Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

“I am, Xiahou Bo!”

Xiahou Bo slightly cupped his hands in greeting and introduced himself.

Xiahou Bo?

Li Ji narrowed his eyes, suppressing the disappointment in his heart, but he had no impression of this name.

Subsequently, Li Ji turned sideways to invite Liu Bei and Xiahou Bo inside, and after they were seated separately.

Li Ji asked. “I wonder if you are from the Xiahou clan of Qiao County?”

Qiao County Xiahou, refers to the clan of Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan. The reason why Cao Cao's surname is Cao is only because Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, was adopted and changed his surname.

“As far as I know, my family has been living in Zhending since our ancestors.” Xiahou Bo replied.

“I apologize for my impoliteness.”

Li Ji understood that he had misunderstood. He thought Xiahou Bo was a member of Cao Cao's clan, sent by Cao Cao to Zhending.

Indeed, although the surname Xiahou is not common, not all Xiahou surnames originate from Qiao County.

Li Ji took the opportunity to carefully observe Xiahou Bo. His hands had many calluses, not from holding farm tools, but more likely from wielding weapons.

However, to Li Ji's surprise, Xiahou Bo's hands did not have the obvious calluses from drawing a bow that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei both had.

‘It seems he is indeed not a general who has served in the army for many years.’

Li Ji silently judged.

After all, in this era, not only military generals but even scholars were generally good at horsemanship and archery. Bows and arrows were basically a required course.

Xiahou Bo's hands did not have calluses from drawing a bow, and his physique was quite burly and strong, which was enough to show that he came from a self-taught background.

‘A wandering swordsman?’

Li Ji's eyes flashed, and he couldn't help but wonder if Xiahou Bo was a Yellow Turban bandit who had taken off his yellow cloth at the sight of the situation, disguised himself as a good citizen, and deceived Liu Bei.

Immediately, Li Ji turned to look at Liu Bei and asked.

“Brother Xuande, will this Xiahou brother be of any help to our plan?”

“That's right.”

Liu Bei nodded and said. “The Xiahou brothers are wandering swordsmen in Ji Province, and they are also from Changshan, so they are extremely familiar with the terrain around Changshan State and Julu County.”

“Oh?”

Li Ji showed joy and asked.

“If that's the case, then it's really heaven helping me. With the help of the Xiahou brothers, acting as guides, we might be able to find a route that bypasses the numerous Yellow Turban bandits and goes straight to Julu.”

After a pause, Li Ji cupped his hands slightly towards Xiahou Bo and said. “It's just that this matter is fraught with danger, and we don't know how to repay the Xiahou brothers.”

“No need for repayment, I am acting for righteousness!”

Xiahou Bo straightened his lower robe, knelt down on one knee towards Liu Bei and Li Ji, and said solemnly.

“Moreover, if it weren't for your timely assistance, Chengdi Village would have suffered a great calamity. This kindness cannot be repaid, and I am only doing my best.”

At this moment, Li Ji vaguely saw several resemblances of Guan Yu in Xiahou Bo, which shook Li Ji's original doubts and worries.

Li Ji and Liu Bei simultaneously stepped forward to help Xiahou Bo up, and Li Ji asked with some doubt.

“Chengdi Village?”

“Chengdi Village is the Xiahou brothers' village.”

Liu Bei took over the conversation, looking at Xiahou Bo with some appreciation, and said.

“At that time, there were about three hundred Yellow Turban bandits who wanted to plunder Chengdi Village. It was Xiahou brothers who led more than ten villagers to fight bravely to cover the retreat, sheltering the elderly, young, women, and children in the village to take grain and go up the mountain to take refuge.”

“At that time, the Xiahou brothers' single blade was extremely valiant, and in just a moment, they had beheaded more than ten bandit leaders. Later, Yunchang and the Xiahou brothers had a foot battle competition, and they fought for more than twenty rounds without a clear winner.”

Li Ji's eyes changed immediately when he heard this.

To be able to fight with Second Master for more than twenty rounds without a clear winner, this is not a record that ordinary people can have. No wonder Liu Bei pulled Xiahou Bo over excitedly, even though he was still taking a bath.

In terms of martial prowess, he can indeed be considered a talent.

However, Xiahou Bo shook his head and said.

“I am not good at riding horses. I have some experience in foot battles and can barely compete with General Guan. If I were to face General Guan on horseback, I am afraid I would not be an enemy of General Guan for three rounds.”

Li Ji couldn't help but silently commented in his heart when he heard this.

‘Actually, you can really withstand the first three strikes of Second Master, and you can generally contain him for dozens of rounds… After all, Second Master's moves are particularly powerful in the first three strikes, and then they will suddenly weaken, and he needs to slowly accumulate strength again in dozens of rounds.’

Li Ji had already roughly discerned Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's fighting and move styles after witnessing Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's sparring from close range from time to time.

Guan Yu watched 《Spring and Autumn》and comprehended the sword technique. The first three strikes are as powerful as a rainbow, unparalleled, and each strike is heavier than the last. It is very effective for crushing rookies and sneak attacks.

Sure enough, reading 《Spring and Autumn》, comprehending great righteousness, and having a benevolent, righteous, loyal, and filial heart, people know best how to use dirty tricks in battle.

However, after the first three strikes, Guan Yu's strength is greatly depleted, and then he needs to slowly accumulate strength again in battle.

But if he encounters an enemy who can block the first three strikes, he will basically not give Guan Yu a chance to re-accumulate strength in dozens of rounds, and he will not be able to rise again.

In this case, the only way for Second Master, who usually talks about benevolence and righteousness the most, is to resort to dragging his sword.

As for Zhang Fei, he is the most typical type of fierce general. His spear technique is wide open and powerful, overwhelming people with momentum, and he is also the type who becomes more and more courageous in battle. He is completely the kind that the enemy can't beat no matter what.

Moreover, if the enemy is afraid of Zhang Fei in their hearts, then invisibly it will give Zhang Fei an extremely high combat power bonus.

Therefore, the result of each sparring between Guan Yu and Zhang Fei undoubtedly ends with Zhang Fei winning. Guan Yu also recognizes Zhang Fei's martial prowess as being above his own from the bottom of his heart.

However, in Li Ji's opinion, Guan Yu belongs to the type of rookie crusher. The first three strikes can shatter all enemies whose strength is lower than his own, and then he cannot rise again.

As for Zhang Fei, he is the type who becomes more and more courageous in battle and the more he fights, the more excited he becomes. He just completely counters Guan Yu.

And in conclusion, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are undoubtedly the top fierce generals of the world, but Xiahou Bo's ability to fight Guan Yu for more than twenty rounds on foot without a clear winner is indeed not to be underestimated.

At this point, Li Ji also completely understood that he had been overthinking.

Perhaps, there are fierce generals in the Taiping Dao who can compare with Xiahou Bo, but they must be of the level of a commander, and they would not be reduced to the level of spies.

What's more, Liu Bei personally witnessed Xiahou Bo fighting bravely to cover the retreat for the elders and villagers, which basically clears Xiahou Bo's relationship with the Yellow Turbans.

However, in order to be more secure, Li Ji decided to secretly send three or five soldiers to Chengdi Village to inquire with the villagers later.

As long as they bring some grain and oil, they can ask everything clearly about when Xiahou Bo's ancestors had sex and made loud noises three generations ago.

Suddenly, Li Ji remembered something and inquired.

“Brother Xiahou, have you heard of Zhao Zilong?”

“Zhao Zilong?”

Xiahou Bo frowned slightly, thought for a while, then shook his head and said.

“I have not! What are this person's characteristics? Where is he from? What is his age and appearance? If you are interested, sir, I can help inquire, but now that the Yellow Turbans are in turmoil, it may take a lot of time.”

“Forget it.”

Li Ji waved his hand, not intending to delve into it.

The main reason is that Li Ji knows almost nothing about Zhao Zilong's information except that Zhao Zilong is from Changshan.

Moreover, according to Li Ji's speculation, if Zhao Zilong was in his thirties when he made seven entries and seven exits, Zhao Zilong at this time may be about ten years old.

Even if he deliberately finds him, what's the use? Go to Taoyuan to be a child king and teach other little kids to pee and play with guns?

Of course, if Uncle Zhao was already an old man in his fifties when he was rampaging in Changbanpo with A Dou, then he is now about the same age as Liu Bei.

Thinking too far ahead is meaningless right now. If you really want to find Zhao Zilong's whereabouts, after the Brocade-Clothed Guards are initially established, it will not be difficult to find Zhao Zilong.

Immediately, since Li Ji had decided to trust Xiahou Bo, he immediately asked.

“Brother Xiahou, what do you know about the situation in Julu? What about the Han army that was originally fighting fiercely with the Yellow Turbans in the Guangzong area? What is the situation?”

Xiahou Bo said upon hearing this.

“I do have some understanding of this matter. Before, I was originally robbing the rich and helping the poor in the Anping County area. I happened to witness the Great Virtuous Teacher Zhang Jiao leading a large number of Taiping Dao followers to attack Xindu. They instantly occupied Xindu with internal and external cooperation.”

“At the beginning, the Taiping Dao still had some rationality. After attacking Xindu and burning the government, they only plundered the large households and wealthy families, distributed money and grain, and divided the land equally, which won the support of many civilians. They also gathered believers in a mighty manner, raised flags, and tried to attack Sili in a mighty manner.”

“Then the Northern General of the Household led his troops out of Sili and confronted the Taiping Dao in the Zhao State area on the edge of Ji Province, and the difference in strength between the two sides was as high as ten times for a time.”

“Unexpectedly, the Northern General of the Household personally commanded the Han army to fight in the field with the Taiping Dao, and they won consecutive victories, so that the Taiping Dao followers were even afraid of seeing the flag with the character ‘Lu’ on it.”

Liu Bei couldn't help but clap his hands and praised when he heard this. “As expected of Teacher Lu, a true man should be like this, going against the current and reversing the decline!”

Even Li Ji can be said to be yearning for Lu Zhi, whom he has heard of many times!

It can be said that Lu Zhi is the backbone that is supporting the huge, decaying Han Dynasty from collapsing, and he is worthy of being enshrined in the Confucius Temple in the Tang Dynasty.

Although most of the Yellow Turban bandits are rookies, they are狂热教众 led by Zhang Jiao himself, and their combat power should not be underestimated. However, they were still turned dizzy by the weak force commanded by Lu Zhi in a head-on battle.

This kind of command ability is terrifying!

“Indeed, I and several friends were observing the battlefield from afar at that time. The Han army commanded by the North General of the Household bore some resemblance to the bravery and soaring spirit of the late General Wei Qing. Their army was like a shooting star, deterring the Xiongnu barbarians from even looking south.”

However, as he said this, Xiahou Bo sighed deeply.

“From then on, the Taiping Dao deeply understood that they were no match for the North General of the Household in open battle. They suffered a series of defeats and had to retreat to the Guangzong and Xindu areas, using the cities to continue fighting the North General of the Household.”

“However, it was also after the Taiping Dao's offensive was thwarted that they began to frantically absorb and plunder the common people, so that most of the people in Julu Commandery and Anping State were plundered. Moreover, countless Yellow Turban villains took advantage of the chaos to burn, kill, rape, and plunder. Their momentum grew and continued to spread around.”

“It was also at that time that I discovered that many Yellow Turban bandits had begun to enter Changshan State. Therefore, I was worried about the situation in my hometown and did not dare to stay in the Guangzong area any longer, so I hurried back to Zhending.”

“Unexpectedly, Yellow Turban bandits really came to plunder today. If it weren't for the two of you leading troops to suppress the bandits and quell the chaos, even if the Yellow Turban bandits were unable to break through the city of Zhending, countless people outside the city would have been unable to escape this disaster.”

At the end of his speech, Xiahou Bo moved his body and actually intended to bow down to Liu Bei and Li Ji again to express his inner gratitude.

Upon seeing this, Liu Bei quickly stopped Xiahou Bo and felt even more empathy for him.

While Li Ji comforted Xiahou Bo, he also roughly reviewed the course of the Jizhou battlefield in his mind.

In this way, the goal of Cheng Yuanzhi and Deng Mao deliberately leading a part of the Yellow Turban bandits to plunder Youzhou to the north became clearer.

It was just that Zhang Jiao faced Lu Zhi head-on and was slapped in the face a few times. He immediately knew how to write the word 'cowardice'.

The Xiongnu had done the thing of challenging the Han Dynasty head-on, and then one branch of the Northern Xiongnu was beaten and split off to the West to become the 'Scourge of God', while the other branch of the Southern Xiongnu relied on kneeling and licking the Han Dynasty every day, farming and drinking milk for a living.

Zhang Jiao probably got a hard slap in the face. He didn't even shout the slogan 'Thunder God help me' anymore. He could only let the people help him, constantly plundering the people to fill Lu Zhi with human wave tactics.

More importantly, Xiahou Bo's intelligence fully illustrated one point: Lu Zhi carried the team! He faced a strong enemy with a weak force, and he alone suppressed the entire Jizhou Yellow Turbans, who were now completely withered.

Before Xiahou Bo returned to Changshan State, the Yellow Turban bandits still reluctantly resisted a little. It is estimated that they can only squat in the city to defend now.

Speaking of which, it's really a fantasy.

There has always been the saying that the besieging side should have ten times the force of the besieged, but now the Yellow Turban bandits with ten times the force are squatting in the city to survive. The Yellow Turban bandits can be regarded as pioneers.

“Hmm…”

Li Ji fell into deep thought unconsciously. His eyes were slightly closed, and his index finger was tapping his brow from time to time. He began to construct a map in his mind based on the locations of the cities on the Jizhou map.

The area where the Yellow Turban bandits were gathered, the area where Lu Zhi's Han army was fighting, and the current location of Li Ji and Liu Bei…

After a while, Li Ji opened his eyes and said with some excitement, “Brother Xuande, I seem to see an opportunity to make a big splash.”

“What kind of splash?” Liu Bei asked.

“The information is still slightly insufficient. After we arrive at Gaoyi, we will investigate again, and then we can have some confidence.”

After a pause, Li Ji continued.

“However, whether we attack Julu according to the original plan or make other changes, I am afraid that we cannot stay in Zhending for long.”

“Once the sorcerer Zhang Jiao is completely beaten by the North General of the Household like a stray dog and abandons Guangzong, retreating to the large city of Julu to hold on.”

“Then, even if we rush to the battlefield, I am afraid that we can only join forces with the North General of the Household, but it will be difficult for us to do much on our own, and we will also lose the opportunity to quickly pacify the Yellow Turban bandits.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's spirit was shaken, and he immediately wanted to get up and order to continue on the road.

However, Li Ji stopped him and told the exhausted soldiers to rest for the night no matter what.

Furthermore, all of this is based on what Xiahou Bo said being true. Li Ji also needs some time to investigate Xiahou Bo, otherwise it may be a trap.

— —

PS: Xiahou Bo.

《Records of the Three Kingdoms · Biography of Emperor Wu》records: In the first month of the fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Gong will personally conquer Liu Bei from the east, defeat him, and capture his general Xiahou Bo alive.

It's just that the courtesy name of Xiahou Bo is not recorded, so if you have any naming inspiration, you can also leave a message.