When Ji Han and his men traveled to the Three Kingdoms crew

Chapter 524: Take the Initiative (Four Thousand)
As the old man was speaking, he suddenly stood up, bent his knees, and was about to kneel on the ground.

Liu Bei was quick to support the old man and said, "Old man, what are you doing? Please stand up quickly! Please stand up quickly! Please tell me in detail. If I can help you, I will definitely not refuse."

After some kind words of persuasion, Liu Bei calmed the old man down and helped him to a chair.

The old man had just opened his mouth, but before he could even utter a word, the sound of his stomach rumbling came first.

"Grumpy"

The old man was embarrassed. He wanted to explain, but Liu Bei slapped his head and said, "Father, I'm sorry. I forgot it was time to eat."

"Ah?" The old man opened his mouth slightly, his mind full of questions. What time is it to eat? Isn't it still early before 5 p.m.?

Just when the old man was puzzled, Liu Bei called his personal guards and ordered them to bring two bowls of hot porridge.

Soon, a bowl of hot porridge and chives were placed in front of the old man.

The old man sniffed, and a faint aroma of food drifted into his nose. His mouth was secreting saliva vigorously, which made him swallow. He raised his head and looked at Liu Bei in disbelief, "General, these are for me."

"It's not a rare thing. I'm sorry to make you laugh."

"Are you laughing? I'm not laughing, I'm not laughing."

The old man shook his head repeatedly. The porridge in the bowl alone looked extremely sticky. If such a good thing was laughed at, then what else would not be laughed at?

"Father, please try it quickly. It will be bad if it gets cold."

".I." The old man looked struggling, but Liu Bei thought he was just embarrassed.

As Liu Bei persuaded him, the old man stretched out his hands and held up the porridge. He tremblingly brought the bowl to his cracked lips, first took a sip carefully, and then greedily slurped the porridge in big gulps.

Liu Bei watched the old man drinking non-stop. He couldn't help but shook his head, "Old man, come and eat some vegetables. Try the chives we just planted."

Liu Bei picked up the leeks with chopsticks and put them into the old man's bowl, which prompted the old man to thank him repeatedly.

Liu Bei's eyes darkened as he watched the old man wolfing down his food. He could see that the old man had not been full for a long time, so he asked his guards to bring him some hot porridge and chives.

People who are in a state of hunger for a long time have a very fragile stomach and insufficient digestion ability. If they eat a lot of fish and meat, the bloating may be a minor symptom, but it may cause a greater disease.

The next moment, the old man started coughing violently.

Liu Bei immediately stood up, walked quickly behind the old man, stretched out his hand and gently patted the old man's back, "Take your time, old man, eat. Don't worry. Come and have some water."

"Ahem. Thank you, thank you, General." The old man suddenly felt much better. He took the tea bowl, drank the warm water in the bowl, and then he breathed a sigh of relief.

But Liu Bei always felt that something was wrong with the old man. The old man's eyes were evasive. This feeling seemed to be... guilty? And guilty?
Liu Bei did not think any further. Could it be possible that a poor old man who was powerless could pull out a dagger and stab him to death?
The old man didn't dare to look into Liu Bei's eyes. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

But the words came to his lips but he hesitated. Finally, the old man changed his mind and said, "General, if you capture the city, how should you deal with the soldiers in the city?"

"Don't be afraid, old man. We will only kill the leader of the evil. As long as you have not done anything evil before being recruited as a soldier by the thief Yuan, we will not pursue you."

After these words were spoken, Liu Bei found that the old man completely relaxed.

The old man seemed to have made up his mind. He suddenly stood up and was about to kneel down to Liu Bei again. Liu Bei quickly stood up and supported the old man's arm. "Old man, what are you doing?"

"General, I am so ashamed!" The old man clutched his chest tightly, a trace of guilt on his aged face, "Someone told me before that as long as I lead the general who will attack Shouchun to the east gate, my son will be spared. That's why I deceived the general. I am so ashamed of you!"

Liu Bei shook his head and spread his arms. "Look, my clothes are not torn, and you didn't hurt me. Why should I apologize?"

"This..." The old man's face was touched, and he was deeply moved. He said with emotion: "No wonder. No wonder, no wonder they are so afraid of the general. The general's virtue really makes me admire him. If Huainan was under the general's rule, how great it would be."

"Old man, the important task we are responsible for on this trip is to eliminate the thieves for the country, recover Huainan, and even the entire Yangzhou, and even to fight against all the rebellious ministers in the world."

"What about the rent?"

"What do you think of the 15% tax reduction or 30% tax reduction?"

"Okay, okay, then will there be any other additional taxes?"

"Of course not, but please talk to me about the ridiculous behavior of this thief Yuan after he proclaimed himself emperor."

As he spoke, Liu Bei handed a bowl of warm water to his father-in-law. Since coming to Huainan.

What Liu Bei saw was a desolate land, wild dogs gnawing at carrion on the roadside, dilapidated and deserted villages, and officials who imposed heavy taxes.
Each and every incident is extremely shocking and infuriating.

Perhaps it was because he no longer felt any burden after confessing, or because of the warmth coming from the bowl in his hand. The father-in-law's mood became much more stable. Although those things frightened him just thinking about them, he didn't seem to be afraid of Liu Bei in person.

The old man talked about what had happened in recent years in a disjointed manner. Huainan under Yuan Shu's governance was not a good place from the beginning to the end.

Yuan Shu favored local thugs who were brave and aggressive, and often chose these people as his first choice when recruiting his personal soldiers. After these people joined the army, Yuan Shu did not impose too many restrictions on them. As long as they did not cause a big chaos, they would not be punished for robbing while on patrol, and they would even be rewarded.

This has caused suffering to the local people.

At this point the father-in-law paused, then rolled up his sleeves to reveal a several-inch scar.

It turned out that a sergeant led a team to break into the village for fun. When the sergeant saw the unmarried women in the village, he immediately became lustful. The old man came forward to persuade him, but the sergeant's face suddenly changed and he shouted angrily: "Old dog! How dare you ruin my big plan?!"

As he said that, the sergeant took out his ring-handled sword and slashed at the old man. Fortunately, the old man dodged in time, so the sergeant did not hit his body, but the ring-handled sword happened to cut his arm.

Even the sergeant dared to lead his troops into the village for fun, not to mention the other officials under Yuan Shu.

The rent collected from the fields alone would last until next year!

The situation has become even worse since Yuan Shu was defeated in Jizhou and fled back to Huainan like a stray dog.

In the past, most soldiers were recruited from local ruffians and bullies. Even though they were vicious, they were still reluctant to kill villagers.

Now Yuan Shu actually recruited robbers and bandits as soldiers!
This is a big deal. Why would the robbers care about you? You don't want to give me money or food, right? Can you see if my knife is sharp?

When there were not enough robbers and bandits, Yuan Shu started to target the villagers.

Even the lame son of the father-in-law was forced to serve in the army. The father-in-law was eager to save his son, and he accidentally heard that if he could trick the general attacking Huainan to the east gate, Yuan Shu would release his son.

So he mustered up the courage to risk his life to come to see Liu Bei. However, what the father-in-law could not have expected was that Liu Bei's army not only did not disturb the people, but Liu Bei also invited him to drink porridge and talked with him patiently, without any airs at all.

When talking about Huainan's future, his face was full of seriousness, which made his father-in-law feel deeply guilty.

If I really deceived the general and caused his death, how could I face him when my soul returned to the grass?
So the old man made up his mind and confessed his purpose.

Even though he was eager to save his son, he couldn't be so cruel as to push Liu Bei into the fire.

After listening to his father-in-law's words, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh in his heart that some people are born into noble families, but are far inferior to the farmers who dig for food in the fields.

Liu Bei patted his father-in-law's hand and promised solemnly: "Please be at ease, father-in-law, I will do my best to rescue your son. I promise that in the future, I will definitely let the people of Huainan have enough food to eat!"

At the same time, Liu Bei couldn't help but think, what if he let his father-in-law come forward to incite the soldiers in the city?

Let the soldiers in the city rebel. That would be considered a way of winning over their hearts, right?
Liu Bei thought about it and immediately rejected the idea.

If this is true, wouldn’t it be harming my father-in-law’s son?
So what was the promise just now?
No one can stand without faith!
That's it.

Liu Bei shook his head.

One person is short-term, two people are long-term.

Go ask Wenyuan Ziyi Gongming what he thinks.

After settling his father-in-law, Liu Bei convened a meeting and Qiao Rui, Liu Chong, Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci, Xu Huang and others gathered together.

"General Qiao, did you say that General Wei has decided to attack the city?" Liu Chong's face was full of excitement.

Qiao Rui nodded, "It should be about attacking the city. I think General Wei has a good plan."

"Good!" Liu Chong slapped his thigh fiercely, "I am willing to be the vanguard!"

Not only Qiao Rui, but also Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci and Xu Huang's mouths twitched. Everyone present knew that Liu Chong was good at bows and crossbows but not at boxing and kicking, and he had experienced very few battles. If Liu Chong was really allowed to serve as the vanguard, wouldn't that be a joke with the lives of Liu Chong and other soldiers?
"Ahem." Liu Bei coughed a few times, drawing everyone's attention to himself, and asked, "Do you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

This put everyone in a dilemma. Except for Qiao Rui who was older, everyone present was a first-class brave general.

Liu Chong looked puzzled and muttered, "Why does General Wei ask this question? Is he trying to test me?"

"." Qiao Rui couldn't help but sigh in his heart, what exactly does King Chen do in Chen State on a daily basis? Isn't it normal for him to ask for advice before attacking the city?
Qiao Rui sighed and replied, "Chopping down trees and making siege weapons."

Liu Bei nodded slowly, a normal reply.

Taishi Ci thought for a moment and said, "Besiege Shouchun and repel the reinforcements."

"Good!" Liu Bei exclaimed. Defeating the living force was very good, very good.

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang did not answer. They all looked at Liu Bei, as if asking Liu Bei what to do.

Should we attack the city steadily or besiege it and repel the reinforcements?

Liu Bei fell silent. After settling his father-in-law on the way, he was thinking of a solution.

As I was thinking about it, an idea suddenly came to my mind.

That's not right. The power at hand now is far greater than that of Yuan Shu.

Why did you insist on attacking Shouchun at this time?

Shouchun is the most important and the most difficult city to capture in Huainan. How long will it take them to defeat it with their tens of thousands of troops?

Rather.
Let Gongming and Wenyuan lead the army to besiege Shouchun, and Ziyi and I will take the initiative to attack and ambush on the road that the reinforcements from Huainan must pass.

Isn't it more clever than repelling reinforcements during a siege?
If I think about it carefully, we will meet again in the fairyland in a few days.

Weaken the manpower of Huainan, and then let the second and third brothers lead the army to meet in Huainan.

Even if Shouchun is impregnable, facing such heavy pressure, will they still have the will to fight again? !

"What do you think? Are there any other shortcomings?" After Liu Bei told everyone his idea, his eyes were full of expectation, hoping that the good generals present could help him find and fill in the gaps.

This made Qiao Rui puzzled. When Qiao Rui heard Liu Bei's plan, he was shocked. He subconsciously put himself on the opposite side of Liu Bei. Just taking the initiative to attack and destroy the reinforcements was a headache.

As for letting Guan Yu and Zhang Fei meet in Huainan.
This is a bit unbelievable, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are in Qingzhou. How to contact Guan Yu and Zhang Fei when they are so far away?

Qiao Rui was very skeptical, but when he saw Liu Bei's composure, and Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci, Xu Huang and others' calmness.

Unexpectedly, such a thought suddenly occurred to me. Could it be that General Wei really had a way to contact Generals Guan and Zhang? !
Unlike Qiao Rui's surprise, Liu Chong had only one thought in his mind: admiration, admiration to the point of prostrating himself. General Wei was indeed worthy of his reputation!
"General Qiao." Liu Bei looked at Qiao Rui, "May I ask General Qiao who is the most powerful general in Huainan now?"

Qiao Rui thought for a moment and said, "Wu Jing."

Wu Jing?

Liu Bei frowned slightly. This name sounded familiar. Wait, isn't this the brother-in-law of Sun Jian, and the uncle of Sun Ce and Sun Quan? !
"Please tell me in detail, General Qiao." After the initial surprise, Liu Bei did not think further. The history now is completely different from that recorded in the fairyland.

Qiao Rui did not hide anything, "Before, the thief Yuan promised Sun Wentai that he would recommend Sun Jian as the governor of Lujiang. However, after Sun Wentai was defeated by General Huang, he fell ill and could not get up. The thief Yuan took away Sun Wentai's soldiers. Sun Bofu was a capable man who sneaked back to his hometown after the battle in Guangling and earned the soldiers back from the thief Yuan. However, when the thief Yuan fled back to Huainan, the thief Yuan took the soldiers back from Sun Bofu."

"You bastard! Why is Yuan the thief so shameless!" Even Liu Chong couldn't stand it anymore.

Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci, and Xu Huang all looked calm, as they were already used to it. There were many more outrageous kings in the Western Regions. If Yuan Gonglu was sent to the Western Regions, he might be called a wise king, but that was just the beginning.

"But what does this matter have to do with Wu Jing?" Zhang Liao asked curiously.

Qiao Rui sighed and said, "It was because of the persecution of Yuan thieves that Sun Bofu joined his uncle, Wu Jing, the governor of Danyang."

"No." Xu Huang found something wrong. "If that's the case, how can Wu Jing be our enemy? Isn't he an enemy of Yuan thief?"

"Alas. Then we have to mention the Yangzhou Governor Liu Yao Liu Zhengli."

"Ah?! Liu Zhengli?" Liu Chong scratched his head. Liu Zhengli. He was familiar with Liu Zhengli. Wasn't this his adopted son?

(End of this chapter)