a relative of the Han royal family and the governor of Jingzhou.

After running business in Jingzhou for so many years, I have been working diligently and conscientiously to do practical things for the people.

When Ni Heng arrived in Jingzhou, Liu Biao not only met him in person, but also sought Ni Heng's opinion before writing articles and making speeches.

Without Ni Heng's opinion, nothing can be decided.

Despite respecting Ni Heng so much, Ni Heng still often insulted and belittled Liu Biao in public.

After all, he is a politician, and you are just a scholar. How can you be so disrespectful to him?

Ni Heng is really lucky that I didn't chop you into pieces.

You know, what politicians value most is face.

If you humiliate someone in public, his dignity will be lost. How can he lead his subordinates in the future?
So Li Yi just ordered people to beat Ni Heng out of Xuzhou with sticks.

Because as long as you leave Xuzhou, Ni Heng's conspicuous bag will attract attention wherever you go.

But it is hard to say whether there are people outside Xuzhou who have such good tempers as Liu Bei and Li Yi.

His character destined him to a short life.

If you are really a madman, you should indulge in your own world and not show off in front of politicians or even warlords.

Otherwise, it will only bring about fatal disaster.

"Okay, now that Kong Beihai is here, Rong Yi will introduce him to Mr. Kong."

"This is the famous Xiangyang scholar Pang Shizhong, and this young man is his nephew Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan."

When Li Yi introduced Pang Tong, he called him "Xiao Lang" and he was filled with emotion.

I still remember that when I first came here, the first word I heard was "Xiao Lang" called out by Liu Bei.

Now that I am of some age, I can call the younger generation "Xiao Lang".

"…Meet Kong Beihai."

Pang Ji and Pang Tong, uncle and nephew, all bowed to Kong Rong.

Kong Rong immediately returned the greeting and they had a conversation.

Kong Rong was surprised to find that this young man named Pang Tong was no less talented than Ni Heng.

It’s just that Ni Heng was better at writing oratory, while Pang Shiyuan was able to discuss the strategies of kingship and hegemony, and had the talent of making extraordinary plans and calculations.

A true young genius!

Seeing such a talented man, Kong Rong couldn't help but chat with Pang Tong for a few more words.

Only then did I realize that Pang Tong was not yet an adult and was still traveling to study.

Li Yi took advantage of the situation and said:
"Kong Beihai now runs the Imperial College in Xuzhou, where he teaches and explains to students who come and go."

"Since Shiyuan is studying abroad, why doesn't he stay in Xuzhou and study under Kong Beihai?"

Li Yi formally proposed to let Pang Tong study abroad in Xuzhou.

This was very common in the late Han Dynasty. When Sun Ce was in power, he sent Sun Quan to study abroad.

There is no need to say much about Kong Rong's fame in this era.

The title of being the 20th-generation grandson of Confucius alone has a huge destructive power on scholars.

As expected, after hearing Li Yi's suggestion, Pang Tong was terrified and hurriedly bowed and said:

"How can Tong deserve such a love from the Marquis of Tan?"

Li Yi said seriously:
"Otherwise, Shi Yuan is a piece of unpolished jade that needs to be carved by skilled craftsmen for future use in the country."

"It is our duty to support the Han Dynasty."

This was said to Kong Rong. Kong Rong admired Pang Tong's talent. After hearing this, he was overjoyed and said:

"Yes, if Shi Yuan doesn't give up, he can stay in Xuzhou to study."

Pang Tong was tempted. In ancient times, many people became apprentices because of their reputation. For example, Liu Bei became apprentice to Lu Zhi because of his reputation, which enabled Liu Bei to enter the circle of scholars.

Pang Tong now wanted to become famous, and it would be very attractive for him if he could become a disciple of Kong Rong, a great scholar in the world.

"……uncle."

Pang Tong looked at Pang Ji. Although he did not say it explicitly, his eyes betrayed what he was thinking.

Pang Ji pondered and said:
"Xuzhou's political situation is clear and bright, and the people are happy and content."

"General Liu is kind to others and has won the hearts of the people. If Shi Yuan can stay in Xia Pi to study, it will also be beneficial."

"What about your teacher, Kong Beihai?"

"Since Shi Yuan has made up his mind, there is no reason for his uncle to object."

"only……"

Halfway through his words, Pang Ji turned to face Liu Bei and Li Yi.

"I am sorry to bother General Liu and Marquis Li Tan. If there is anything I have failed to do, please forgive me."

Liu Bei said:

"What are you talking about, Minister Pang? Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?"

"Shi Yuan, just stay here and be at ease."

Pang Ji was relieved, and he bowed to Li Yi beside him and said:

"Li Tanhou is a wise and resourceful man in the world, with deep strategic plans and no omissions in his plans."

"My nephew is studying hard, and I hope that Lord Tan can give him more guidance."

Li Yilian said don't worry.

Pang Ji repeatedly reminded Pang Tong to be careful in Xuzhou and not to be arrogant like Ni Heng.

After all, Xuzhou is not like Jingzhou. Pang Tong is alone outside and has no family to take care of him.

He can only rely on the care of Liu Bei and Li Yi.

Pang Tong said confidently:

"Uncle, please be at ease. I have long heard that General Zuo is magnanimous and generous."

"Respect the wise and cherish the virtuous, and promote young talents."

"After seeing it today, I know that the rumors are true. I really admire you very much."

Liu Bei burst into laughter, and found these words very useful.

He immediately appointed Pang Tong as a guest official and employed him as a Gongcao, and also gave him silk, brocade, gold and silver utensils.

Gongcao is similar to a secretary. Liu Bei's intention is to let Pang Tong stay with Li Yi and gain some experience.

From Liu Bei's perspective, he certainly thought that Pang Tong was not as good as Li Yi, so he had to train him well.

After he has accumulated enough qualifications, there will be reasons to promote him and give him important positions in the future.

Pang Tong naturally understood Liu Bei's intention and thanked him repeatedly.

But Li Yi was still happy about this.

He had been burdened with so much heavy work before that he was almost out of breath.

During this period, I really ate less than a pet and worked more than an animal.

Now that he had Pang Tong as his deputy, he could finally delegate some power.

Liu Bei had thought about assigning Li Yi the position of Gongcao before, but he just couldn't find a suitable candidate.

It would be a waste of talent for someone who has enough ability to be a Gongcao.

Li Yi was worried about the person who was suitable to be Gongcao but his ability was not good enough.

Pang Tong was a very suitable candidate. He was definitely capable and had little experience. Gongcao was very suitable for accumulating political experience.

In history, Pang Tong worked as a Gongcao for Zhou Yu and gradually gained experience.

……

"Lord Tan, I hope you will give me more guidance in the future."

Now that he had taken over the position of Gongcao, Pang Tong naturally came to show his goodwill to his "new leader".

"...Easy to say."

Li Yi immediately took Pang Tong with him and introduced all the major and minor tasks in Xuzhou to him one by one.

He then took him to visit the military camp in Xuzhou and showed Pang Tong the counterweight trebuchet.

When Pang Tong heard that these things were invented by Li Yi, he was stunned and exclaimed:

"People say that Marquis Tan has the talent to govern the country and maintain peace. Looking at it now, even Guan Zhong and Xiao He are not as good as him."

"...Haha, Shi Yuan, you don't have to flatter me."

Li Yi, with his hands behind his back, led Pang Tong to visit the government office of Xuzhou.

"I have heard you often say to yourself, 'Discussing the remaining strategies of kings and hegemons, and looking at the key points of reliance, one day's progress is better.'"

Pang Tong said hurriedly:

"I don't deserve it. My knowledge and talent are not worthy of being in front of Marquis Tan."

Pang Tong came from a prominent family, so he could use this kind of workplace rhetoric with ease.

"...Haha, okay, okay, I have something to deal with right now, Shi Yuan can give me some advice."

"If you can help relieve the worries of Marquis Tan, it will be a blessing for Tong."

Ok……

Li Yi nodded and said calmly:

"Shi Yuan should know that General Liu has entrusted me with the military affairs of the two counties and supervised the affairs of Guangling and Jiujiang."

"General Liu wants to leave the affairs of Huainan to me."

Pang Tong nodded repeatedly and listened carefully.

"I wonder if Shi Yuan knows that before we defeated Yuan Shu, General Liu and I each married a daughter."

“…I’ve heard a little bit about it.”

Pang Tong answered indifferently.

"Thanks to the marriage with Yuan's daughter, Danyang Yuan Yin surrendered to Xuzhou."

"Danyang is the key point of Jiangnan and can control Jiangdong."

"That's why I tried my best to protect Yuan Yin."

Li Yi put his hands behind his back and talked as he walked.

"But there are so many wealthy families in Danyang that Yuan Yin is exhausted from dealing with them."

"He wrote to me recently, hoping that I would send someone to help him."

Pang Tong raised his eyes and immediately understood the whole story.

Li Yi established a puppet force in Danyang to serve as a cover for Huainan and Guangling.

As a buffer force, Danyang is now absolutely qualified.

But from what Li Yi said, he also wanted to consolidate Yuan Yin's rule in Danyang in order to indirectly strengthen his control over Yangzhou.

In fact, according to the historical line, Sun Ce would attack Danyang and defeat Yuan Yin next year.

In this dimension, Li Yi had already recaptured Yuan Yin in advance, with Xuzhou as a guarantee, and also led Liu Biao to intervene in the affairs of Yangzhou.

It is certainly impossible for Sun Ce to plan his strategy according to the historical line.

Even so, Li Yi still hoped to consolidate Yuan Yin's rule in Danyang.

After all, both he and Liu Bei were related to Yuan Yin by marriage.

Don't underestimate this relationship.

Throughout the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, interpersonal relationships were almost entirely maintained through blood ties and marriage.

For example, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu did not get along well and fought openly and secretly for their entire lives.

As a result, when Yuan Shu was desperate, the first person he thought of was Yuan Shao.

And Yuan Shao really sent people to rescue him.

"There are many powerful families in Danyang, and Lord Yuan is holding them back. The only way to control them is by violence."

Pang Tong immediately put forward his own opinions on consolidating the rule of Danyang.

"Oh?"

Li Yi raised his eyebrows and smiled:

"Is Shi Yuan suggesting that I send more troops to Danyang?"

"No."

Pang Tong immediately shook his head and said, "Since Marquis Tan has planned a strategy to rest and nourish the people in Henan, it is not appropriate to start a war again."

After a slight pause, Pang Tong leaned close to Li Yi and whispered:
"Now that Yuan Shu has been defeated, the people of Danyang are uneasy."

"Why doesn't Marquis Tan order Yuan Yin to hold a banquet to appease the people and invite all the noble families to attend the banquet."

"Then we can capture him at the banquet, and then we can secure Danyang."

To capture the thief and the leader, the way to subdue the powerful is usually to kill the chicken to scare the monkey first.

Liu Biao and Liu Zhang both did this.

"...Haha, this is a good suggestion."

Li Yi nodded slightly. He guessed that Yuan Yin actually wanted to do it but didn't dare to.

After all, this kind of thing requires a lot of courage.

So he wrote a letter specifically asking for help, and explicitly said that he hoped someone would come to help.

In fact, it is to test your own attitude.

Let’s see if Li Yi will really protect himself at all costs.

What if Yuan Yin really did this and offended the powerful families, and Danyang was still not pacified?

Then he's done for.

Li Yi immediately sent a secret letter, asking Yuan Yin to follow the example of Liu Jingzhou and Liu Yizhou in holding the Hongmen Banquet to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

Just go for it, Xuzhou will support you from behind.

"Shi Yuan, do you know why I am in such a hurry to pacify Danyang?"

Li Yi continued to ask.

Pang Tong smiled and replied:
"Hebei is now powerful, with many soldiers and generals. Even if General Liu and Minister Cao join forces, it will be difficult to resist."

"So the Marquis of Tan hopes to recruit more vassals to serve as his support."

"Danyang is a place of dangerous mountains and rugged people, who are resolute and strong, fond of martial arts and war, and have noble spirit and strength. It is a place of elite soldiers."

"I guess Marquis Tan also hopes to obtain Danyang soldiers as a supplement to his combat power."

Hahaha……

Li Yi threw his head back and laughed. It was so easy to communicate with smart people.

It is common sense that Danyang produces elite troops.

From Li Ling in the Western Han Dynasty to Feng Gun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, both used Danyang soldiers as their main force.

As for the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Tao Qian, Sun Ce, and Yuan Shu all recruited troops in Danyang.

Needless to say, how popular Danyang soldiers are.

but,

While praising the Danyang soldiers for their bravery and the tough character of their people, a problem arises.

What is the price for the Danyang people to be so good at fighting?

The price is that most of Danyang is mountainous and occupied by the Shanyue people.

The so-called Danyang soldiers were essentially derived from the Shanyue soldiers.

The characteristics of these barbarians are that they have little culture and lack military talent.

If we can't produce famous generals, we can only produce brave generals.

So it's fine to let the Danyang people charge into battle, but if they are allowed to lead an army alone, they will be defeated.

In addition, Danyang covers an area of thousands of miles, with a vast territory, numerous mountains, crisscrossing gullies, and dense forests.

The natural environment is very harsh.

This led to Danyang's economy and culture being extremely backward.

There is a saying that goes, "Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people."

Otherwise, how can we say that Danyang has “strong and resolute people who love martial arts and warfare”?

To put it nicely, they are good martial artists, to put it bluntly, they are just a bunch of street urchins.

The Shanyue people are a local ethnic group that lives together with the Han people in the mountains.

They despised the imperial power, refused to pay taxes, and refused to perform corvee labor.

In order to avoid taxes from the imperial court, he overcame all obstacles and specifically fought against the arresting officers from the government.

Isn't this the way to cultivate a resolute and vigorous folk custom?

In addition, Danyang has abundant iron ore resources and iron smelting technology brought by the Han people.

As a result, the people of Danyang made their own armor and weapons, and everyone could practice martial arts.

However, even so, Shanyue soldiers were still the targets of conscription by many princes.

Generally speaking,
The lack of language skills among different ethnic groups will affect communication and make it difficult for generals to command.

But the characteristics of the Shanyue people in Danyang are that they have already been completely assimilated to Chinese culture.

Due to long-term coexistence with the Han nationality, almost all Shanyue people can speak fluent Chinese.

"Although the Shanyue people are brave and good at fighting, they fight on their own and have shallow goals."

"If we can defeat them one by one, it shouldn't be difficult."

Pang Tong explained his views to Li Yi.

"If Marquis Tan wants to use Danyang soldiers, we might as well adopt the method of calming and appeasing them."

"While the Shanyue grain reserves are about to run out, we should harvest the Shanyue rice first."

"The people of Danyang will fear his power and admire his virtue, and will certainly follow him."

Pang Tong proudly presented his strategy to conquer the Shanyue people.

After hearing this, Li Yi smiled and said:
"People say that Shi Yuan is a talented person in Chu who can make the world prosperous and establish a career."

"From what I have seen today, the people of Chu have really not deceived me."

Pang Tong bowed and replied, "Mr. Tan is too kind."

In fact, Pang Tong’s strategies have always been sinister and cruel.

So much so that even Liu Bei felt that Pang Tong was sometimes too radical.

For this, Pang Tong was criticized by many scholars in later generations.

It is said that although he is as famous as Zhuge Liang, he cannot be compared with Zhuge Liang because he died early.

But even if he hadn't died early, he would not be as good as Zhuge Liang.

Because Pang Tong's strategy was too utilitarian and lacked the kingly way.

In fact, most of the strategists in the late Han Dynasty used strategies that were rather sinister.

This is how it is in troubled times. If you are not ruthless, you cannot stand firm.

Even Zhuge Liang once advised Liu Bei to kidnap Liu Cong and seize Xiangyang.

However, just like Pang Tong's advice to Liu Bei to kill Liu Zhang at the banquet, he was rejected by Liu Bei.

"I will write a letter immediately, following Shi Yuan's advice, and tell Governor Yuan."

"Let him rob the Shanyue people of their rice during the autumn harvest."

"If the matter is successful, and I appease them with the kingly way, the Shanyue people will surely surrender to me."

Li Yi readily adopted Pang Tong's plan, wrote another letter and sent it to Danyang.

Not stated.

……

(End of this chapter)