Jicheng County Magistrate's Office.

In the lobby, Li Li, Li Xuan and Li Ru laughed happily, and laughter filled every corner, endlessly circling the beams and lasting for a long time.

Seeing that the lord Li Li agreed to grant official positions to various princes, Li Xuan and Li Ru couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and waited for Li Li's next instructions with a smile on his face.

Sitting at the first place on the left side of the lobby, Li Li was calm and smiled and analyzed the princes who had paid tribute to the court one by one, and told the story in a casual manner.

"Liu Biao in Jingzhou is quite a kind of elder, with both reputation and talent, and is always famous. Since he introduced Jingzhou, the counties and counties in Jingxiang have been quite rich, with few wars, more than 100,000 troops, and are of great strength. He has firmly controlled the overall situation of Jingzhou. In addition, he is old, but his descendants are young and have little ambitions, and he has the intention of guarding Jingxiang and enjoying glory. Therefore, the court can entrust him to the General of Zhennan and the Governor of Jingzhou, and also to the Marquis of Chengwu, Kaifu, and a vassal. In addition, his eldest son Liu Qi is appointed as the General of the Central Army and the Marquis of Guannei, and the Lord of the Alliance is considered a reward for me!

Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, has been in charge of Xuzhou for four or five years. He has a stable foundation and is generous and polite. He is very popular among the people of Xuzhou. In addition, he is over 70 years old and has little ambition. He only wants to stay in Xuzhou and spend his old age. Moreover, his two sons have no talent. Since this, he was granted the title of General Andong, the governor of Xuzhou, and the title of Marquis of Liyang, and the title of Marquis of Kaifu. The sons of Liu Biao in Jingzhou have been granted the title of title, and the general cannot favor one or the other, and look at others differently. Therefore, Tao Qian's two sons were granted the title of General of the Central Army, and both were granted the title of Marquis of Guannei.

Yuan Shao, Jizhou, was worried about his Yuan family's family's former family members and officials all over the world, so he let him go. He did not expect that it would become a climate now. However, this person should not be underestimated. He has a prominent family background. The Yuan family, who was born in four generations and three dukes, was deeply supported by the Yuan clan. Now he has seized Jizhou, the most densely populated prefecture and county in the Han Dynasty. He was the general of the chariot and cavalry, and the governor of Jizhou, who was arrogant and did not take the imperial court seriously. He actually coveted the position of the general.

It’s a pity that I, Li Li, is not Dong’s prime minister. Dong Zhuo is concerned about his identity as the eldest son of the Yuan family and gives him three-point shame in everything, but I don’t have to look at his face. Therefore, he doesn’t have to worry about the position of the general. He can never succeed in recent years. The court can enthrone him as General of the Cheqi and Cavalry, the governor of Jizhou, and grant him what he has already obtained, which is worthy of the little money he paid for. In addition, he was granted the title of Marquis of Han Shouting; he could have given him a title comparable to the Three Dukes, but this person was too arrogant, so he could only enthrone him as Marquis of Ting. If he felt that he was disgraced, then he could enthrone himself as a title. Is this what he was best at?

Gongsun Zan of Youzhou was not very strong, but his reputation was very good. The reputation of the White Horse General was well-known, and I heard it in Xiliang. Therefore, the court appointed him as General Fenwu, Marquis Yi, who was in charge of war and was in charge of conquest. He made an exception and gave him the power to open a palace. Only in this way can he compete with Yuan Shao and prevent Yuan Shao from plotting against Youzhou.

In addition, Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Du from Liaodong were cousins, and we need to appease him. The court could entrust him to the general of Yamen, the prefect of Liaodong, and the Marquis of Guannei. Like Gongsun Zan, he made an exception and gave him the power to open a palace, so that he could have the control of the conquest and wait for an opportunity to use troops against the barbarians in the northeast.

Yuan Shu of Nanyang and his brother Yuan Shao had a great virtue, and he was very respectful of himself. He also liked to play with power and tricks. He still appointed him as the General of the Later General and was granted the title of Marquis of Yangdi, which was a vain. In addition, he was granted the request from Yuan Shu and appointed Jin Shang as the governor of Yanzhou. When he sent an envoy to convey the edict, he sent me a letter to him. I believe he would be moved after reading it.

Cao Cao of Yanzhou, who was once assassinated by the Prime Minister Dong, became famous in one fell swoop, and then he was the deputy leader of the alliance of princes, and was quite famous. More importantly, this man was a hero and talented in governing the world. The famous scholar Xu Shao once said: "Cao Cao is a capable minister in governing the world and a treacherous hero in troubled times." Since this was the case, he was appointed as General Zhenbei, Governor of Qingzhou, Marquis of Shouting of Han, and found a palace. It didn't matter if he gave Yanzhou to him, but I planned to slap Yuan Shu, give him a red date, and grant Yanzhou to Jin Shang. Therefore, he had to let Cao Cao serve as General Zhenbei, but he gave him the position of General Zhenbei, and still gave him the right to conquer. As for whether he could seize Yanzhou from Jin Shang, it depends on his own ability.

Yanzhou is now entrenched with several lords of not too much strength, including Chenliu Zhang Miao, Lu Bu, Chen Gong and others, which is a good thing. I think Zhang Miao is still the prefect of Chenliu, but he has been granted the title of Marquis of His Duke and appointed Lu Bu as the prefect of Jiyin County. In addition, Lu Bu was the general of the court before, with the position of Bisan Duke. Now the court officially granted him the right to open a prefect of the palace. After all, they all congratulated me, and I cannot say no without expression. Let Zhang Miao and Lu Bu occupy the two counties and take care of each other in order to maintain their territory and have a place to live.

In addition to the above princes, Zhang Yang, Zhang Lu and others will not grant any titles, so that they can give themselves a title. Only in this way can I have the opportunity to use my troops to wipe them out, so that they can know that Li Li is very jealous and will revenge if he has any grudges!

As for the governor of Yizhou, Liu Yan, the court ordered the court to deprive the three dukes of the throne and change them to the Marquis of Han Shouting, and sent envoys to Yizhou to investigate and punish him for his private creation of dragon thrones and using the emperor's ceremonial guards. If he investigated and dealt with clues, he would be deprived of his position as governor of Yizhou and be renamed the governor of Yizhou. If he dared to resist and killed the envoy of the court, he would clearly tell him that I would lead a large army to attack Xichuan soon and be ordered to fight against the thieves!"

"Ah!" Listening to the lord Li Li's imperial decree to the princes, Li Xuan and Li Ru were secretly frightened. When they heard that the lord wanted to deprive Liu Yan of his official title and lead his troops to attack Shu, they could no longer help but scream.

"Could it be that the lord really wants to lead the troops to attack Shu?" Li Xuan asked anxiously in shock.

Li Li laughed disconcertedly and said, "What are you trying to attack? Just scare Liu Yan. This is called giving back to him by his own way! He had provoked me before, but now I'm just bluffing. Hahaha!"

After laughing, Li Li curled his smile and said seriously: "In addition to these powerful princes, among the other county magistrates, everyone who pays tribute to the court should try to meet their reasonable requirements. The official positions that should be given must be given, and even slightly raised, so that they know that Li Li is not a narrow-minded person, but only varies from person to person, and it is not that he is reluctant to enfeoff their official positions.

Now, we in Xiliang are short of everything, but we only need to have as many official positions. As long as they can afford the price, even if they want to buy the position of General and the Three Dukes, I will grant them no hesitation. After all, we don’t need to pay our salary for these official positions, but we just need an imperial edict. Since they are famous and vain, I will fulfill them. Unfortunately, these county magistrates are afraid that their financial resources are limited and they cannot afford to buy too high official positions, otherwise I really want to sell them a Three Dukes!"

After hearing this, Li Xuan and Li Ru looked at each other. They were stunned for a long time, then laughed silently, feeling deeply that the lord's words were rough and not rough, and they hit the essence.

In fact, everything is just as Li Li said.

Today, there are only more than ten princes who really need to be granted by the court, and others do not need them. These princes who need to be granted by the court are all very strong and are already the best among the princes. Therefore, they need to borrow the emperor's edict to rectify their reputation, and then obtain the name of righteousness, and further develop and strengthen their own strength. They can gain a place in the battle for hegemony in the future. As for other small princes such as county magistrates, these people are purely people who are taking advantage of the waters, temporarily seizing money and wealth, but they cannot last long and will be annexed by the great princes sooner or later. By then, there will be only two ways before them, either bowing to the strong or committing themselves.

While thinking, Li Ru gently stroked a pair of black beards two inches long at his jaw. He said respectfully to Li Li: "Report to the lord, my subordinates think that the lord's enthronement just now seems inappropriate to the three people including Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. On the surface, the lord has already enthroned them and given them a high position. In fact, the lord has not enthroned them with the official position they really want. According to the lord's enthronement, the three of them must be extremely dissatisfied with the lord, and even resentful to the lord, and then they are opposed to us everywhere. Since the lord has given them the official position they want to Liu Biao, Tao Qian, Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Du and others, even exceed their expectations, why not appease Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Cao Cao? After all, these three people are the most powerful princes in the Central Plains, with great fame and a certain influence on the situation in the world."

"Hahaha!" Li Li smiled happily after hearing this, "Wenyou was quick-minded and revealed the true intention of his general. The strategy of the pre-Qin period to deal with the six countries in the past was: to get along with far and near. The situation faced by our Xiliang army is very similar to the situation in the past. The only difference is that our army is far above the pre-Qin period and occupy an extremely favorable situation. Therefore, in our relationship with the princes of all parties, we can still adopt the strategy of Qin to deal with the six countries, and have a good relationship with the princes such as Gongsun Du in Liaodong, Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, Tao Qian in Xuzhou, Liu Biao in Jingzhou, but we have given special care to Cao Cao in Yanzhou, Yuan Shao in Jizhou, and Yuan Shu in Nanyang.

This move by our general will naturally anger Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others, and will also have a tense relationship with Zhang Yang, Zhang Lu and Liu Yan, Yizhou and other princes, which is tantamount to making enemies from all sides. In other words, even if we will give them everything they want, they will still be enemies with us, and will always be wary of us, wishing to raise troops to destroy our Xiliang army. Since we can never win them over, we will simply make the entanglements of each other. They want to curb the development and growth of our Xiliang two prefectures, so I will also set some obstacles for them, so that no one can live in peace.

In addition, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, named half-brothers, actually have their own ulterior motives and cannot form a joint force. Moreover, this has one commonality for the Yuan brothers, that is, they are arrogant and arrogant. If I agree to their request this time and grant the position they want, then these two people will not be grateful to me, but will instead prompt them to become more and more unscrupulous, not take the court seriously at all, and will not take me Li Li seriously. They despise me, which is a good thing, which can easily defeat them; it is a pity that I, Xiliang, now needs stability and cannot move troops at will. So I need to shock them and let them know that today is no longer the era where the Yuan family is dominant. It is not that they want to give them whatever they want, but that I, Li Li, will give them whatever they don’t want to give, and even if they send someone to ask for it, they will still not get it!"

After hearing this, Li Xuan and Li Ru nodded in agreement with Li Li's statement. However, they were still worried, with many worries on their faces and their eyes filled with solemnity.

After a while, Li Xuan thought, "The lord's words are thought-provoking and admire them very much. However,, have you ever considered that one day they are likely to join forces to join forces to become enemies with our Xiliang Army? If so, the strength of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Yuan Shu is not weak. Once they join forces, their troops will exceed 500,000, or even more. By then, they will have the strength to wipe out our army, and our Xiliang Army is in a worrying situation!"

"Hahaha!" Li Li laughed loudly and said, "If Yuanzhong's words come true, then I want to see how strong they have united together, whether they have the ability to break through the three passes and fight the decisive battle with our Xiliang army! If they can't even capture the three passes, then get out as soon as possible, why should we embarrass you? With the existing military forces of our Xiliang army, even if they join forces to attack, I will not be afraid. We will definitely defeat them outside the Hangu Pass, and then our army will take down the Central Plains in one go! Unfortunately, they will not unite because no one of them obeys each other. But in this way, it doesn't matter that they will do their own things, but instead we will be afraid to act rashly.

The fists that are shot out are actually not scary. A truly powerful expert often hides his fists. If he doesn't take action, he will definitely knock down his opponent with one punch. This is the case between our Xiliang army and the princes of Guandong. Our army wants to develop and restore people's livelihood, so we must put away the fists and not attack easily. The same is true for the princes. They are also accumulating strength, actively expanding their territory, and recruiting soldiers. Once the time is ripe, or if they are strong to a certain extent, they will inevitably fight to the death with our army. However, they may all overestimate themselves.

In times of troubled times, only the strong can set rules, while the weak can only struggle within the rules. Therefore, whether to fight or not is determined by them, but by me, Li Li, will be the decision! If I want to fight, they will have to fight without fighting, and they will only be beaten passively and strengthen defense and resistance; if I don’t fight, even if they join forces to invade, they will only be a waste of the people and money, and they will be futile and unable to break through our Xiliang Pass!"

Li Li's words were truly bold and ambitious, which made Li Xuan and Li Ru excited and excited.

——————(To be continued)
Chapter completed!