"General?"

When Lu Meng heard the sound, he was surprised, and nodded slightly as if he had some insight and said, "That's true. The General followed the Lord to fight for many years and made many military achievements. Our army was able to develop to such a strong position today. The General made great achievements and rarely suffered defeat. So far, his only defeat was that when he was the prefect of the Northern Territory, he encountered the Southern Xiongnu attacking the border, causing half of the cities in the Northern Territory County to fall.

But this is not that he commands without reason, but that the barbarian army unexpectedly waits for an opportunity to attack, and has more than 100,000 troops. Therefore, the power of a county alone is indeed unable to resist the fierce barbarian army as fierce as a tiger." Obviously, Lu Meng knew very well about Li Xian's past achievements and admired Li Xian's ability to command troops and fight.

Zhou Yu said: "The general's record is obvious to all. The most rare thing is that he is calm and generous, mature and steadfast, and can bear great responsibilities. For many years, he has been staying in the rear, not only stabilizing the situation, but also raising food and grass for the army. Therefore, the lord can lead the army to fight for many years without any worries."

This is Zhou Yu's sincere words made by him.

The truth is the same. Looking at Li Li's years of warfare, whenever he encounters a strong enemy or decides his life and death, he leads troops to fight outside. The one who is in charge of the rear must be his younger brother Li Xian. When Wuwei raised an army, facing Ma Teng, Han Sui's coalition forces came in a fierce manner. Li Li led a large army to go out to Heilongling to fight him in a decisive battle. At that time, Li Xian was in charge of the rear. During the Chang'an Rebellion, Li Li led his army to rush thousands of miles to Chang'an, and Li Xian was in charge of the powerful county in the rear. During the Sili War, Li Li led his army to fight with the princes of the Central Plains for nearly two years, and it was not Li Jue who was in charge of Chang'an, but Li Xian, the younger brother of the army stationed in the army, who was in charge of Chang'an.

The most remarkable thing is that the Alliance against Yuan to conquer the Central Plains War in Huainan and Jizhou. For this war, Li Li transferred all the generals under his command who were the first to follow him from the main camp in advance. He was appointed as the general of the city guarding or border guarding generals of each prefecture and county, while his Li Xian was in charge of Liangzhou. Such an arrangement seemed irrelevant and ineffective, but in fact it had far-reaching intentions and was able to plan the country in a successful manner.

Although Li Xian did not have a large army, he stayed in Liangzhou, where Li Li started his career. The generals guarding various prefectures and counties were the first direct generals to follow their brothers to conquer the world. This means that once Li Li led his army to defeat the Central Plains, even if he suffered an unprecedented defeat, Li Xian and a group of veterans were still in charge. In critical moments, Li Xian could directly mobilize the county troops of each prefecture and county to participate in the battle, or lead the army to support. Otherwise, even if the Sili fell, as long as Li Xian defended Liangzhou for him, he could ensure that the foundation in the rear was not lost; in this way, he would make a comeback sooner or later and make a comeback.

Such a precise and obscure layout made most of the civil and military people in the Western Liang Dynasty keep in the dark, and they didn't know that Li Li had already made the worst plans before the war. Li Xian, who stayed in Liangzhou, seemed to be famous and inconspicuous. In fact, the generals in charge of each prefecture and county and the county government soldiers under their tent were all large troops dispatched by him. This county government soldier was not strong in combat, but he was defeated by a large number of people and a large force, and his comprehensive combat power was no less than that of the main battle camp of the Xiliang army.

It is no exaggeration to say that Li Li has a backup plan every time he leads his army to fight, and this is his younger brother Li Xian.

However, although Li Xian has been in a high position in the Xiliang army for a long time, he has not directly mastered any main battle camp, which gives people the illusion of no real power. It seems that the reason why he can hold a high position is entirely because of his brother Li Li's great reputation, which is due to the affection of his brothers. But who knows that it is precisely because of Li Xian's introverted personality, taciturn and never show off, that he becomes the most solid backing for Li Li to hide behind him, and the most easily overlooked but ubiquitous hero behind the scenes.

All of this is hidden in the dark and has existed since the moment Li Li launched his army, but many people have no idea about it and have been kept in the dark for many years. So much so that many civil and military generals under Li Li’s command have mistakenly thought that General Li Xian was a mediocre and incompetent person. If he had not had a powerful brother, how could he have the power and status of the Three Dukes?

However, not everyone knows nothing about this and is unaware of it. To this day, many people do not ignore Li Xian's existence, but the true wise man has never looked down on this taciturn general who does not like to show off. He always pays attention to his every move, and gradually finds that Li Xian is not a mediocre person, but a powerful man of the world who is truly wise and stupid. His talent may not be comparable to his brother Li Li, but is a talent of a general who is very useful. For many years, he has been responsible for the heavy trust given to him by Li Li, who is unimaginable to ordinary people, and has successfully completed his arduous mission again and again.

Those who always pay attention to Li Xian are the five major planners and four generals under Li Li, and Zhou Yu is one of them.

Zhou Yu had not noticed Li Xian's special status earlier, did not know that he played an irreplaceable and huge role in previous wars, nor did he know that Li Xian was actually Li Li's solid backing for guarding the rear, and he did not realize how much Li Li valued this younger brother.

Until this time he went to Yizhou, Zhou Yu was unexpectedly appointed as the commander of the three armies, and Li Xian was the one who followed him to fight. When he knew the entire lineup of the army, he felt that this expedition was very different from the past, and Li Li asked him to be the head coach seemed to have a deep meaning.

In view of this, Zhou Yu surveyed and investigated the generals under his tent one by one. After four months of understanding and observation, he came to an unexpected conclusion.

First of all, the commander of the fourth battalion who went with the army this time is worth pondering. Among the four commanders, Zhao Yun is the first, who has another identity. Li Xian is his brother-in-law and Li Xian's eldest brother-in-law. The second is Ma Chao, the commander of Longxiang Camp. In addition to his official position, Ma Chao is Li Li's eldest brother-in-law, and he also has an extremely close relative relationship with Li Xian. The last one is veteran Huang Zhong, who is the only commander of the commander of the fourth battalion who has no relative relationship with Li Xian, and only obeys the orders of the lord Li Li.

It is not difficult to see from this that three of the four main battle camps were obedient to Li Xian. If there was a disagreement between Zhou Yu and Li Xian and no one could convince anyone, then Zhou Yu could not command the troops of the three battalions at all, and he, the commander of the three armies, would become a puppet in name only.

Secondly, Zhou Yu found that Li Xian had not led the army to the war for a long time. This was the first time he led the army to the war after many years, and he also served as the first deputy commander. This means that Li Xian, who was hiding behind the scenes, finally came out again. There was no need to stay behind.

Why is this?

The reason is very simple. In the past, the reason why he stayed in the rear was because Li Li had no children or the children were too young, or the territory was very small, and the strategic depth was extremely limited. This required the rear to be stable. A strong arm would guard the rear for him. However, now Li Li's children are growing up, and his eldest son Li Hao is now seven years old. He is already sensible. In addition, Li Li's rule over more and more prefectures and counties, and his territory is getting bigger and bigger. He already has a broad enough strategic depth and the rear is relatively stable. There is no need to be guarded at all times. In this way, Li Xian was freed and could be placed on duty and guard one side.

It is precisely because of these two reasons that Zhou Yu finally concluded that the head coach who went to Yizhou this time should have been Li Xian, but Li Xian has been dormant for many years and has not had enough prestige in the army. I am afraid he cannot control more than 100,000 troops; this requires a new head coach to take over the army, but in fact he assisted Li Xian from the side to help him capture Yizhou. After conquering Yizhou, Li Xian will be the one who will be in charge of Yizhou in the future, so he needs to make contributions in this battle. He lays a solid foundation for the subsequent guard of Yizhou and establishes prestige in the minds of the people of Yizhou.

After listening to Zhou Yu's brief explanation of pinching his head and tail, Lu Meng suddenly realized and finally knew why Zhou Yu had tolerate Li Xian repeatedly and why he did not hesitate to demoting his identity and establishing prestige for Li Xian.

"Since that's the case, why did the lord choose the governor to serve as the chief commander without any other generals? Also, since the governor has long known that the real purpose of this expedition is to assist the general, why should he accept the appointment? Why not resign and let the lord choose another person?" It is obvious that Lu Meng was speaking up for Zhou Yu and was quite resentful in his heart. Therefore, his words were quite fierce, and he revealed that he was quite dissatisfied with Li Li's nepotism, and he believed that doing so was unfair and unfair to Zhou Yu.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Zhou Yu shook his head disapprovingly and said with a smile: "Zi Ming doesn't know. The reason why the lord asked me to assist the general is because I also need a big victory to justify myself. On this point, the needs of the general and the general are consistent. The general needs to lay the foundation for the future of Yizhou, and I need to use this victory to wash away the shame of Jizhou's defeat and return to the position of commander of the three armies."

"Uh!" Lu Meng looked surprised and said in confusion: "Didn't the governor just say that this expedition is just to assist the general? In this way, even if he can capture Yizhou in one fell swoop, he is afraid that the general will be the general's contribution after the war will be all the general. What can the governor get from it?" The question was concise and straightforward, but there was no malice. Not only that, it also shows that Lu Meng really thought about Zhou Yu and was really standing on his side.

Zhou Yu smiled softly, and while holding up the teacup, he signaled Lu Meng to drink tea, he smiled slowly and said: "Zi Ming was finally a military general, good at fighting on the battlefield, but he was not aware of the way of becoming an official. Although I assisted the general to go to Yizhou this time, I was the nominal commander of the three armies. That's enough.

After the event was completed, the General naturally made great achievements. Then he took over Yizhou and guarded one side, which was a real benefit. But I gained the glory of conquering Yizhou from it, thereby making up for the mistakes of the defeat in Jizhou before, and repaid the merits and demerits, so as to take over the military power again, and also gain the qualification to take over one side. This is the best of both worlds, and they work together to help each other, and they will benefit each other, and finally each of them will get what they need. Moreover, the General is the lord's younger brother in the end. As a minister, we should obey the lord's orders and assist the general is also a matter of duty. Such a matter of public and private considerations, why not do it if we take both the public and private matters into consideration?"

"So that's it! I will understand, thank you for your teachings." Lu Meng suddenly realized.

Just at this moment, after drinking a pot of tea, the two of them immediately got up and left the backyard. The personal guards were ready to go and waited outside the mansion for a long time. It was already evening, and it was the time when the army set off for war.

————To be continued————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

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Chapter completed!