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

Chapter 54: The brothers of the Taishan Gang will follow Lord Xuande from now on! (Please read on!)
Just when everyone was enjoying the banquet, Li Yi suddenly raised his wine cup and walked towards Zang Ba with a smile.

"Zang Qi Du, let me have a drink with you later."

Li Yi shook the wine cup in his hand and came to Zang Ba.

Zang Ba hurriedly bowed and returned the greeting, "Sir, how dare I refuse a toast?"

After saying this, he drank the wine in the glass.

Li Yi was not in a hurry to drink. Instead, he stepped forward to ask about his well-being and showed his concern.

"Is Commander Zang doing well in Langya?"

As he was well versed in workplace routines, Li Yi's natural friendliness made Zang Ba not very wary.

"Thank you for your concern, Mr. Zang is living well in Langya."

"Now that Envoy Liu is here, I should live a better life than before."

Hahaha……

All the generals burst into laughter when they heard this.

In their opinion, Zang Ba's answer was perfect and flawless.

Li Yi took advantage of the situation and said:

"...No, no, no, it's not good if only one person is good, it's really good if everyone is good."

"...I wonder what you mean, sir?"

Zang Ba was stunned, and the wine cup in his hand stopped.

The corners of Li Yi's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a harmless smile.

"Envoy Liu has always promoted people based on their talents. A brave and fearless warrior like Zang Qi Du, who always leads the battle, should naturally be given important positions."

Zang Ba hurriedly bowed and said:

"Thank you for your support, sir. Thank you for your trust in me, sir."

As soon as Fang Yi thanked him, Li Yi continued:
"Langya reaches Qingzhou in the north and Yanzhou in the west. It is a vital place in Xuzhou and must not fall into the hands of others."

Zang Ba knew that Li Yi's words were a warning to him, as he had allowed Cao Cao to come in and plunder Xuzhou along the East China Sea.

He came here with the intention of offering up Langya, so he said:
"Don't worry, sir. I know the strengths of Langya."

"Just follow your orders, sir."

Li Yi continued:
"Langya is a place of war. It is too dangerous for General Zang and the wives and children of the generals to stay here."

"Why not send him to Xia Pi to enjoy a good life, where you and I can take care of him personally."

"I wonder what Commander Zang thinks?"

Zang Ba suddenly realized, so you were waiting for me here.

The Taishan generals also understood. Didn't this mean that they wanted to pack up their wives and children and send them to Xia Pi as hostages?

What a treat! It turns out that I made such a big dumpling just for this dish of vinegar.

"Oh? Are you guys in trouble?"

"If you really have any difficulties, you may as well raise them. The envoy and I are not unruly people."

"I will definitely solve your problems for you."

Li Yi still had a smile on his face, without any displeasure.

The Taishan generals looked at each other, wondering what a joke this was.

If we solve the problem for you, you will solve us, right?

However, there were not many complaints from the crowd.

On the contrary, they could also understand Li Yi's decision.

After all, they commanded a large number of troops, and many soldiers and generals of this era were children of their own family, with a strong concept of servants.

Even if they were deprived of their military power, they would still have the opportunity to incite them to rebellion.

After all, they are now an uncertain factor for Liu Bei's group.

Liu Bei didn't dare to gamble, and Li Yi didn't want to gamble.

Only by showing enough sincerity can you gain the trust of the king and his ministers.

"……Hahaha."

Zang Ba spoke first, "I have had this idea for a long time, but I didn't want to bother you because of the banquet, so I didn't mention it."

"Since you have taken the initiative to offer to send your wife and children to Xia Pi to enjoy a good life, why would Ba An refuse?"

"Thank you for your consideration, sir!"

When saying the last sentence, Zang Ba's voice was particularly high, as if he was hinting at something.

"Don't worry, Commander Zang. This little thing is nothing to bother you."

“…Hahahaha.” Both sides were laughing so hard that they couldn’t stop. This is the standard workplace situation.

Since Li Yi brought it up, Liu Bei went with the flow and accepted Zang Ba's request.

Of course, this is not a threat to subordinates.

As long as you work hard and conscientiously, how can Mr. Liu not take good care of your family?

What's more, Lao Liu is a kind-hearted person. Even if you really betray me, he won't necessarily punish your family.

For example, when Huang Quan surrendered to Wei, Liu Bei did not kill his family members, but took good care of them instead.

Do you want to try Lao Cao next door?

"Today, I am so happy to have you all here, generals. I will drink a cup."

Putting aside these unpleasant political factors, Lao Liu is still happy to get along with his subordinates.

However, Li Yi did not forget to remind Liu Bei and whispered in his ear:
"My Lord, Yi remembers that there were five generals in the Taishan Army. Four of them came today, and it seems that one is missing."

Li Yi was careful and attentive, and he noticed something unusual.

Liu Bei's eyes narrowed as he secretly counted the people in his mind: Zang Ba, Chang Xi, Sun Guan, Wu Dun, but only Dong'an Yin Li was missing.

Liu Bei nodded and immediately asked Zang Ba why he had so few people.

"……this."

Zang Ba looked ashamed and had to explain:

"Please forgive me, my lord. All of us brothers are sincere and willing to turn from darkness to light and surrender to you."

"But my unworthy brother Yin Li is unwilling to surrender. Although we brothers have tried our best to persuade him, he has turned a deaf ear to us."

"In the end, our persuasion was fruitless, so he led his troops north to Qingzhou."

"My brothers and I speculate that maybe he is thinking about gaining a piece of territory in Qingzhou as the war is raging everywhere."

It turned out to be the case.

Liu Bei expressed his understanding and did not blame Zang Ba. He waved his hand generously:

"Everyone has their own aspirations, how can they be forced?"

"Since Yin Li has no intention of working with Bei in Xuzhou, let him go."

Zang Ba and others looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Yin Li only took a thousand soldiers with him. If the number was larger, I wonder if Liu Bei would let them off easily.

But just when everyone thought that everything was finally at peace, Li Yi, with a heavy face, stepped forward to give Liu Bei some advice.

"My lord, please give the order to have General Zilong lead a team of light cavalry to pursue Yin Li!"

This!
Liu Bei frowned slightly and asked hurriedly, "Why do you say that, military advisor?"

In his opinion, since Langya had been recovered, most of the Taishan army had also been recovered.

Letting Yin Li go is like letting a wild duck go. Why bother chasing him?

It would be better to reorganize the army and go home to govern Xuzhou in peace.

What's more, Yin Li went to Qingzhou, which is now in chaos.

If they really get caught up in this quagmire, they may not be able to extricate themselves in a short time.

Not only did the generals of Liu Bei's group fail to understand Li Yi's intentions, but even Zang Ba and others did not understand his intentions.

I wondered if this gentleman had a grudge against Yin Li, and that was why he was so persistent.

"Everyone, please come and take a look."

Li Yi took out the map, spread it on the ground, and tapped the map lightly with chopsticks.

"Yin Li went north from Dong'an to Qingzhou. Where should he go?"

After Li Yi's reminder, everyone reacted immediately.

The area around Qingzhou Plain is now Yuan Shao's sphere of influence, and the area south of the plain is Tian Kai's, also known as Gongsun Zan's sphere of influence.

Further east is Beihai, which is Kong Rong’s sphere of influence.

Dong'an headed north and hit the Beihai Sea.

"My Lord, do you still remember the letter we sent to Kong Beihai before?"

Li Yi reminded again.

Liu Bei frowned and shouted, "Not good!"

……

……

　I'm going to do three rounds today. Thank you brothers for taking the time to come and read my article. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)