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

Chapter 24: Lao Liu's Thousand-Layered Routine (Please Read!)

"…to win over the prominent families of Xuzhou?"

Liu Bei pondered for a while and began to summarize.

"Cao Bao from the Danyang School, Mi Zhu, a wealthy man from Donghai, Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng, a century-old family from Xiapi, and the local celebrities from Xuzhou..."

Li Yi said:
"Mi Zhu is an important official that Tao Qian left for you. He is loyal to you. I think this family is the easiest to win over."

Although Mi Zhu's family comes from a merchant family, they are truly "rich people with money".

Historical books clearly state that Mi Zhu himself had mediocre abilities, but he was promoted directly to the position of Xuzhou Beijia and entered the upper echelons of power.

Tao Qian even entrusted him with the important task of taking care of his son.

This is the powerful influence of their family in Xuzhou.

"...Well, Mi Zizhong is graceful, gentle and elegant, and I like him very much."

You know best who is good to you.

Since Liu Bei entered Xuzhou, Mi Zhu was the best to him among the local nobles. Liu Bei could also see that Mi Zhu was an honest gentleman and liked him very much.

On the contrary, Chen Deng always kept things to himself, as if he was worried about something.

Li Yi smiled and said:

"Mi Zhu's family is in the East China Sea. The area to the north of the East China Sea is Chang Xi's sphere of influence, and the rest is the Mi family's sphere of influence."

"If we can win over the Mi family, it will be equivalent to controlling most of the East China Sea. You must not miss this opportunity, my Lord."

Mi Zhu's family is quite special. They are not like Chen Deng, who comes from a formal official family.

As businessmen, their status should be very low, but their influence covers the entire East China Sea.

It even exceeded the Chen family's influence on Xia Pi.

As for the reason, it has been clearly stated in history books.

According to historical records, their family had "nearly ten thousand servants and assets worth over 100 million."

what is this concept?

This is enough to completely influence the political situation in Xuzhou.

It would be fine if their family just had money, but they also had private soldiers.

There are quite a lot of them, so their combat effectiveness must be strong.

Otherwise, their huge family business would have long been divided up by the nobles and powerful families.

At the same time, Liu Bei later lost Xuzhou, and his soldiers could only "eat each other" to protect themselves.

When Mi Zhu came to Liu Bei's aid, he also sent out his own private army.

These private soldiers later accompanied Liu Bei in his conquests until he entered Shu, once again proving that their combat effectiveness was definitely above average.

So although the Mi family came from a merchant family and seemed to have a low status, their influence was enormous.

Even when Tao Qian took control of Xuzhou, he had to recruit Mi Zhu to be the deputy governor of Xuzhou.

This is the assistant officer second only to the top leader of Xuzhou!

Li Yi continued speaking.

"I heard that Mi Zhu has a younger sister, who is in her twenties, virtuous and chaste."

"Why don't you marry her? We can form a friendly alliance and share weal and woe, wealth and poverty."

"What do you think, sir?"

Mi Zhu is a local tycoon in Xuzhou. Marrying into the Mi family is equivalent to gaining a long-term financial sponsor.

Which prince doesn’t have a financial sponsor?

Cao Cao had Wei Zi, and Sun Quan had Lu Su.

Our Lao Liu also has his own Mi Zhu, which makes sense, right?

Liu Bei nodded and said in a deep voice:

"Zi Zhong and I have a very close personal relationship. He is a kind and elegant person, and I like him very much."

"But as my old wife is still alive, how can I ask to marry her sister? It's not good to ask her to be my concubine, right?"

Ok?
Liu Bei's words woke Li Yi up. Li Yi then remembered that Liu Bei's wife was still alive at that time. He had taken it for granted.

In history, when Liu Bei married Mi Zhu's sister, it was because Lu Bu attacked Xuzhou by surprise, and Liu Bei's wife and children were captured.

At that time, both parties thought that Liu Bei's wife was definitely gone, so they reached a PY deal with Mi Zhu.

Why do you say that?
Because the historical records state: "Zhu then presented his sister to the first lord as his wife", and also sent two thousand slaves and countless gold and silver coins to support military expenses.

This obviously exceeds the normal dowry for marrying off a sister.

Mi Zhu saw potential in Liu Bei, and he happened to be without a wife. So if her sister married him, the son born to him would naturally be the eldest son.

This is the Mi family's strategy of making the most of a rare commodity. They are thinking of investing in Liu Bei so that they can also serve as his successors in the future.

The only awkward thing is that Liu Bei's legitimate wife was fine and was released by Lu Bu. So Mrs. Mi's position was a bit awkward.

Although his legal wife eventually died, she herself was unable to give birth to any children.

He was suppressed by Mrs. Gan again.

In addition, Mrs. Mi's personality is that of a typical lady from a noble family. She does not fight or compete, so she is always neither high nor low.

But at the moment, Liu Bei's wife is still alive, and the Mi family is definitely unwilling to marry their sister as a concubine.

The so-called concubine is also a kind of wife, whose status is higher than that of a concubine but lower than that of the main wife.

But since ancient times, marriage has been the best way.

If Liu Bei cannot marry her, things will be difficult.

Just when Liu Bei was worried, he suddenly had an idea and thought of a good plan.

He stood up and bowed respectfully to Li Yi.

Li Yi was shocked, and hurried forward to support Liu Bei, and asked:
"Why is your Excellency like this? Get up quickly."

This sudden gift left Li Yi confused, and he wondered what Liu Bei was up to.

Liu Bei said seriously:

"To be honest, sir, ever since I was aware of the world, the mountains, rivers and people have all been destroyed by war."

"Good conscience and kindness will keep away from the disaster of war."

"I have the heart to support the Han Dynasty, but I am too weak to do so."

“I always regret that one person’s strength is limited, and I only hope that people with the same ideals can work with me.”

"If that is true, even if I sacrifice my life, what is there to fear?"

"Fortunately, God has blessed me with such a great talent as Mr. Li."

"I hope you will not abandon me and come out to help me."

"I would like to take you as my military advisor, to assist me in supporting the country and rebuilding the Han Dynasty!"

"I will listen to your wise advice at all times, and I hope you will not refuse."

Ah this...

Li Yi was a little confused, thinking to himself, aren't we talking about the Mi family's problems? Why are they suddenly talking about me?
He also suddenly wanted to appoint me as his military advisor.

He has indeed not explicitly said that he wants to join Liu Bei's army, but how is his current behavior any different from that?
Could it be that Old Liu is too sensitive and is afraid that I will run away, so he has to go through the motions?

"Please stand up, sir. Yi is a mediocre talent from the countryside. I feel honored to be valued by you."

"It's just that the position of military advisor is a heavy responsibility. Yi is too young to be of such a high standard and I'm afraid I will fail the envoy's trust."

Since Old Liu wanted to go through the motions, Li Yi would just go with him and the drama of refusing and declining three times had to be played out.

Liu Bei really grabbed Li Yi's sleeve and refused to let go, saying with emotion:

"Sir, do you have pity on the people of the world?"

Li Yi sighed:
"Yi has met you in a sea of blood and corpses, how can I not feel pity for you?"

After three attempts, Li Yi finally agreed.

This time it was Li Yi's turn to salute Liu Bei.

"I am grateful that you have not abandoned my dullness. I am willing to serve you like a dog or a horse."

Liu Bei was overjoyed and quickly lifted up Li Yi's hand, smiling happily.

“Good, good, good!”

"Since I started my army, I have never seen a man like you."

"To have the opportunity to know and interact with you today is like a fish taking to water!"

"Please drink a thousand cups with me, sir!"

Liu Bei grinned, took Li Yi's hand and returned to his seat.

Sitting down again, Li Yi calmed down.

"Sir, I have accepted the position of military advisor. Now let's talk about winning over the Mi family."

"About this Mi family..."

Before he finished speaking, Li Yi saw the smile on Liu Bei's face and immediately understood something.

I go!

"My Lord, you are not thinking...?"

Li Yi stood up from the table and looked at Liu Bei.

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(End of this chapter)