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

Chapter 45 Great minds think alike (Please read!)

Liu Bei showed concern for Lu Su and cared about how he was doing in Xuzhou.

After some communication, the two found that they were so compatible with each other.

Lu Su was a generous and chivalrous man, almost identical to Liu Bei.

As a boy who gives away money, besides being generous himself, Lu Su also knows that it is a crime to possess a treasure in troubled times.

However, what was unexpected was that it was because of Lu Su's generosity that many young people in Dongcheng went to join him.

When Liu Bei asked, he found out that Lu Su had thousands of private soldiers under his command.

Of course, it is not quite accurate to call them private soldiers, after all, they have no organization.

It is more like gangsterism or society, and Lu Su is the gang leader.

According to the "Book of Wu", it is called:

——"He gathered young men, provided them with food and clothing, and went hunting in the southern mountains. He secretly organized them and taught them military training."

These people from the Dongcheng Society are all young and strong street urchins who rely on Lu Su for their livelihood.

Now that Lu Su came to apply for the army, these one thousand private soldiers were organized.

At this time, Liu Bei finally understood why Li Yi recommended Lu Su to him first.

Putting aside his abilities, just the money and food sent here, as well as the group of young men under his command, made Liu Bei smile from ear to ear.

"Come, Zijing, let me introduce you."

Liu Bei took the initiative to connect Li Yi and Lu Su.

"This is our military advisor, Li Yi, Li Ziyu."

"It was the gentleman that Ziyu recommended the day before yesterday."

Lu Su was slightly surprised. Although he could see that the young man had good looks, he did not expect that he could become a military advisor at such a young age.

Li Yi was the first to break the silence and spoke:
"Mr. Zijing, the boy Li Yi is polite."

Lu Su quickly bowed in return:

"Thanks to the recommendation of the master, Su Shi is a man of limited talent and low moral character. I didn't expect the master to think so highly of me."

"Su Ding should do his utmost to serve as a loyal servant and work as a dog or horse."

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard this. He stepped forward and helped Lu Su up, his eyes full of admiration.

"Zi Jing, please get up soon. I have done you no great favors, but the elders of Xuzhou value you and have entrusted you with the affairs of the state."

"Since I received the order, I have been worried day and night, fearing that I would fail to fulfill the trust and let the people down."

"Now that I have Zijing to assist me, I look forward to the guidance of wise men so that I can follow the good."

Lu Su was so moved that his eyes turned red.

"I have always been very careful in choosing my master and serving him. Since I was born, I have never seen anyone like you!"

The two hit it off immediately, and Liu Bei pulled Lu Su aside to ask for advice.

Li Yi also sat down beside him, and the three of them took their seats.

"My Lord, if you want to protect Xuzhou now, I think we should implement a policy."

Lu Su straightened his back and began to give advice.

Liu Bei and Li Yi also pricked up their ears to listen.

Although there were only three people in the room, the scene was quite serious.

Lu Su was like a new employee who was undergoing an interview and assessment in front of the chairman and general manager.

Liu Bei said sternly: "Please ask Zi Jing to try to explain it to me."

Lu Su's eyes narrowed, and he said seriously:

"Xuzhou is a place where wars are fought on all sides, and there is no strategic location to defend."

"Yuan Shao has three ministers in his four generations, and his students and former officials are all over the country. Now he has the land of Hebei. This is truly invincible."

"Yanzhou Cao Cao, although there is Lu Bu causing trouble now, Lu Bu is just a brave man and can be captured in one battle. He is no match for Cao Cao."

"Last year, Cao Cao accepted a million Yellow Turban men and women from Qingzhou, greatly increasing his strength. This route will also be difficult to win."

Hearing this, Li Yi couldn't help but show a look of admiration.

He was from a God's perspective and of course knew that Lu Bu was no match for Cao Cao.

But from the perspective of people at that time, the war between Cao and Lu was actually very confusing.

Cao Cao was betrayed by his confidants, and most of the counties in Yanzhou rebelled. At one point, only three county towns were left.

Moreover, at the beginning of the war, Lu Bu won victory after victory.

Judging from the situation, it seems difficult for Cao Cao to defeat Lu Bu. However, Cao Cao has an unparalleled advantage that Lu Bu cannot match.

That is, Cao Cao was Yuan Shao's younger brother at that time.

Yuan Shao would not watch Cao Cao die without helping him. Historical records state: "He gave Cao Cao 5,000 soldiers and returned to take Yanzhou."

Boss Yuan waved his hand and gave five thousand elite soldiers to help Lao Cao overcome the difficulties.

This is also the reason why Lu Su said that Cao Cao was difficult to defeat. It was not just because Cao Cao was difficult to deal with.

More importantly, attacking Cao Cao is equivalent to attacking Yuan Shao.

As long as you go against either Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, it is equivalent to directly declaring war on both Yuan and Cao at the same time.

It's absolutely not worth it.

Lu Su continued:

"Huainan Yuan Shu is brave but indecisive. He only values family background, not talent, and appoints people based on personal connections. Although he holds a high position, loyal ministers and good generals are not given a place to stand."

"Moreover, he took charge of Yangzhou affairs and also called himself the Earl of Xuzhou. He acted arrogantly and provoked others everywhere. His ambition for Xuzhou was obvious."

"Now the world is about to go into chaos, and the leader of the chaos will surely be this man."

"If you want to save the world and plead for the people, you should kill this man first!"

Different from the honest and simple-minded image in the novel, the historical Lu Su was a black-bellied and ruthless gangster boss who could attend meetings alone.

As the president of the Dongcheng Society, his methods were not ruthless enough and he could not control the people under him.

He strongly recommended that Liu Bei focus all his efforts on dealing with Yuan Shu, as Yuan Shu had the greatest ambition and posed the greatest threat to Xuzhou.

"To protect Xuzhou, we must make friends with Yuan Shao in the north, appease Cao Cao in the west, and suppress Yuan Shu in the south."

"If this is true, then Xuzhou can be secured and the great cause can be accomplished!"

Liu Bei was amazed when he heard this, and subconsciously looked at Li Yi, who also smiled.

"Oh my, Zijing's strategy is exactly the same as the military advisor's!"

Lu Su was also slightly startled, and then smiled and said:

"So great minds think alike!"

The three of them laughed at the same time.

In fact, during the period when the two Yuans were competing for supremacy, anyone with a little strategic vision could analyze which side to take.

Yuan Shao's teammates are Cao Cao and Liu Biao.

Yuan Shu's teammates are Gongsun Zan and Tao Qian.

Tao Qian chose the wrong side and chose Yuan Shu's side.

A skeleton king and a dark madman.

Xuzhou was originally a place of war, facing Cao Cao who was on the rise and Yuan Shao who was at his peak.

How could they be their opponents?

Therefore, Li Yi and Lu Su re-planned the foreign policy for Xuzhou.

Make friends with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, and strike hard at Yuan Shu in the south.

In fact, Liu Bei in history did do this.

Even after making such great efforts, they still failed to hold Xuzhou.

It can be seen that Xuzhou is really a hell-level copy.

Liu Bei lacks top-notch advisers to assist him, and Li Yi is helping him fill this gap.

When Lu Su came, Liu Bei trusted Lu Su and adhered to the principle of not employing people he doubted and trusting people he employed.

They then planned to use the monetary strategy of buying deer to control Chu, to destroy Guo as a pretext, to go north to remove Zang Ba's military power, to recapture Langya, and to unify Xuzhou.

This was considered a strategic secret among the top leaders of Xuzhou. Liu Bei told Lu Su about this strategy as soon as Lu Su arrived.

Lu Su understood that this was a kind of trust. He was deeply moved and carefully analyzed the situation for Liu Bei.

"Now we are still in the midst of war, and everything needs to be rebuilt."

"It would be great if we could recapture Langya and unify Xuzhou without sacrificing a single soldier."

He stroked his beard and said, "If Xuzhou is unified, what will you do?"

Lu Su asked a soul-searching question.

……

　Please read on, brothers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)