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

Chapter 28: Sashimi Diplomacy (Please read on!)
Which side do Chen Gui and his son Chen Deng belong to?

Looking back on their lives, they seem to be always jumping back and forth.

Sometimes it was Tao Qian, sometimes it was Liu Bei, sometimes it was Lu Bu, and sometimes it was Cao Cao.

But if you observe carefully, you will find that no matter how they jump around, they always stay in Xuzhou, and everything they do is to safeguard the interests of Xuzhou.

Rather than asking which force the Chen family belongs to, it is better to say that they are originally a neutral force.

They will follow whoever controls Xuzhou and can maintain Xuzhou's stability.

When Chen Deng was appointed governor of Guangling, he directly referred to himself as an "outer vassal" in a letter to Cao Cao.

He never admitted that he was Cao Cao's subordinate.

They are the wealthy families in Xia Pi and the vested interests, and they hope that the reshuffle will end soon.

Everything they do is to protect the interests of the family.

Ensuring stability and peace in Xuzhou is their family's purpose.

Of course Chen Deng sincerely welcomed Liu Bei to enter Xuzhou, because only with Liu Bei's arrival could Xuzhou return to stability.

But later Liu Bei messed up, lost Xuzhou, and had to start over next door.

Chen Deng's family is in Xuzhou. He can't abandon his home and business to start a new business with you like Mi Zhu did. So we can only part ways amicably.

"This is the position of the Chen family father and son..."

Li Yi explained to Liu Bei in an easy-to-understand way what role the Chen family played in Xuzhou.

"In times of chaos, they will try to preserve the local area. Once someone can stand up and take charge of the situation, they will support him to quell the chaos and restore order as soon as possible."

"In fact, what these local nobles hate most is a chaotic world."

"Because in troubled times, anyone with a gun can be a king, and this will disrupt the old order."

"The ones who suffer the most are, of course, those vested interests who have already stood at the top."

After listening to Li Yi's analysis, Liu Bei fell silent.

There was a long silence...

After a long while, Liu Bei slowly spoke:
"I have already roughly understood what the military advisor said."

"According to the military advisor's opinion, can we directly hand over Guangling to the Chen family?"

"……good."

Li Yi nodded, "The Chen family has always been protecting the interests of Xuzhou and the interests of the family."

"As long as the lord protects Xuzhou, what reason do they have to rebel against the lord?"

"As for Guangling becoming bigger, there is even less need to worry. These noble families would rather there is no war in Xuzhou, so how could they not obey the orders of the lord?"

"Besides, if Yuan Shu really gets involved in Xuzhou, it will definitely not be a good thing for Xuzhou."

"So I recommended Chen Deng as the governor of Guangling, not because Chen and Yuan Shu have a personal grudge, but because I am sure that Chen will not allow Yuan Shu to get involved in Xuzhou!"

If this is true, then Chen's pattern is quite large...

Hearing this, Liu Bei no longer hesitated and said immediately:
"In that case, I will order Xianhe to go and speak to Chen Yuanlong for me."

"Recommend him to be the governor of Guangling."

Jian Yong was Liu Bei's childhood friend and an excellent debater. It was indeed a safe choice for Liu Bei to choose him.

But Li Yi said:
"Hey! No way."

"Although Jian Yong is good at debate, he doesn't know the pros and cons of this."

"Besides, Chen Yuanlong is a man of great character, and he still has a heroic spirit. It is not common for ordinary people to sit down and talk with him."

...Well, that's true.

Liu Bei also understood Chen Deng's character. He was notoriously frivolous and arrogant.

He is only nice to people he likes, and ignores people he doesn't like. He has a very unique personality.

"In that case, who can speak to Chen Yuanlong for me?" Liu Bei asked.

Li Yi smiled slightly and recommended himself:
"I have met Chen Yuanlong once before. He and I hit it off right away, so we have some friendship."

"If you trust me, my lord, you may let me go and speak to Chen Yuanlong."

"First, to help the Lord resolve the misunderstanding with Chen."

"Secondly, I want to help my lord win over the Chen family and stabilize the situation in Xuzhou."

Liu Bei nodded. How could he not trust Li Yi?
only……

"Chen Yuanlong is well-versed in ancient and modern knowledge and has extraordinary talent. What should the military advisor give to make a close friendship with him?"

The implication is what gift Li Yi was going to give. Besides, scholars also pay attention to social etiquette when they interact with each other, but Li Yi has no power, no influence, and no background, so he certainly has nothing to show for it.

Liu Bei was thinking about whether he should help Li Yi get some gifts or something.

After all, I am Liu Bei's military advisor, and I cannot lose face.

Li Yi smiled and said:

"This is an easy task. I just need you to catch two grass carps for me."

"……Uh-huh?"

"……grass carp?"

Liu Bei was slightly stunned. What kind of gift is this?
Zhang Fei, who had been unable to get a word in, became interested when he heard that Li Yi was going to give grass carp to Chen Deng. He laughed loudly and said:

“…Hahahaha, the military advisor is indeed a figure in the mountains.”

"This gift for socializing is truly unique."

He thought to himself that if he could interact with these intellectuals by giving them two fish, he would go fishing every day starting from tomorrow.

Liu Bei scolded from the side:
"...Yide, don't be rude!"

Perhaps it is because lover’s eyes see beauty in everything, because Liu Bei liked Li Yi very much.

So whenever Li Yi put forward some incredible ideas, Liu Bei's first thought was whether he was unable to keep up with his thinking.

"I've heard before that Chen Yuanlong likes to eat fish sashimi."

"I guess the military advisor thought of this and wanted to please him by sending him fresh fish."

Zhang Fei scratched his head, "...I see. It seems that I, Zhang Fei, spoke too quickly. I apologize to you, sir."

"It's just that Chen Yuanlong is from a prominent family in Xuzhou, and he has eaten all kinds of delicacies from land and sea."

"Why should I care about two grass carps?"

Li Yi smiled and said:

"General Zhang is wrong. Chen Yuanlong has eaten all kinds of delicacies from the mountains and seas, so these two grass carps seem rare to him."

"I'll just give you this grass carp, that's enough..."

Oh, it turns out you can think this way.

Zhang Fei was greatly impressed.

"In that case, I will go fishing for you myself, as an apology to you."

Liu Bei also stood up and said:

"...Yide, I will go with you."

"Sir, you drank all night last night. I just caught two live fish and made a bowl of sobering soup for you."

Hearing this, Li Yi was quite moved.

Liu Bei also drank all night, but what he thought of was to help Li Yi cook fish soup to sober him up.

Let’s not worry about whether he is pretending or not, deliberately trying to win people’s hearts.

But they really care about you.

"...In that case, I will trouble you, my lord."

……

To the east of Xia Pi City is Mi Mansion.

Mi Fang stood on the steps with his hands behind his back, watching the servants busying around carrying goods.

As the richest family in Xuzhou, their trade routes spread across all counties in Xuzhou.

Although its influence in Xuzhou was already huge, it was still not favored by traditional prominent families like the Chen family.

After all, he is from a serious official family. You are from a merchant family. Why should you be on equal footing with him?

The Mi family always wanted to change this situation, so Mi Zhu entered politics and became the governor of Xuzhou and an assistant to Tao Qian.

The political status of the Mi family is also constantly improving.

But the Mi family is not satisfied with this. What businessmen value is to make the most of rare goods, so they want to continue investing.

This time we're going to take a big gamble!
……

……

　Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it! Please read it!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)