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

Chapter 76: Li Yi's prestige is no longer what it used to be (Please read on!)

After Li Yi's reminder, everyone present noticed that Liu Bei's expression was not right today.

Guan Yu stepped forward and asked with concern:

"Brother, if there is anything urgent, I am willing to help you."

Liu Bei smiled bitterly and shook his head, then said:

"Today, I want to make the guests and hosts happy and not discuss business."

"However, I just received two urgent reports. I can't make up my mind for the moment, and I don't want to disturb your leisure time."

"So let's put it aside for now."

Guan Yu hurriedly said:

"What are you talking about, brother?"

"We all hold important positions, and Xuzhou's affairs are our affairs."

Liu Bei nodded and looked at Liu Ye who was sitting next to him.

"I have often heard the military advisor praise Ziyang for his intelligence and wisdom, and I have been eager to ask for his advice. Now I have encountered an urgent matter."

"Considering that Ziyang has come a long way, I should have rested, but..."

Liu Ye hurriedly stood up and bowed:
"If you do not think I am stupid, please try to explain it."

This is Liu Bei's way of controlling people. Obviously, the person he trusts most at the moment is Li Yi, and Li Yi is right next to him.

But he chose to ask Liu Ye first, giving this newcomer a chance to perform.

Just like when Li Yi first joined the company.

Liu Bei took out two letters, waved them in his hand, and said:

"One is the military report from Chen Gui of Yuzhou, and the other is the military report from Chen Deng of Guangling."

Well……

Chen father and son.

Everyone's thoughts moved.

This family has a huge influence in Xuzhou. The father has now returned to Pei State in Yuzhou to serve as prime minister, and the son has gone to Guangling to pursue his ambitions.

Now Liu Bei relies heavily on these two people.

"The military report from Pei State is that Yuzhou Governor Guo Gong led 20,000 troops to invade Pei State."

"Chen Gui has just returned to Pei State. He is afraid that he will not be able to resist, so he asked me for reinforcements."

hiss……

This is a really tricky question.

Xuzhou had just completed a bumper harvest last year, and now a rebellion has broken out again. The people are afraid that they will suffer again.

Moreover, Guo Gong has 20,000 men under his command, making him difficult to deal with.

It's not that they were afraid of him, but they were afraid that Xuzhou would waste its military forces in the war with Guo Gong, allowing the surrounding princes to take advantage.

Sun Qian, an attendant, suggested:

"Guo Gong is coming with great force. Our army cannot easily withdraw from Xuzhou to prevent Yuan Shu from invading."

"Pei State is not mine to begin with, why not abandon it?"

Giving up Pei State did not have much impact on Liu Bei. He had just sent Chen Gui there to serve as the Prime Minister of Pei State again.

Lu Su quickly rejected it:

"No! Mr. Li originally planned to order General Yide to march into Lu and Chen Hanyu to return to Pei as the governor, in order to unite Xu and Yu and guard against the offensive of Yuan and Cao."

"There is no enmity between Guo Gong and my lord. If he attacks without reason, someone must have instigated him."

"If we withdraw now, it will be exactly what they want."

Lu Su immediately saw through the motive behind Guo Gong's actions, and knew that someone must have been behind it.

Sun Qian frowned and said hesitantly:

"But if we fight with Guo Gong, and Yuan Shu takes the opportunity to attack, how can we resist him?"

Chen Dao shouted loudly:

"there is always a solution to a problem!"

"If Yuan Shu attacks, I will lead the troops to fight him."

Jian Yong chuckled:
"Uncle is brave, but if you really divide your troops, Xuzhou will be in danger."

What was originally a banquet full of laughter and joy suddenly turned into a heated debate.

Everyone was arguing with each other, and they were discussing fiercely whether Pei State should give up.

Because it was a banquet, everyone had drunk some wine and got drunk, so they didn't pay much attention to etiquette.

Seeing this, Li Yi shouted:
"Everyone, be quiet!"

With a loud shout, everyone stopped arguing.

Including Guan Yu, they all quietly returned to their seats. "…Excuse me."

Sun Qian and other famous scholars suddenly realized that they had lost their composure just now. It was really inappropriate to quarrel in front of the lord's military advisor.

The originally noisy lobby suddenly became silent.

Only then did Li Yi realize that his prestige in Liu Bei's group had become very high without him realizing it.

A loud shout can scare everyone.

"My lord, please bring the second document for everyone to see." Li Yi turned and looked at Liu Bei.

Liu Bei smiled and nodded, "The military advisor is still calm in the face of difficulties."

Just now, just one document was taken out and everyone started arguing fiercely.

Little did I know that there was a second one that hadn’t been taken out yet.

I can only say that he is worthy of being Zi Yu, as he can always distinguish the primary and secondary contradictions.

"Just now you said that if we divide our forces in Xuzhou to repel Guo Gong's troops, Yuan Shu might take the opportunity to attack."

"The second document Yuan Long sent back was that Yuan Shu appointed Wu Jing as the governor of Guangling, and ordered Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui to lead 10,000 troops each to march towards the Huai River."

I go!

Just now everyone was discussing what to do in Nanxu if they sent troops to resist Guo Gong's attack.

As a result, Yuan Shu really attacked.

Li Yi frowned slightly. If he remembered correctly, Yuan Shu should have launched a large-scale attack on Xuzhou next year.

Could it be that because the timeline changed, or because the news of Guo Gong's advance was known in advance, the schedule for sending troops was advanced?
Xuzhou was just settled, but it was still a bit too much for it to face two large armies at the same time.

Generals such as Chen Dao were silent at this time, looking quietly at Li Yi, Lu Su, Liu Ye and other counselors.

They are good at charging into battle, but they are not good at giving advice and formulating strategies behind the scenes.

It still has to be these scribes who come.

"My Lord, do you still remember the strategic plan I made for you earlier?"

Li Yi maintained his usual calmness and quietly asked Liu Bei.

Liu Bei thought silently.

Ally with Yuan Shao in the north, make peace with Cao Cao in the west, and destroy Yuan Shu in the south.

“The strategy still works.”

"Yuan Shu is our primary target. If he really attacks Southern Xu, we can strike him and shock Xuzhou."

Liu Bei nodded and asked:
"What about Guo Gong's troops?"

Liu Ye seized this opportunity and stepped out to say:

"Mingsir, although Ye is not talented, I would like to recommend someone who can drive back the troops of Yuzhou."

Liu Bei was delighted when he heard this:

"Zi Yang, speak quickly!"

Liu Ye answered loudly:

"This person is the Prime Minister of Donghai, Xu Mengyu."

Xu Qiu, whose courtesy name was Mengyu, was from Haixi, Guangling.

He became famous at a young age, was known for his erudition, and was appointed to the offices of three high officials.

He had served successively as the Governor of Jingzhou, Prime Minister of Rencheng, and Prefect of Runan, among other important posts.

Later, due to his fight with Yuan Shu, Xu Qiu was dismissed from his post as governor of Runan, and turned to Tao Qian and became the prime minister of Donghai Kingdom.

During his tenure, he governed well and the customs of officials and people in Donghai County changed.

However, although Xu Qiu was the prime minister of Donghai State, he himself had no real power and was controlled by the county's chief historian, Gongcao and others.

His position as prime minister was more of a figurehead, so Liu Bei did not focus on him after taking over Xuzhou.

Liu Ye put forward all his thoughts:

"Mr. Xu had served in prefectures and counties for a long time and was once the governor of Runan. He was later dismissed because Yuan Shu colluded with Li Jue and Guo Si."

"Now we can recommend Xu Gong as the governor of Runan and order him to go to Runan to take up the post."

"Guo Gong once served as an official with Xu Gong. He can persuade Guo Gong to withdraw his troops."

Liu Bei asked again:
"If Guo Gong does not comply, I will not withdraw my troops."

"What can I do?"

Liu Ye analyzed:
"Guo Gong is a man who is willing to do great things but cherishes his own life. He does not have the blood of a hero."

"You can order General Chen Dao to lead 2,000 elite soldiers to station in Pei State to serve as a decoy. Guo Gong will be afraid that Xuzhou is well prepared, so he will not dare to advance."

……

……

　Brothers, please be sure to watch to the end. Today I have a few words from my heart.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)