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

Chapter 41: The warriors march forward, invincible (please read on!)

There was a trace of unevenness between Liu Bei's brows.

The military advisor really thinks long-term.

At this moment, he was still thinking about how to settle the hearts of the people in Xuzhou, how to rectify the administration of officials, and how to establish agricultural land to support the people.

These are Xuzhou’s top priorities and can increase Liu Bei’s hard power bargaining chips.

However, Li Yi had already thought about Yuan Shao's future plan to invade Qingzhou and threaten Xuzhou.

How to evaluate?
It seems wrong to aim too high.

It's not appropriate to worry about nothing.

It’s not that Liu Bei hadn’t thought about the problem of Zang Ba in the north, but he felt that his military advisor’s thinking was a little jumpy. Should they really consider the problem of Zang Ba so early now?
In fact, Liu Bei and Zang Ba's Taishan bandit gang got along pretty well.

Liu Bei was good at judging people. He knew that Zang Ba only had the ambition to establish his own regime but had no desire to become the dominant power.

In history, Liu Bei also got along well with Zang Ba.

After all, they have benefited from Liu Bei, so they have no reason to go against you.

But Li Yi expressed his different opinion.

"Loyalty is not absolute, it is absolutely disloyal."

"Although Zang Ba appears to be submissive to the lord, he is still a hidden danger, even if he will not be our enemy in the future."

"But if it can't be used by me, it's better to get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid more trouble at night."

Zang Ba and Chen Deng have different positions, although they both tend to be neutral forces in history.

But Chen Deng always protected the interests of Xuzhou.

Zang Ba, on the other hand, was more of a gang leader, and he took care of his brothers in the Taishan Gang.

He is indeed a loyal person, but he is talking about the brotherhood in the underworld.

This also proves why he could not become a true prince.

Because people in the underworld only have the spirit of bandits, but lack the heroic spirit to conquer the world and make great strides.

This kind of gangster can be easily bribed by others, whether it is Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, they are directly adjacent to him.

Once Yuan and Cao use Zang Ba to open the northern gate of Xuzhou, then Liu Bei's Xia Pi will be wide open.

When Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou for the second time, he entered Xuzhou from the north of Langya to the south.

The journey was smooth and smooth.

Hearing Li Yi say this, Liu Bei felt a little scared.

If it is true as Li Yi said, then Zang Ba is indeed too dangerous.

It's a complete uncertainty.

This is not Li Yi's exaggeration. After all, Lao Liu personally experienced the situation when Cao Cao entered Xuzhou from Langya and they even fought against each other.

"Langya's terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, and the southeast is the sea."

"From north to south, there are Yishan, Mengshan and Nishan. As long as we defend the south, it will be difficult for ordinary people to enter."

Li Yi then explained the geography of Langya to Liu Bei and why he must take control of Langya.

Xuzhou doesn't have any strategic locations to defend, but there are a few big mountains to the northwest of Langya that can block the forces coming from the northwest.

How can I give it away for free?

Although the danger here is not that exaggerated, it can at least relieve the pressure from the north.

We can just focus on defending Pengcheng and Guangling from the threats to the east and south.

Why did Cao Cao massacre the people of Pengcheng?

Isn’t it because this place is easier to defend?

Anyone who has played san11 knows that if troops are coming from Xiaopei, you just need to send troops from Xia Pi to block them.

Although reality is not a game, it can be used as a reference.

Otherwise, Cao Cao would not have changed his mind and entered Langya from Mount Tai when he massacred Xuzhou for the second time.

Zang Ba was guarding Langya and outwardly obeyed Tao Qian, but when Cao Cao came, he turned a blind eye and let him in.

A typical case of not offending either side.

Liu Bei frowned and sighed:
"This is indeed a difficult matter..."

Although with Li Yi's reminder, he realized the danger of Zang Ba, the uncertain factor.

But that doesn't mean Liu Bei will have time to deal with him.

On the one hand, the teacher has no real reason.

Zang Ba had a good relationship with both Tao Qian, the previous governor of Xuzhou, and Liu Bei, the current governor.

There's no need to get upset.

On the other hand, Zang Ba was not easy to deal with. Although he was born in a gang, the Taishan soldiers under his command were extremely powerful and were not inferior to the Danyang soldiers.

Moreover, Zang Ba was originally from Taishan, and Taishan County was adjacent to Langya, which could provide Zang Ba with a steady supply of fresh blood.

This was mainly because Zang Ba's Taishan Gang was well-known and all the Taishan men were willing to work for him.

Another reason is that when Zang Ba was eighteen years old, he gathered his followers, bravely broke into the county government office, killed the evil prefect, and rescued his father.

This made Zang Ba highly respected by his fellow villagers in the Han Dynasty, which strongly advocated filial piety.

At the same time, Zang Ba's heroic act of killing the prefect in anger also made his reputation as a filial and heroic hero spread throughout the countryside, and the bandits near Mount Tai all admired his bravery.

And they all nominated Zang Ba to be the eldest brother.

This is how the Taishan Gang came about.

Zang Ba was very popular in the local area, so it was difficult for Liu Bei to take action against him.

Even if they took action, the Taishan Gang would not be so easy to deal with.

That’s why Liu Bei kept sighing: “It’s so hard…”

After Li Yi's analysis, his mouth was dry.

At this time, the cook in the kitchen happened to have prepared peach blossom wine and served it.

A dish was also served.

Li Yi took this opportunity to take a break, picked up his chopsticks, and said to Liu Bei:

"My lord, let's eat first."

Liu Bei found the dish somewhat novel and asked what it was.

Li Yi opened his mouth and answered:
"This is snake meat bought from hunters."

Well……

Snake meat?
Liu Bei thought to himself that the military advisor had a very unique taste.

Seeing this, Li Yi smiled and explained:
"Yi is not a fan of snake meat, but the chef in our mansion happened to see a hunter in the mountains kill a white snake yesterday, so he bought it back."

"It just so happens that the lord is here today, so you and I can taste the flesh of the white snake together."

White snake?

Liu Bei immediately became interested, "In the past, when Emperor Gaozu was walking on a small path in the marsh, he encountered a white snake blocking the way, and everyone dared not move forward."

"But Emperor Gaozu said proudly: 'The warriors march forward, invincible, how dare a mere snake block my path.'"

"Then he drew his sword and cut it in two, and the people went on their way again."

Liu Bei knew all about Emperor Gaozu's deeds, and his eyes lit up when he talked about them, showing his great admiration.

Li Yi couldn't help laughing when he heard this:

"Yes, a real man should move forward. Why should he be afraid of a white snake blocking his way?"

"Just like the white snake that is coiled above our heads, we can kill it with one sword. Why should we be afraid?"

Hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel heroic.

"Good! With the military advisor's words, I feel relieved."

"Let's taste the white snake meat together first."

Li Yi smiled and said:

"Snake meat is light in nature, without any fishy smell, but tastes very fresh and fragrant when eaten."

"If this plum wine can be used as a accompaniment, it will be extremely fragrant and delicious, and nothing else can compare to it."

Liu Bei said happily:

"Hearing what you said, sir, my stomach has started beating like a gong and drum."

After saying that, he picked up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of snake meat.

Li Yi asked how it tasted?
Liu Bei chewed slowly, then said seriously:

"If the military advisor changes his career to become a chef, I wonder how many wine shops in this world will be out of work!"

Hearing this heartfelt praise, Li Yi also laughed out loud.

"Yi only knows how to eat, not how to cook."

"I won't compete with the cook for business."

Hahaha.

The two looked at each other and laughed.

……

　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)