Beast Taming: Starting from Contracting the Mysterious Beast

What kind of person is Li Shiqi?

There is no doubt that Li Shiqi is very smart. He helped Liu Bang get Chenliu County and laid the foundation for Liu Bang. He helped Liu Bang persuade the Qin generals to surrender, so that Liu Bang could enter Xianyang earlier than others, which established Liu Bang's status. When the political and cultural center of Qin State was destroyed and the King of Chu rose, he helped Liu Bang lobby the princes and unify the front.

Why would such a smart person propose to occupy the moral high ground and put pressure on Xiang Yu?

The answer lies in age.

He is too old...

When he surrendered to assist Liu Bang, he was already in his sixties. He was a Wei citizen during the reign of King Anli of Wei. In Qin State, he was a person during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin.

He lived in the Warring States Period all his life and had long been labeled as a Warring States.

It was difficult for him to imagine what the Central Plains would be like after the unification, and he subconsciously refused to accept living in such an era.

This is vision!

It is a problem of knowledge that cannot be escaped no matter how smart you are.

When he heard someone retort, the gray-haired Li Shiqi suddenly raised his head.

"Who is making trouble outside the door!"

Including Liu Bang, everyone turned to look at the door.

A man in gray clothes walked in from outside the door. The man was very young, followed by a woman who looked like a man. Xingyang was in flames, but he was spotless, like a leisurely tourist returning from spring.

"Zifang!"

Liu Bang stood up in surprise.

The visitor was Zhang Liang.

He smiled and bowed.

"My lord."

Then he looked at the old man in front of Liu Bang who was glaring at him.

"Mr. Li, long time no see."

Li Shiqi suppressed some of his anger when he saw that it was Zhang Liang.

He was angry that Zhang Liang broke his offer, but he still admired Zhang Liang himself and did not despise him because of his age. The fact that three brocade bags made the King of Han had spread among the high-ranking officials of the Han army.

"Mr. Zhang, why do you say no? At this moment, Xiang Chu is strong and the lord is in danger. What does Mr. Zhang mean by not wanting the lord to contact the various princes to resist Chu? Do you want to sit and watch the lord's sunset?"

Li Shiqi snorted coldly, and put three big hats on him directly.

Zhang Liang did not answer directly, but glanced at Liu Bang.

The latter scratched his head and smiled, as if Li Shiqi was not talking about him, but more like an outsider. Seeing Zhang Liang looking at him, he also blinked at Zhang Liang, as if he was making an appointment for dinner...

Zhang Liang "..."

I hope my understanding is wrong.

Zhang Liang thought to himself and coughed lightly.

"Mr. Li, I want to ask you something."

"Speak now, sir."

"Why do you think that if you divide the states and decide the fate of the world, you can get the help of the princes?"

Li Shiqi frowned and said coldly: "It is because Xiang Yu is cruel, stubborn, and killed King Huai first. For such a person without morality, the King of Han only needs to raise his arms and shout, and everyone in the world will attack Chu!"

Zhang Liang smiled and shook his head.

Li Shiqi looked at Zhang Liang with a frown.

"Why, do you think that Xiang Yu is not like this?"

"No, I mean..."

Zhang Liang's expression suddenly became serious.

"What I mean is that Xiang Yu is unrighteous, unjust, and immoral. This is not a matter that is in front of the world. Why do the princes still follow Xiang Yu and surrender to Chu and attack Han?"

"Isn't it just that the king is strong and the enemy is weak? Now that the lord is surrounded, it is a good thing that the princes of various places do not send troops to follow Chu. Who would risk offending Xiang Yu to come to help the lord?"

"This..."

Li Shiqi was speechless.

Seeing this, Zhang Liang continued.

"Secondly, if the countries are divided, you should each serve your own master. Li Gong is a Wei person, and I am a Han person. Why should I continue to assist the lord instead of assisting the monarchs of various dynasties? What do you think?"

Zhang Liang looked around.

Except for him and Li Shiqi, there are all countries under Liu Bang's command. They have different thoughts and dare not look at him.

When Liu Bang heard this, his heart was already half cold.

However, what made him feel disappointed was not that he was weak and had few friends, while Xiang Yu was strong and had many friends, but what Zhang Liang said, that he was a Han Chinese, and if the countries were divided, why didn't he assist the King of Han instead of the King of Han.

"Besides, my lord, stop fighting and cultivate culture?"

Zhang Liang sneered, "Do you believe it or not, if my lord dares to leave Xingyang, the Chu army will not only not surrender, but will take off your head and receive the reward!"

This was already a heart-breaking statement.

Li Shiqi was speechless and knelt down in front of Liu Bang.

"My lord, this is not what I meant, I..."

Liu Bang would never argue with Li Shiqi, and he had expected how much merit Li Shiqi had made in the past, so he did not vent his anger on him.

All the generals were silent, and Liu Bang suddenly stood up and said to everyone.

"As for the enfeoffment, just as Zifang said, don't mention it again."

"Li Gong, get up now. Now that the military advisor is back, we should have a big banquet."

Li Shiqi was helped up, and Liu Bang ordered people to prepare a banquet.

No one dared to mention the enfeoffment again, at least Xiang Yu was by his side, and it was like this before getting rid of Xiang Yu. After a night of joy, even the soldiers guarding the city had some meat, which added a bit of morale to the Han army in the dangerous battle of Xingyang.

At night, Zhang Liang said goodbye to the banquet and took the initiative to find Li Shiqi. The latter was embarrassed to stay at the banquet because he lost face, so he went back to bed early.

Dongdong...

There was a knock on the door, and the old man's voice came from the room.

"Who is it?"

He seemed to have fallen asleep, and he struggled to light the candle, and a dim candlelight came on.

"Li Gong, I am Zhang Liang."

The room was quiet for a while, and the door was opened. Li Shiqi, wearing an outer coat and holding a candlestick in his hand, appeared in front of Zhang Liang.

"My wife has gone to bed, Mr. Zhang, let's go to the side."

"Okay."

Zhang Liang followed Li Shiqi's footsteps, and the two entered the empty room next door.

"Mr. Li, I hope you won't be angry with me for refuting you like that during the day."

Li Shiqi smiled bitterly.

Be angry?

If he was young, he might be like this.

At that time, his family was poor, he loved reading, and because reading changed his fate, he was arrogant and felt that he was not talented enough to be a doorman who brought honor to his family. But time went by, and the years changed. He was nearly seventy years old. Although he was arrogant, he couldn't be arrogant anymore.

"Mr., you are joking. Today, I suggested that the King of Han divide the fiefdoms. It was indeed my inconsiderateness."

Li Shiqi said.

"If you are looking for me because of this matter, then you don't have to worry about it. I am not that kind of villain."

Zhang Liang shook his head.

"No, I am not looking for Mr. Li for this matter."

"Oh?"

Li Shiqi looked at Zhang Liang in surprise.

"Then who is it, sir?"

"I came here to ask you why you want to help Pei Gong."

Li Shiqi fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he looked up at Zhang Liang and laughed at himself.

"To be honest, sir, I am not talented. I originally thought that I was old and didn't need to toss anymore, but when the war started, the people were living in misery, so I thought about whether I should do something for the people of the world, at least... let them live more comfortably, so I joined Pei Gong..."

"Then who does Li Gong think is the reason why the people of the world can't live in peace?"

Li Shiqi wanted to say that it was because of the tyranny of the Qin State, but he couldn't help but stop when the words came to his lips.

He looked up at Zhang Liang, his eyes full of doubts.

"It's because of the princes!" Zhang Liang sneered.