Dragon of the Three Kingdoms

Even the emperor sent someone to inquire to see if Li Yi wanted to do something big.

Of course, the emperor's tone was very tactful, but there was a vague taste that peace is the most important thing.

This is also normal. In the eyes of the emperor, Li Yi and Yuan Shao's pair is dog-eat-dog, but he doesn't have the capital to reap the benefits. After the two vicious dogs decide the winner, he will be the next one to be bitten by the dog.

As for the envoy of the Son of Heaven, Li Yi was naturally fooled. Although he didn't want to gain any pleasure by bullying the Son of Heaven, his kindness was limited to this. To give good face, but in serious matters, he would never really give face. .

However, the enthusiasm of Li Guo and others was somewhat beyond Li Yi's expectations.

Li Yi has always treated them as salted fish, and after he has settled Hebei, these salted fish will take the initiative to jump into the pot, but unexpectedly, they also intend to take the initiative to participate in it.

The reason is not difficult to infer, these people want to make meritorious service, more precisely, they want to gain more money for their future.

Participating in the war, gaining military exploits, and then following Li Yi, they are the meritorious service of the new dynasty. They have shed blood for the new dynasty.

Without military exploits, their refuge was actually a surrender. Don't say that Li Yi looked down on them, even a county magistrate who was promoted by Li Yi himself would not look at them directly.

The weight of the two is absolutely vastly different.

In fact, their choice did win Li Yi's favor.

Before Li Yi asked them to deal with Ma Teng, in fact, even if there was no Li Yi in this matter, if they were matched by someone who could be trusted, there was a high probability that they would cooperate.

Because the relationship between them is a balance maintained between fear and vigilance, for one party, everyone else is an opponent, and killing a potential opponent in a limited living space is something they are willing to accept.

With the collapse of the Ma family, Li Yi lost a hidden danger in his heart, but they were the most direct beneficiaries.

But this time is different, they take the initiative to ask to join the war, which is really working hard for Li Yi, as long as they don't think about Li Yi's tricks behind them, they will definitely work very hard.

Li Yi has always been a very realistic person. Although it is impossible for him to completely trust these people and will not fight side by side with them, Li Jue and Guo Si are all top-notch in fighting. Although the Xiliang Army is not as powerful as before, it is still Nor are they ordinary people. If they form a coalition of 2 people and send troops from Hanoi or Hedong to attack Bingzhou, the effect...

The current governor of Bingzhou is Yuan Shao's nephew and high-ranking official. He may be good at governing the people, but he is definitely not as good as Li Guo and others in fighting. Moreover, Bingzhou has never been the core of Yuan Shao, and the garrison is very limited. Maybe Li Yi doesn't need to do it. Li Jue and the others Bingzhou can be brought down for Li Yi.

However, when Li Yi decided to reply to Li Jue and others, Xun You made a suggestion to let Li Yi delay for a while, and not to act too hastily.

Xun You believes that the time for Li Yi's army to go north has not yet been set, and it may not be a good thing to make a plan for Li Yi and others early. They don't understand Li Yi's arrangement, and they are not as obedient as Li Yi's subordinates. Waiting for time is likely to kill their fighting spirit, and even make them have other thoughts in their anxiety.

Li Yi thought about it, and felt that what Xun You said made sense.

Now it is almost inevitable for him to rule the world, dominating the Central Plains, surrounded by only Yuan Shao as an enemy, Liu Zhang of Yizhou covered his ears and eyes and pretended not to know, and the rest would be willing to be his younger brother, even if Li Yi himself was not too troublesome and worried He couldn't digest well, otherwise he would have already put on a yellow robe and brought Sili, Liangzhou and Jiaozhou under control with a warrant.

In such a good situation, not to mention that Li Jue and others are not calm, even Li Yi's own soldiers can't help it. I don't mean to hit the past yet.

Obviously, eager to fight.

In this regard, Li Yi was very helpless. The general soldiers felt that as long as the food and grass could satisfy them, they would be able to fight. They would not count the invisible consumption before and after the war, but Li Yi As a superior, as a person who looks at the whole world, Yi has to consider many more detailed issues, and thus delays the decisive battle.

But he didn't expect that people like Li Jue and Guo Si were also anxious.

Li Yi thought about it, and waited for half a month to reply to Li Jue's letter, so that they could feel his calmness. However, unexpectedly, Gongsun Zan also sent a messenger to send a letter in his own handwriting.

In the letter, Gongsun Zan told a lot of Yuan Shao's crimes, and even buckled Liu Yu's hat to Yuan Shao. Finally, he expressed his hope that he could form an alliance with Li Yi.

Compared with Li Jue and the others' pursuit of war, Gongsun Zan was obviously more direct, and Li Yi was more tempted.

However, Li Yi invited the counselors around him for reference, but he couldn't figure out Gongsun Zan's intentions.

Gongsun Zan's face was covered in blood after being beaten by Qu Yi just now, his troops had been severely damaged, his interior was empty, and there was Yan Rou in his back who had been standing still but could not be ignored. The situation could be described as precarious.

From this point of view, Gongsun Zan should not be the one who initiated the war. Even if he contacted Li Yi, he would not be able to take the offensive. Otherwise, if he was not careful, his family might be lost.

Moreover, Gongsun Zan only talked about attacking Yuan Shao together, but didn't say what to do after the war, whether to ask Li Yi to set aside a place for him, or to fight for a feudal marquis like Li Jue and the others, Gongsun Zan didn't mention these things.

Even, Li Yi asked the messenger who delivered the letter, but the messenger was just an errand runner, he hesitated, and he was also not very clear.

This made Li Yi more and more puzzled as he thought about it. He didn't understand what Gongsun Zan's plan was. Could it be that he wanted to eat two of them?

Xun You, Kuai Yue and other resourceful people were also puzzled by this, and couldn't tell what Gongsun Zan's real plan was. Finally, Xu Huang gave a guess. Pulling Yuan Shao to die, he didn't consider other possibilities at all.

Xu Huang's explanation made sense, but everyone was unwilling to accept it, because Gongsun Zan was a vassal after all, and this way of thinking was too absurd and child's play, not in line with his status.

At this time, Lu Su gave a suggestion, Zhao Yun is familiar with Gongsun Zan, why not ask Zhao Yun to give a suggestion?

Li Yi thinks about it too, anyway, this matter is not in a hurry, so he immediately asked someone to send the letter to Zhao Yun, and then Zhao Yun replied a few days later. Although the words in it were a little vague, it was similar to Xu Huang's guess. Gongsun Zan is no longer the heroic General White Horse he was back then, he may really just want to kill Yuan Shao to vent his anger, that's all.

After seeing Zhao Yun's reply, Li Yi and the others were speechless for a long time. They were relieved that there would be one less powerful enemy in the future, but also somewhat embarrassed.

Especially Li Yi, he likes any general who guards the door for a big man, and he has the idea of ​​having a good time with him, but Gongsun Zan is no longer a hero, but more crazy, even self-destruct.

While feeling sorry for Gongsun Zan, Li Yi also began to take Gongsun Zan's cooperation proposal seriously.

It is true that Gongsun Zan is already very weak, but after the start of the war, Li Yi will definitely attract most of Yuan Shao's main force, so Yuan Shao's rear must be empty. If Gongsun Zan is really that crazy, I am not afraid that Yan Rou will copy him In my hometown, it is really possible to use thousands of people to play tens of thousands of people.

Not to mention, there are Li Jue and the others on the other side, and they will definitely make Yuan Shao burnt out.

Li Yi was very moved by this suggestion, and his only worry was how this year's grain harvest would be enough to support him in starting the war.

After several days of thinking, Li Yi wrote back to Li Jue and others, affirming their ideas, but also tactfully stated that there was still a shortage of food and grass, and the use of troops was postponed, and everything would be decided in autumn.

Regarding Gongsun Zan, Li Yi's attitude was even better. Please calm down and accumulate strength for the time being.

While comforting these people, Li Yi did not forget to strengthen his relationship with Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army, and even arranged for Zhou Cang to go to Zhang Yan's place, and gained a lot of money.

For those of Zhang Yan who were born in the yellow scarves, they were extremely insecure. At the same time, they were full of distrust for the powerful, but Li Yi himself was born as a commoner, and the Zhou Cang he sent was an important member of his personal guard camp. General, Zhang Yan had absolutely no reason to refuse, and easily made a promise that if Li Yi took action against Yuan Shao in the future, they would also send troops in Changshan.

As for why Zhang Yan and the others didn't declare their allegiance to Li Yi, it's not that Zhang Yan and the others didn't want to, but that Li Yi didn't mention it.

It is inevitable that he will be suspected of being forced to speak up about this kind of thing, but now that Li Yi is so powerful, he can be a little more reserved, just like Jiaozhou, and let Zhang Yan take the initiative to come forward.

In the intermittent communication and contact with several forces, the time is finally approaching September, the autumn harvest has begun in various parts of Jingnan, and the Central Plains has also begun preparations. After several months of silence, Li Yi finally left Dingtao and began to patrol Yanzhou, and parts of Xuzhou and Yuzhou.

Judging from the situation reported by various places, Jingzhou and Yangzhou have already confirmed a bumper harvest. In Jingbei alone, at least 200 million shi of grain can be stored in the warehouse, and Jingnan and Yangzhou are counted. Just being self-sufficient, he has the capital to go north to Jizhou.

The reason why Li Yi visited was really worried that some local officials would conceal and make false reports for him for the sake of his political achievements, which would make him misjudge the facts.

Especially for a place like Yanzhou that has been hurt the most by the war, it really can't stand the toss.

This is not Li Yi's unfounded worry. There have been cases before, and more than once, those officials really can do anything to make him happy. In just this year, the auspiciousness Li Yi heard has already Almost twenty times.

It was a little fresh at first, but then...

Li Yi likes to listen to people's flattery, but he hates the kind of guys who don't do shit and want to be superior with just one mouth.

Fortunately, it seems that God is also taking pity on the devastated land of China. Li Yi walked around Yanzhou, and then went to Xuzhou by detour in Yuzhou. The crops everywhere are very good, and half of them have already started harvesting. As long as there is no sudden heavy rain and hail, absolutely It was a big harvest.

It was precisely for this reason that the accompanying officials began to test again, to see if Li Yi had any plans to send troops to the north, and even Xu Huang joined in.

At the beginning, Li Yi was light in stature and small in wealth, so he did what he said without any hesitation, but now that his power is growing, he hesitates even more when making decisions, even looking forward and backward!