In the central army's tent, the lights swayed and flashed.

At the corner of the handsome desk, a scent of incense burner smoked, emitting a faint fragrance.

The personal soldiers cooked a pot of hot tea again, presented fragrant tea to the five generals in the tent in turn, and then bowed to leave.

"Actually, I know what Uncle Cheng and Uncle Huang said. I had already found out three days ago." Sun Ce said with a smile on his face after taking a sip of tea.

"Ah! The young master had known the facts of the defenders in Dongyuan City for a long time?" Cheng Pu and others were shocked when they heard the sound.

Sun Ce gently put down the teacup and nodded for sure, "Yes, I have known for a long time that these defenders are all chaotic and vulnerable, and are by no means the main force of the Xiliang army under the command of Li Zhe. Everyone knows that Xiliang is bitter and cold, and the Sili counties are even more tragic in wars. However, many people may not realize that the current three prefectures of Xiliang are completely different from three years ago. In three years, when the princes of the Central Plains and the states and counties in the world are expanding their territory. When recruiting soldiers, the three prefectures of Xiliang were stable and peaceful, and swords were entering the warehouse to rest and recuperate. Therefore, the Central Plains and Jiangnan are now getting poorer and poorer, and the markets are getting worse and worse, but the three prefectures of Xiliang are getting better and better and prosperous.

Two or three years is not long, nor is it short. Within three years, the world collapsed, wars rose everywhere, countless cities and villages fell to ashes, but countless cities quietly rose up. This is the case with Sili, and the entire Xiliang area was like this. Just over two years is enough to help the people of the three prefectures of Xiliang get rid of the dilemma of hunger and food, and then rebuild their homes, rely on themselves, and have enough food and clothing. Therefore, we will encounter so many young and strong people this time picking up their shovels to be enemies with us, because in their eyes, we are here to take away their homes and destroying their hard-won good days."

Sun Ce's words were undoubtedly the key point and said it was not bad at all, but Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others were very surprised. They seemed to know Sun Ce for the first time, with shocked expressions on their faces, as if they could not believe their glasses and ears. They suddenly felt like dreams.

All this seems abrupt, but it is not surprising, because Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others have not been with Sun Ce for more than half a year. Half a year is enough for a person to reflect on many things, summarize the lessons of previous failures, and re-plan their future path. This is how Sun Ce is.

Since Sun Jian's death, the seventeen-year-old Sun Ce has shouldered the burden left by his father, not only taking care of the family, but also taking on the livelihood of thousands of tribes. During this period, he led his troops to fight with Liu Biao in Jingzhou, captured Huang Zu alive and exchanged Sun Jian's body, and then returned to Jiangdong to bury his deceased father. Later, he was excluded by the Jiangdong gentry and had nowhere to settle down. He had to lead his troops to join Tao Qian in Xuzhou for a temporary residence. Later, because of his unclear affairs, Tao Qian discovered that he secretly recruited soldiers and secretly made friends with famous scholars in Guangling. He was then expelled by Tao Qian and forced to defect to Yuan Shu.

However, Yuan Shu was a cunning man, far from Tao Qian's temptation. After sheltering Sun Ce, Yuan Shu immediately broke up Sun Jian's old subordinates and isolated Sun Ce with Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others. Except for the promotion to the tent, it was almost difficult for them to meet. Since then, Yuan Shu has repeatedly sent Sun Ce to lead troops to fight, so that he has been leading troops for a long time without taking off his horse and armor, and has almost no spare time. This time, he led troops to the Hanoi Alliance to join the alliance was the opportunity to lead troops at a great price. Perhaps this was also his only chance to turn things around. If he missed the opportunity to lead the army alone, he would never think of turning things around in his life, let alone bring fame and fortune, because he gave all his greatest reliance to Yuan Shu, which was equivalent to taking a desperate bet, and if he failed, he would be successful and had no way out.

Many things in the world are forced out. As a last resort, no one will take a gamble or try hard.

This is what Sun Ce was like. Originally, he wanted to lie dormant under Yuan Shu for two years, secretly accumulating strength. Waiting for the right time to leave Yuan Shu and support his troops. However, Li Li's secret trip to Yangzhou touched him, making him unable to sleep day and night after hearing this, and seriously thought about his future prospects for the first time. Then the news came that his good friend Zhou Yu joined Li Li, which shocked Sun Ce. He was lost for many days, as if he had lost his parents. Until now, he could not accept this fact, and he still subconsciously believed that it must be caused by Li Li hostage Zhou Yu, otherwise how could Zhou Yu, who was sympathetic with him, join Li Li?

At the same time, Zhou Yu was held hostage by Li Li to a great extent, making him clearly realize that he must become stronger as soon as possible and must have his own territory, otherwise he would not even be able to protect his relatives and friends. At this moment, he learned about the alliance of the princes of the Central Plains, and Yuan Shu was also invited. So he immediately went to volunteer to fight. Unfortunately, Yuan Shu had no idea of ​​participating in the alliance, but instead made up his mind to sit in the mountains and watch the tiger fight, and was unwilling to interfere in the war in the Central Plains.

This made Sun Ce feel disheartened and secretly resentful. He cursed Yuan Shu's ancestors for the eighteen generations, but still could not solve the practical problems. Without Yuan Shu's approval, Sun Ce would have no right to mobilize one army and one soldier. How could he have an alliance without troops?

During this period, Sun Ce also thought of following the example of Liu, Guan and Zhang, the three brothers, and then abandoned this idea. Back then, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei went to the alliance with three horses, fought desperately, and won a huge reputation, but in the end they still gained nothing and returned empty-handedly. This was not the result Sun Ce wanted. He wanted to become famous in one fell swoop, but he wanted to win both fame and fortune, and then achieve a hegemony. If he wanted to achieve his wish, he had to have a military force, and he wanted to borrow military force from Yuan Shu who was as stingy as a rat, which was utterly dreamy and whimsical.

As the saying goes: I can’t bear to leave my children and can’t catch the wolf, and I can’t catch the hooligan without cuckolding.

Therefore, Sun Ce was able to borrow 20,000 troops from Yuan Shu this time, so great that every time Sun Ce thought of this, he would grit his teeth and make a "crack" sound. In addition, fortunately, Yuan Shao had the same efforts to urge him one by one, otherwise Yuan Shu would not have given him 20,000 troops so generously.

At such a huge price, if Sun Ce still didn't know how to cherish the hard-earned soldiers and horses in his hands and rushed and beat him hard, then he would have lived in vain and would have no face to meet his deceased father Sun Jian after his death, because the things he mortgaged to Yuan Shu were the priceless treasures that Sun Jian had earned with his life.

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After a while, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai slowly came to their senses, turned to their faces and showed joy, and their eyebrows were filled with relief.

Sun Jian said before that if a prince only wants to expand his territory, only has gentry and famous scholars in his eyes, but does not care about the hardships and life and death of the people; then he will be strong for a while and will not last long and will be destroyed by other princes sooner or later.

At that time, Cheng Pu and the other four did not really understand what Sun Jian wanted to say. Until Liu Bei took over the six counties of Xuzhou for nothing, they finally figured it out. It turned out that what Sun Jian said was: Those who win the hearts of the people will win the world. This proverb was not the first to Sun Jian. As early as the beginning of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty four hundred years ago, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang did this, but he did not put forward the banner and his words were not condensed, but the meaning was the same.

Now, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai are happy that the young master Sun Ce finally understood this truth, which means that he already has the attitude of a lord and at least has this potential. As long as Sun Ce uses his troops to grab a piece of territory, he can develop rapidly until he truly becomes a prince, and then separate the country and achieve a hegemony. This is the long-cherished wish of Cheng Pu and the other two for a long time. Since Sun Jian died unexpectedly, they have been desperate at that time and feel that there is darkness ahead and that their life has been completely destroyed. Unexpectedly, four years later, Sun Ce actually borrowed troops from Yuan Shu and finally had hope of making a comeback.

What is most gratifying is that Sun Ce actually understood what the overlords of the princes need the most and what the biggest reliance is, which is the heart of the people, or the support of the people. For the overlords of the princes, fame and fortune are not enough, and famous scholars and wise ministers are not the most important. The most important thing is to win the recognition and trust of the people. Only in this way can the person gain a firm foothold and grow step by step.

Any founding emperor must care about the sufferings of the people and pay attention to the people. Only in this way can he win the support of the people, his foundation will be more stable, and he will eventually seize the country. As for civil officials and military generals, they also come from the people, and the clans and famous scholars are a small number of people after all, and they cannot represent the vast majority of ordinary people.

Sun Ce understood this truth at a young age, and realized that the use of aristocratic families was not the foundation of great cause. This shows that he had extraordinary knowledge, lofty ambitions, and broad minds were no longer limited to the people and things in front of him. Only such a person can truly achieve hegemony. In the eyes of Cheng Pu and Huang Gai, Sun Ce was like this.

"The young master is extremely talented, and I really admire him. I am so ecstatic!" After calming down, Cheng Pu Laohuai sighed with relief.

Huang Gai continued: "Yes! I always thought that the young master was young and energetic. Sometimes I didn't listen to advice at all, for fear that the young master would follow the old path of the old master Gongsun Jian. Now it seems that I am too worried. The young master is smart and wise, has good plans, and is confident. This is really a blessing for us!"

Cheng Pu, Han Dang and Zu Mao nodded happily and praised Sun Ce for his young talent. He will surely achieve great things in the future and realize Sun Jian's last wishes.

While happy, Cheng Pu asked with a laugh, "So, we don't need to dissuade us. The young master has long planned to garrison the troops to rest. After Yuan Shao's army arrives, will he join forces to attack Dongyuan City?"

"No, we will attack Dongyuan City tomorrow!" Sun Ce shook his head slightly and said with a firm expression.

"What? Do you still have to continue to attack the city?" Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were shocked when they heard this, and exclaimed in unison.

Sun Ce smiled and nodded, saying affirmatively: "Yes, continue to attack the city. As we all know, Dongyuan City is the last barrier in front of the Anyi camp. Only by capturing this city, even if we achieve most of the purpose of this alliance, it will be worthy of the world!

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