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

Chapter 98: Turn the tables, you poach my girlfriend, I will also poach your girlfriend Cao Cao (Please subscribe!)

"I understand Lord Cao's intentions. I will prepare a small gift for Lord Cao in return."

As he said this, he handed the brocade box to the servant beside him.

Man Chong saw this and knew that Cao Cao's attempt to win people's hearts had failed.

Then my mission in Yanzhou has come to an end.

Just as he was about to say goodbye to Liu Bei, Li Yi stopped him and said:

"The envoy has been traveling all the way, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Please stay in Xuzhou for two days. Let us entertain the Manchu envoy well."

Only then did Man Chong realize that Li Yi's majestic image only appeared in the lobby when discussing serious matters.

In private, he is quite approachable and does not put on airs at all.

"Although Yishen is in Xuzhou, I often hear that the Manchu envoy in Yanzhou knows good and evil, understands the truth, and knows loyalty and treachery. The people in the county all know his name."

Man Chong bowed gratefully and said:

"I am just a little bit famous, not worthy of such great kindness from you, sir."

Li Yi said seriously:
"Bo Ning has gone too far. The only one who has the ability to bring together heroes and restore order is Lord Xuande."

"Lord Xuande was a man of extraordinary wisdom. He was concerned about the country's danger and failure, and felt sorry for the suffering of the people."

"Now we raise an army in Xuzhou to punish the remaining bandits for the sake of the world."

"His achievements are great and his virtues are vast, there can be no other."

"I wonder if what I said is fair?"

After he finished speaking, Li Yi turned to Man Chong and asked seriously.

Man Chong appears to be upright on the outside, but he is actually very delicate on the inside.

Because as a cruel official, he needed a strong external image in order to intimidate the prisoners.

"Liu Shijun is a man of extraordinary talent and a hero in the world. He will surely promote the kingly way and continue the achievements of Huan and Wen."

Man Chong praised Liu Bei's heroic spirit.

Li Yi said again:

"You may not know Berning, but my lord has also spoken to me privately about Berning during the banquet just now."

Man Chong's expression changed slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Li Yi continued speaking.

"My Lord Yan Bo Ning is a man of extraordinary courage, extraordinary strategy, uprightness and integrity, and a noble bearing."

"There is a tradition of following one's father's example and offering sacrifices to him."

Well……

A scholar dies for a confidant.

When Man Chong heard Liu Bei's evaluation of him, his eyes reddened slightly.

I didn't expect that Liu Bei could give such a high evaluation of him after only meeting him once.

Before coming, he thought that Liu Bei was just a warrior from the border area, who got the huge Xuzhou for nothing by relying on studying under a famous teacher.

I thought he was just blessed by God and got lucky.

It was not until I met Liu Bei that I realized he was an outstanding man with the strategies to become a hegemon.

Otherwise, how could there be so many talented people following him around?
Man Chong thought that his talents and strategies were not as good as Li Yi's, but Li Yi was willing to assist Liu Bei.

Gaoyang Tinghou was not at all moved by the 2,000-stone position as prime minister offered by Cao Cao.

Isn’t this the charm of Liu Bei?

"Times are about to turn to chaos, and there is no hero in the world greater than Lord Xuande."

"Now Lord Xuande is in Xuzhou, respecting the wise and humble, and longing for the talents of the world."

"For a man as talented as Bo Ning, why not stay in Xuzhou and work with my lord to create great achievements and fulfill the achievements of Duke Huan?"

I go.

Why did you start recruiting me?
Man Chong was a little confused.

If he remembered correctly, he was responsible for recruiting Li Yi in the beginning.

How come the topic suddenly changed to Li Yi coming to recruit me?

Although Man Chong liked Li Yi very much, he also respected Liu Bei very much.

But civil unrest has broken out in Yanzhou now, and he is the envoy of Yanzhou.

If he were sent as an envoy to Xuzhou, he would have taken refuge with others.

So what has he become of Man Chong?

Therefore, in the face of Li Yi's enthusiastic recruitment, Man Chong still politely declined.

"Yanzhou is in a precarious situation now, Chongben should be running for help."

"Even if there is no effect of Shen Xu, dare we forget the meaning of Hong Yan?"

"May the envoy and the master take care of themselves."

Man Chong finally bid farewell to Liu Bei and Li Yi and left Xuzhou.

Liu Bei walked up to Li Yi and asked:
"Just now Cao Cao appointed you as Prime Minister of the State of Chen, and promoted you to the rank of Gaoyangting."

"This is a good thing, why do you refuse it, sir?"

Liu Bei looked relaxed, but he was actually very nervous.

Even though he and Li Yi have been together for more than a year, they trust each other.

But when someone really wanted to poach his girl, he realized that he could no longer live without Li Yi.

"...Haha, when I'm with the lord, he can provide me with food."

"Where else in the world is there such a good place?"

Li Yi didn't like sensationalism, so he just spoke half-jokingly based on the original agreement about providing meals.

When Liu Bei heard this, a look of relief appeared on his face and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes,

Li Yi's heart is as hard as stone. How can wealth and honor shake him?

He and Li Yi met in times of trouble, and now that the situation in Xuzhou has finally been stabilized, why would he leave?

I often feel melancholy at the foot of Jiuyi Mountain, and I once promised to share fish with you in the water.

He and Li Yi are not just friends who feed each other, but also close friends!
After seeing Man Chong off, he thought it was getting dark and prepared to go back and rest.

But there was another report that an envoy from Hebei had arrived.

Since he was Yuan Shao's envoy, Liu Bei dared not neglect him.

They went out of the city to greet them, and saw teams of ox carts approaching slowly.

Jian Yong rode forward and greeted Liu Bei:

"My lord, Yong has fulfilled his mission."

"I have informed Lord Yuan of the Qingzhou incident, but I didn't expect that the Lord has already settled the Qingzhou incident."

Originally, Jian Yong went to Hebei to ask Yuan Shao for help and ask him to transfer Yuan Tan back to Qingzhou.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei had already dealt with Yuan Tan. Liu Bei smiled and said:

"This is all thanks to the good advice of the sir and the dedication of the soldiers."

"The misunderstanding in Qingzhou has been resolved, and both sides will naturally stop fighting."

Jian Yong then introduced Xu You to Liu Bei.

Xu You was Yuan Shao's adviser and was deeply favored by Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei immediately invited Xu You into his mansion.

Xu You was a famous scholar in Nanyang.

Long before he defected to Yuan Shao, he had conspired with a number of heroes including Wang Fen, the governor of Jizhou, and Zhou Jing of Pei State to discuss the dethronement of Emperor Ling.

He also wanted to recruit Cao Cao into the group, but was rejected by Cao Cao.

In the end, the truth was revealed and Xu You fled to Jizhou to join Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei knew that Xu You was Yuan Shao's favorite and wanted to keep him in Xuzhou for a few more days.

But Xu You refused:

"The military situation in Jizhou is urgent, and You still has official business to attend to, so it is inconvenient for him to stay for long."

"I came here only to express my admiration for Mr. Yuan."

"At the same time, we also apologize for Master Yuan sending troops to Xuzhou."

Liu Bei said:

"The battle between Qing and Xu was a misunderstanding."

"Mr. Yuan was also misled by the traitor. Besides, Mr. Yuan was not aware of this, so there is no need to feel guilty."

Xu You nodded, "That being said, Lord Yuan believes that he still made some mistakes."

"So I was sent here to deliver some gifts. I hope Liu Xuzhou will not think it is too little."

Jian Yong held a stack of bamboo scrolls in his arms and said to Liu Bei:
"My lord, Lord Yuan sent a total of 200 kilograms of gold, 500 kilograms of silver, 100 rolls of silk, and 300 kilograms of pig iron."

"There is also food and fodder. Excluding the loss on the way, there are still 80,000 hu."

"Ten fine horses, fifty draft horses, and five strong oxen."

Well, Mr. Yuan is very generous.

Liu Bei secretly thought that Jizhou was very wealthy and that the Yuan family was too well-off.

Yuan Shao himself was famous for his generosity.

It is said that when he was an official in the capital in his early years, all kinds of vehicles for visiting guests filled the streets and alleys of Luoyang.

Today Liu Bei finally understood why.

Who wouldn't want to be friends with such a person?

Just as Liu Bei and Xu You were having a passionate conversation.

Jian Yong was busy counting the food and fodder.

"Xianhe, do you need help?"

Li Yi walked up to Jian Yong and patted him gently on the shoulder.

"…Hmm, it turns out to be Mr. Li."

"Haha, sir, what's wrong? I see your brows are furrowed, as if you are worried about something."

Jian Yong thought to himself that Li Yi was always smart, so he might as well tell him about his concerns.

"That's right, sir. Mr. Yuan sent gold, silver, silk, grain, fodder, and pig iron this time."

"After Yong Qing checked, he found that the numbers didn't match."

"Even if we take into account the loss during the journey, the difference shouldn't be this big."

"It's just that I have been escorting Mr. Xu along the way, and I didn't notice anything unusual."

Oh I got it……

Li Yi smiled slightly and glanced at Xu You in the distance.

"Maybe it went into Mr. Xu's pocket."

Li Yi's careless words almost made Jian Yong's eyes pop out.

"Mr. Li, what did you just say...?"

Jian Yong opened his mouth wide, wondering how Li Yi could talk about such a big thing so lightly?
"Xu You was corrupt and did not take action. When he was an official in Hebei, he allowed his family to embezzle and accept bribes."

"Today, perhaps he saw that Yuan Gong sent gifts to Xuzhou, so he pocketed some of the gifts."

"...But this is a gift prepared by Lord Yuan himself. No matter how greedy Xu You is, how dare he embezzle it?"

Jian Yong still didn't quite believe it.

"As long as people are greedy for money, there is nothing they dare not do."

"It was precisely because the gift was prepared by Lord Yuan himself that Xu You wanted to embezzle it. Lord Yuan trusted him, so he thought that even if he embezzled it, Lord Yuan would not suspect him."

Xu You even dared to embezzle military rations, so this little money is nothing.

Well.

Jian Yong was extremely impressed by Li Yi's insights, "Sir, your ability to see into people's hearts is truly amazing."

After a moment of hesitation, he said:
"In this case, let's go find Xu You and confront him!"

This was a gift from Yuan Shao to Liu Bei, but it ended up in Xu You's pocket. Jian Yong was of course indignant and wanted to find Xu You to argue with him.

Li Yi stretched out his hand to stop him and asked:
"What are you doing with him?"

"Of course, we ask him to return the money and grain he embezzled."

"Who saw it?" Li Yi asked.

"This..." Jian Yong was stunned. "I saw it, and you saw it too. We are all witnesses. Why do you say that?"

"But only Lord Yuan didn't see it."

Li Yi pointed out the key point: the only one who could deal with Xu You’s corruption was Yuan Shao.

"The soldiers who were responsible for escorting along the way were all Xu You's men. Do you think Xu You could avoid them and embezzle alone?"

Jian Yong suddenly realized that, except for himself, everyone else had gotten a piece of the pie along the way.

It would be difficult for Jian Yong to find Xu You to argue, after all, all the other witnesses were Xu You's men.

"Xu Ziyuan just said it was due to travel expenses and brushed it off."

"As time goes on, Yuan Gong will not be able to investigate even if he wants to."

"Besides, as outsiders, how can we interfere in Hebei's affairs?"

Although Jian Yong understood the reason behind this, he still felt unhappy.

"But sir, I am really unwilling to see the money and grain embezzled by Xu You."

"Can you swallow this breath, sir?"

Jian Yong looked into Li Yi's eyes and asked seriously.

……

(End of this chapter)