Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

Upon hearing this, Li Ji realized that the position of "vanguard" must be led by a prince close to the two Yuans, otherwise it would be easy for the two Yuans to take advantage of the situation or do something secretly.

Immediately, Li Ji's gaze turned and he quickly glanced in the direction of Sun Jian, trying to stop Sun Jian from competing for this "vanguard" as he had originally planned.

However, facing the look from Li Ji, Sun Jian didn't understand what was going on, but his body moved instinctively, and he stepped out and bowed.

"I am willing to be the pioneer!"

Yuan Shao looked at Sun Jian, who had a resolute and brave look on his face. A strange look flashed in his eyes, but a look of joy appeared on his face, and he spoke loudly.

"Good! Wen Tai is brave and can definitely take on this important task! Then let Wen Tai lead his troops to clear the way today, and I, the leader of the alliance, will lead the main army to follow."

Soon after, Yuan Shao also promulgated some internal military law reward and punishment regulations of the Allied Forces that were obviously prepared in advance, which was intended to motivate the Allied soldiers and improve cohesion, and also to establish his majesty.

Moreover, the two deputy leaders under Yuan Shao had already pointed out that Yuan Shu would be the governor of food and grass, and Liu Bei would be in charge of supervising military law.

After the blood oath ceremony was over, many matters within the alliance were settled and all the princes dispersed.

Sun Jian was thinking about the look Li Ji had just given him, so he stopped Li Ji halfway and asked.

"Did Mr. Zikun have anything to teach me during the meeting just now?"

Li Ji pondered for a while and felt quite helpless.

Dong Zhuo had gathered the elite troops from Liang, Bing and Sili states, and also occupied the strategic passes on all sides of Sili. It was obvious that he was not a mere vanguard who could achieve anything.

What's more, Sun Jian led his troops to charge forward, which made it hard for Li Ji not to suspect that Yuan Shao's intention was to consume Sun Jian's troops.

However, given Li Ji's current status and influence, he must be cautious in his words and actions, especially when speaking to external parties.

Even though Sun Ce was Li Ji's disciple, Sun Jian obviously had his own ideas and was not completely in agreement with Liu Bei.

All of this flashed through Li Ji's mind, but on the surface he remained calm and gentle as he spoke.

"Wen Tai has always been brave and courageous. I think he will be unstoppable this time. However, the Book of Changes says: 'The arrogant dragon will regret, and the fullness cannot last long.'"

When Sun Jian heard this, he felt a little unhappy.

Sun Jian believed that because Liu Bei treated his family with courtesy and care, and because Sun Ce also took Li Ji as his teacher, he was very respectful to Li Ji.

In addition, when Liu Bei was fighting for the position of alliance leader just now, Sun Jian also expressed his support for him.

Now that Sun Jian is about to lead the battle as the vanguard, it would be fine if Li Zikun did not talk about a great victory, or provide him with money, food and elite soldiers, but he said such unlucky words here.

However, considering the relationship between the two families, Sun Jian did not get angry. Instead, he bowed to Liu Bei and Li Ji respectively, and left on the pretext that he needed to speed up the reorganization of his soldiers in preparation for the expedition.

After Sun Jian left, Liu Bei asked Li Ji.

"Zi Kun thought that Wen Tai would have a hard time winning this time? That's why he reminded me just now?"

In fact, Sun Jian served in Sili after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and then made many military achievements in the Western Qiang Rebellion, leaving behind a great reputation.

It can be said that Sun Jian’s current position as the governor of Changsha County was entirely won by him with his sword and horse.

Also, because Sun Jian was born in Wu County, he was known as the "Fierce Tiger of Jiangdong", which even Li Ji had heard of.

If we take into account both fighting on the battlefield and leading troops in battle, Sun Jian's ability is enough to rank among the top in the allied camp.

Therefore, when Sun Jian volunteered to be the vanguard, almost no one competed with him, and even Liu Bei had great confidence in Sun Jian.

In response to Liu Bei's question, Li Ji did not answer directly, but asked, "If General Sun were in danger, would you save him or not?"

Liu Bei thought for a moment and said.

"We are allies, so it would be unkind not to save him. Moreover, I have a personal relationship with Wen Tai, so it would be unjust not to save him. I will not do anything unkind or unjust."

"Kee understands."

Li Ji nodded and had a tendency in his mind.

As there were too many people around to discuss further, Liu Bei did not press the issue any further until he returned to the garrison's tent, where he asked.

"Is there any danger in Wentai?"

"It's possible."

Li Ji nodded, then bowed to Liu Bei.

"The fault lies with Ji. He did not expect that Dong the thief would massacre 53 members of the Yuan family, and happened to send the heads to the Suanzao camp at this moment, so that the plan failed at the last moment, forcing the lord to give the position of leader to Yuan Benchu."

Liu Bei quickly helped Li Ji up and said.

"If it weren't for Zikun, it's still unclear whether Bei could have come here to meet the alliance. What crime did Zikun commit? Moreover, the traitor Dong was extremely cruel and killed the loyal officials such as the Grand Marshal Yuan Wei and the Grand Coachman Yuan Ji. This was also an unexpected event that no one could have predicted."

After a pause, Liu Bei couldn't help but reveal a smile on his face and said.

"Moreover, it's rare that Zikun has something he hadn't expected, which makes me feel at ease. After all, I'm a little worried that Zikun is really a god who will leave me soon, or maybe this is just a dream." Li Ji couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. He didn't know whether Liu Bei was praising him or scolding him for being a inhuman.

Immediately, Li Ji continued to explain.

"General Sun's ability is beyond doubt, but what Ji is worried about is that Yuan Benchu ​​and Yuan Gonglu have ulterior motives and will assassinate General Sun."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but frown and said in disbelief.

"I don't think the leader and Yuan Gonglu would do this. Not to mention that we have a great national hatred with Dong Zhuo by gathering here, what's more, the leader and Gonglu have a blood feud with Dong Zhuo. We are already fully supporting Wen Tai to fight against Dong Zhuo, so how could they assassinate him?"

Therefore, this is the common problem of people with high moral standards in Li Ji's opinion. They always overestimate the moral standards of others, just as countless people in the original trajectory believed in Sima Yi's "Luoshui Oath".

The reason why Yuan Shao was able to offer "blood sacrifice to heaven" and then become the leader elected by everyone without any objection was that

It is precisely because Yuan Shao is now seen by everyone as carrying the national hatred and family feud, and the fifty-three members of the Yuan family have proved their loyalty and contribution to the Han Dynasty with their lives.

"The human heart is unpredictable, my lord."

Li Ji sighed. He did not think that the death of Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji and other members of the Yuan family would make Yuan Shao devote himself to the public and do everything he could to attack Dong Zhuo.

From an immoral perspective, the deaths of Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji and others were almost all benefits to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Perhaps, this would greatly reduce the power of the Yuan family in the court controlled by Dong Zhuo, but it would bring greater benefits to the two Yuans in the local area.

All people know is that the Yuan family sacrificed 53 lives for the Han Dynasty, and that Yuan Shao, in order to avenge the country and family, led a group of heroes to the west to attack the thief Dong.

When he thought of this, Li Ji felt helpless.

Or perhaps the momentum of this alliance was far greater than the original trajectory, so that Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji, who were originally killed by the angry Dong Zhuo to vent his anger, should have been killed several months later.

Now Dong Zhuo was furious. He had killed all the members of the Yuan family, including Yuan Wei and Yuan Ji, in advance, and even sent their heads to the Suanzao camp.

The enemy killed some important hostages before they even attacked, which was undoubtedly a complete reverse operation.

If Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and their ilk were cowardly and timid, such deterrence might still be of some use.

But at the moment, this was undoubtedly a hard push from Dong Zhuo to Yuan Shao, not only sending Yuan Shao to the position of leader of the alliance, but also arousing the common hatred of the enemy among the allied forces.

If it was Li Ji...

No, if it was Jia Xu, since Dong Zhuo’s reputation was already extremely bad, it would be better to hang Yuan Wei and others directly on the city wall like a "free from war sign".

This put Yuan Shao in a dilemma between "loyalty" and "filial piety", and no matter what choice he made, it would leave a stain.

In fact, didn’t the allied forces march west in the name of “clearing the imperial court” and helping Liu Bian to restore the throne?

Jia Xu directly brought Liu Bian to the front of the two armies and asked Liu Bian to order the loyal ministers of the Han Dynasty to withdraw.

At that time, those who do not withdraw their troops will also run the risk of being regarded by the world as unloyal.

and many more……

Li Ji frowned and suddenly thought of something.

With Dong Zhuo's murderous nature, he had already killed Yuan Wei, Yuan Ji and others in advance. Would Liu Bian also be killed by Dong Zhuo in a rage?

At this moment, Zhao Yun walked in from outside the tent and reported.

"My lord, Mr. Zikun, the envoy sent by Xiliang County Governor Ma Teng, Captain Pang, wants to see you."

Liu Bei was a little surprised when he heard this.

After all, Wu County and Xiliang County are located in the opposite corner of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Bei and Ma Teng have no old friendship. Before this, Pang De deliberately avoided too much contact with other princes in the tent to avoid offending anyone. Why would he suddenly visit?
However, although Liu Bei was confused, he quickly tidied his clothes and took Li Ji and Zhao Yun to the main gate of the garrison to greet them in person.

Seeing Liu Bei appear, Pang De, who was waiting patiently, was slightly surprised.

Pang De was accustomed to the arrogance of the princes, but he never thought that Liu Bei would personally welcome him, an unknown warrior from Xiliang.

Immediately, before Liu Bei came up to him, Pang De hurriedly greeted him and said, "Greetings to Lord Liu. I am really terrified to trouble Lord Liu to come and greet me personally."

"Pang Lingming, there is no need to be so polite. I have also heard that Ma Shoucheng is the descendant of General Fubo. This time he is following the righteousness and raising an army to fight against Dong. He is truly a hero of the time..."

After a pause, Liu Bei said with a hint of admiration on his face.

"Even if Lingming doesn't come here, I will definitely pay a special visit to Lingming so that I can learn about Ma Shoucheng's heroic spirit from him."

It has to be said that Liu Bei seemed to be born with the ability to get closer to people.

After just a few words, Pang De developed a favorable impression of Liu Bei, especially the two young men following behind Pang De, who looked at Liu Bei with obviously more kindness in their eyes.

Immediately, Liu Bei invited Pang De into his tent, and asked Li Ji and Zhao Yun to accompany him on one side, after some greetings.

Liu Bei, who was having a pleasant conversation with Pang De, asked casually as if he had realized something belatedly. "By the way, I wonder if Lingming has any important business to discuss with you this time?" (End of this chapter)