Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

When the army led by Liu Bei was about to arrive at the site of the Suanzao Alliance, Cao Cao was in the camp directing his soldiers to build the platform to be used for tomorrow's alliance.

When Liu Bei's army approached Suanzao, naturally there were scouts stationed in various places in Suanzao to report the matter in advance.

When Cao Cao heard that more princes were coming and they were leading an army of about 20,000, he was slightly stunned. He quickly put down what he was doing and ran towards the camp gate to prepare to meet them.

Twenty thousand may not sound like a lot.

However, this number is already among the top among all the princes who have arrived in Suanzao, and Cao Cao cannot help but pay attention to it.

As Cao Cao rushed towards the gate, he was still guessing, based on the word "Liu" written on the big banner reported by the scouts, which of the current Liu princes would lead an army of 20,000 to the alliance.

It was not until Cao Cao saw Liu Bei standing on the battlefield, wearing black armor and showing a majestic demeanor, that he suddenly reacted.

"Brother Xuande!"

Cao Cao immediately greeted him with a big smile, as if the conflict that had occurred between the two sides in Julu had never occurred before, and he looked warm and happy.

Liu Bei got off the chariot, bowed to Cao Cao in return, and said, "Brother Mengde, I have heard about your assassination of Dong from far away in Wujun, but I didn't expect you to be so brave. It's a pity that you were just a little bit away from getting rid of the traitor."

Cao Cao, who was receiving a group of princes, was already accustomed to this incident which was praised by others as "the assassination of Dong Zhuo" and he also made a polite remark.

"I didn't expect Brother Xuande to come all the way from Wujun. The distance here is more than a thousand miles. You can imagine Brother Xuande's heart to serve his country and eliminate the thieves..."

Suddenly, Cao Cao noticed Li Ji who got off the chariot behind Liu Bei. His voice paused unconsciously and his eyes instinctively passed over Liu Bei and fell completely on Li Ji.

Compared to when he was more than ten years old, Li Ji is now over twenty years old. There is no trace of childishness on his face anymore, but instead a calm and gentle demeanor.

Moreover, Li Ji has grown a lot taller than before, and his slender figure makes him look even more graceful.

Noticing Cao Cao's barely concealed burning gaze, Li Ji raised his eyes and met Cao Cao's gaze. He smiled modestly and bowed slightly.

"Brother Meng De, how are you?"

Suddenly, Cao Cao spoke.

"Zikun, we haven't seen each other for many years. We meet again today..."

However, before Cao Cao could take a few more steps towards Li Ji, Liu Bei stepped to the side, blocking Cao Cao's view and path towards Li Ji, then reached out and grabbed Cao Cao's wrist and spoke enthusiastically.

"Brother Meng De, the journey is long. I just arrived at Suanzao today, and I often hear soldiers say that tomorrow is the day for all the princes to form an alliance. Brother Meng De, please tell me more about the current situation in the Suanzao camp."

Suddenly, Cao Cao realized that he had lost his composure.

Even though Cao Cao had never concealed his desire to poach Li Ji, it was obviously not convenient to do it in front of Liu Bei.

In Cao Cao's view, this matter was undoubtedly similar to communicating with someone else's wife. He had to avoid Liu Bei for the time being before he had a chance to have an in-depth communication with Li Ji.

“It’s natural.”

Immediately, Cao Cao secretly glanced at Li Ji out of the corner of his eye, and while leading Liu Bei and his army into the Suanzao camp to settle down, he began to introduce the situation of the princes who had already arrived at Suanzao.

Li Ji followed Liu Bei with a calm and gentle smile on his face, and listened carefully to what Cao Cao said.

In this meeting of princes, except for the two governors Liu Yan and Liu Biao who did not participate in the original trajectory, a large number of other county governors also responded to Liu Yu's call.

Now, with Liu Bei having just arrived, the number of princes who have arrived at Suanzao to participate in the alliance has reached as many as thirty-six towns.

However, among the princes of these thirty-six towns, more than half only led two or three thousand county soldiers, and some even temporarily recruited young and strong men to come to the alliance, and they did not even have the qualifications to station in the camp.

Among the princes, big and small, divided by Yuan Shao, there are exactly eighteen big princes and eighteen small princes including Liu Bei.

"With the combined strength of the eighteen great and eighteen small princes, no matter how fierce and ruthless Dong is, he will surely die!"

When mentioning this, Cao Cao's eyes and brows unconsciously revealed a hint of excitement.

When Liu Bei heard that so many people responded to the call of the Han royal family, he was also very excited, knowing that the people's hearts were still with the Han.

Soon after Cao Cao led Liu Bei to the only remaining place to camp in the camp, he did not stay long. Instead, he bid farewell to Liu Bei, nodded to Li Ji from a distance, and then tactfully prepared to leave first.

After all, Liu Bei had just arrived with his army. He was exhausted from the long journey and needed to quickly set up camp, deal with all the trivial matters, and familiarize himself with the camp. Naturally, he had no time to chat with Cao Cao.

However, before leaving, Cao Cao accidentally noticed a young scholar who was following Li Ji with bamboo slips in his hand and seemed to be reporting something. For some reason, Cao Cao couldn't help but take another look at him, and his heart was slightly moved.

Especially when he saw Li Ji standing with the young scholar, Cao Cao felt a strong urge to recruit both of them under his command.

Before leaving, Cao Cao specifically asked a squad leader under Liu Bei, "Who is that young scholar?"

Then, Cao Cao left with the answer he had just received.

'Yingchuan Guo Fengxiao...'

The news that Liu Bei led an army of 20,000 to the Suanzao Alliance also spread throughout the camp in a very short time.

The reactions of the various princes were also different, for example: Yuan Shu's contempt, Yuan Shao's contemplation, Gongsun Zan's excitement, Kong Rong's curiosity, etc. However, tomorrow was the day of the blood oath, and Liu Bei had just arrived, so even if the princes wanted to visit or test him, they were not in a hurry.

The next morning.

Almost all the princes, big and small, inside and outside the Suanzao camp got up early to prepare for today's alliance meeting.

When Li Ji got up last night, after dealing with military affairs with Guo Jia and falling asleep a little late, he found that there were two more princes who came to visit Liu Bei in his tent.

One of them is Gongsun Zan, who is now named General Fenwu and the governor of Beiping County...

Seeing Li Ji coming, Gongsun Zan stood up immediately, hugged Li Ji with force in the heroic style unique to Youyan men, and said with great emotion.

"Zikun, I haven't seen you for several years, but I still remember your masterful demeanor from time to time."

"Ji Yi always misses the bravery of General Bai Ma."

Li Ji smiled and returned the greeting, praising him.

Although Gongsun Zan was the General Fenwu, he undoubtedly preferred to be called "General Baima". Being called that by Li Ji undoubtedly made Gongsun Zan's face unconsciously filled with joy.

Immediately, Li Ji turned his gaze to another prince in the big tent. His hair and beard were all white, and he looked quite old, but his temperament was restrained and gentle.

The old man was also looking at Li Ji, then turned and spoke to Liu Bei.

"The title of a national hero is indeed well-deserved. Even this kind of demeanor is enough to earn the admiration of the world."

"Brother Gongzu, you are too kind."

Liu Bei responded modestly with an expression of joy that could not be concealed on his face, and then introduced him to Li Ji.

"Zikun, this is Tao Gongzu, the governor of Xuzhou. Why don't you come forward and greet him?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji hurried forward and saluted.

"So it's Mr. Tao who is here. I'm sorry if I was disrespectful. Please forgive me."

"What crime have I committed? Xuande and I hit it off right away. We are close friends regardless of age. I came here early this time for personal reasons, not official business."

Tao Qian responded, then helped Li Ji up personally and spoke gently.

"I have long heard of the name of the national hero Li Zikun. Seeing him today is a great comfort to me. I hope Zikun will help Xuande protect the country and the people in the future."

"I always use Mr. Tao's words to encourage myself." Li Ji responded modestly.

Afterwards, Liu Bei, Tao Qian and Gongsun Zan continued their conversation in the tent. Although they were mainly there to reminisce about the past, they also discussed the current situation.

Especially now that the day of the alliance has arrived, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu both want to compete for the leader of the alliance. For example, Liu Yan and Liu Biao did not lead their troops in person. Therefore, the previous competition for the leader of the alliance in the camp was between the two Yuans. Therefore, Tao Qian also came to ask Liu Bei who he planned to support.

However, when mentioning this matter, Gongsun Zan brought a rather shocking news.

That is, Gongsun Zan came as a representative of Liu Yu, the instigator of this alliance, and before leaving, Liu Yu had instructed Gongsun Zan:

[If Liu Bei participates in the alliance, he will be elected as the leader; if Liu Bei does not come to the alliance, someone with both prestige and benevolence will be selected as the leader.]

When these words were spoken, not only Tao Qian was shocked, but even Liu Bei was surprised. He had never expected that Liu Yu would value him so much.

After all, Liu Bei and Liu Yu did not have much actual interaction, and the two had never actually met.

The biggest intersection between the two sides, apart from the trade that had lasted for two years at the Port of Tianjin, was that Li Ji had previously led his army to help Youzhou defeat the Wuhuan.

Tao Qian, who had finally reacted, asked in shock.

"General Gongsun, are you serious? Can you really represent Lord Liu's attitude?"

"Of course. I don't even bother to use Liu Bo'an's name to forge things."

Gongsun Zan responded with a proud look on his face.

This made Tao Qian fall into deep thought on the spot, and then his originally cloudy eyes gradually brightened up and said.

"It seems that choosing Xuande as the leader is much more suitable than the two Yuans. Moreover, Xuande has the status of a relative of the Han Dynasty and the support of Lord Liu, so he is the most suitable leader for this alliance."

Of course, Tao Qian's words may not be without selfish motives.

Tao Qian was originally a scholar from a poor family, and was not the same kind of person as the two Yuan brothers and other children from aristocratic families.

On the contrary, since Tao Qian took office as the governor of Xuzhou, he has had a close personal relationship with Liu Bei, and they feel like they are close friends who have met too late.

Even if he voted with his buttocks, Tao Qian would subconsciously choose to sit on Liu Bei's side when choosing between Liu Bei and the two Yuan brothers. (End of this chapter)