On the South Gate Tower.

Li Li narrowed his eyes slightly with a calm expression, stared at the city with a railing, silently watching, as if he was thinking.

Behind him, Xu Huang, who was running up the city tower hurriedly, was stopped by Teng Xiao, and then the two walked to the corner and whispered in a low voice.

"Ah! This, the last general is afraid of losing the general's high hopes." On the side corner of the city tower, after Teng Xiao passed on Li Li's words to Xu Huang, Xu Huang was quite surprised and whispered in fear.

Teng Xiao smiled slightly and waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty doesn't have to be like this. The lord has always been aware of people, but has not made any mistakes so far. Let me tell you this, any civil servants and military generals appreciated by the lord must be entrusted with important tasks. If you don't doubt people, you will not doubt people. You may not know that many generals in our army have been promoted by the lord recently; there are several people in front of you: Xu Ding, Xu Gu, the captain He Yi, the right military advisor Guo Jia, etc., all of them are like this.

In addition, there are also the new General Zhou Yu of Anbei, Lu Su, the governor of Bingzhou, Xu Chu, Chen Dao and He Man, and the same. These generals and civil officials were recruited by the lords recently and were immediately reused. These people performed well and made many military achievements and would be promoted again soon."

Speaking of this, Teng Xiao patted Xu Huang's shoulder and whispered: "Just just now, the lord said that you will be temporarily appointed as General of the Jinqi Guard's Left Army Sima, but this is only a temporary arrangement. As long as you can make new achievements in the next battle, you will be adjusted again. So, don't have any concerns, you can do whatever your lord asks you to do, and ignore other things."

"Uh!" Xu Huang was stunned when he heard this and hesitated: "The last general was not even the county government soldiers before, but now he has been suddenly transferred to the lord's personal guards to serve. This is too sudden and unbelievable."

Teng Xiao shook his head and laughed: "Gongming, it seems that you really know nothing about your lord's behavior, so you feel that something suddenly happens and you are skeptical. Then let me tell you, today. The lord's words are all done, and he will do what he does. Although he is not the emperor, it is more effective than the emperor's imperial edict. In my Xiliang army, the lord is the supreme existence in the minds of the soldiers of the entire army. Every word he says must be strictly enforced and no one can question it. He must not disobey the military order, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

Therefore, no matter what the general appointed by the lord himself is, and what he has done before, the soldiers will readily obey it. They will never lie to criticize the lord's military orders. Therefore, your worries are redundant. In the future, you only need to live up to the lord's lord's lord's lord and do your best to do what the lord ordered."

The topic suddenly changed, and Teng Xiao smiled and said, "As for the Hedong County soldiers you were in before, they have not been included in our army's sequence. They are not under the name of the county government soldiers. In the words of the lord, they are scattered soldiers who manage daily public security. At present, our army has more than 400,000 soldiers and horses in name, but in fact only half of the soldiers and horses actually included in the main battle camp sequence, and the rest are all incorporated into the county government soldiers.

However, in this battle of Sili, the lord initiated a large number of county government soldiers to participate in the war, and after the war, it will definitely be reorganized and expanded the infantry camp. Therefore, there will be great changes at that time. Many generals will be transferred from the original military camp, and correspondingly there will be a large number of generals who will get the opportunity to be independent. I hope you can seize the opportunity and take the lead in the future, leading a battalion of troops, not only to make achievements for yourself, but also to conquer the world for the lord!"

Teng Xiao's words were heart-warming and unreservedly revealed. This moved Xu Huang very much, and his gratitude was hard to express.

"Xu Huang never forgets the general's kindness of his grace and will not forget him. I will repay him in the future." Xu Huang said with an excited expression.

Teng Xiao shook his head gently and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is wrong. Actually, I did nothing, it was just a matter of raising my hands. The person who really had the kindness of knowing you was not me, but my lord. In the future, you just have to do your best to be loyal to your lord. As for the saying of repaying your kindness, you should not mention it again. Otherwise, I, Teng Xiao, will not become a villain who only seeks profit? Hahaha!"

After saying that, Teng Xiao waved his hand and signaled that Xu Huang didn't need to say much, and then took Xu Huang into the city tower and walked gently to Li Li.

"Lord, Xu Huang is here."

Hearing Teng Xiao’s report, a smile appeared on Li Li’s calm face, and he slowly turned around and waved his hand to signal Teng Xiao not to be polite.

"The last general Xu Huang pays homage to his lord!" Just as Li Li turned around, Xu Huang leaned over and knelt down and bowed.

Li Li walked to Xu Huang, reached out to help him up, and smiled and said, "Gongming was calm and calm, extremely brave, saved Wang Fang, fought against the enemy generals Huang Gai and Cheng Pu, and defeated them. I just saw these things, and killed the general and made great contributions to our army, greatly boosting the morale of our army. Such a talent was buried in the county soldiers before, and it was actually a pearl covering the dust. This is my fault."

"The lord is so serious that I can't bear to be so ashamed." Xu Huang's cheeks were slightly red, he bent to respond, and then looked up at Li Li.

"Ah!" When Xu Huang saw this, he was shocked and could hardly believe his eyes. He never expected that the legendary omnipotent General Li Li was so young, handsome, smiling, as sunny and handsome as a man next door, and approachable. This was inconsistent with the image of Li Li as he imagined. He once subconsciously thought that Li Li should be a serious person with a cold expression, a mature and majestic young man. However, when he actually saw Li Li himself, he realized that he was a big mistake. Although he knew that Li Li was not old, he instinctively ignored his age, so that the person he imagined was not as good as Li Li in front of him.

"Do I look very young, completely different from the image of the lord in Gongming's mind?" Li Li asked with a laugh when he saw Xu Huang's expression full of surprise.

Xu Huang's expression changed when he heard the sound, he immediately bowed to salute and said frankly: "The lord's eyes are as sharp as a torch, and Mo Jiang is indeed a little surprised. I didn't expect that the lord is so young and handsome."

"Hahaha!" Li Li was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then laughed happily, helping Xu Huang up, and laughed: "Gongming, you are the first general to praise me in person! If someone else said this, I would think he was deliberately flattering me, but this sentence came out of your Xu Huang's mouth. I think it is the truth and pleasant."

After saying that, seeing Xu Huang bowing again, Li Li grabbed him and laughed: "Gongming doesn't have to be polite. Today, we will meet for the first time, and we don't know each other yet. In the future, you will know who I, Li Li. By the way, is the injury on Gongming's back important?"

"Thank you for your concern, lord, it will be fine." Xu Huang replied in response.

Li Li nodded and said, "It's good that this is good. I believe Yunlong has told you that from now on, you will be Sima of the Left Army of the Jinqi Guard. I obey Zicheng's order. I don't know what Gongming's intention is?"

"No!" Xu Huang bowed to accept the order, then seemed to think of something, with a little hesitant expression, as if he was hesitant.

"It's okay to talk about Gongming," Li Li said with a smile.

Xu Huang was slightly surprised when he heard this, and then said respectfully: "Lord, the former general had a battalion of troops, of which more than 300 were followed by the former general for many years. He was in love with his brothers. Now the former general was appreciated by the lord and was able to enter the Jinqiwei. I wonder what they will do in the future?"

Li Li nodded slightly and laughed: "Gongming values ​​love and righteousness, he is a true man! However, whether your soldiers can enter the Jinqiuwei depends on whether they have excellent skills. If they are qualified to enter the Jinqiuwei, I allow you to join them in the personal army; if they are not capable, they will be included in the county government soldiers. Zicheng will follow you to the camp for assessment, and Yunlong is responsible for the aftermath. What does Gongming think?"

"Thank you for your accomplishment!" Xu Huang bowed to thank him with joy.

"Well, Gong Ming is injured, go down and rest." Li Li said with a smile.

Xu Huang looked surprised and said respectfully: "The battle is about to begin. How can I stay out of trouble? Please allow Mo Zheng to stay and defend the city!"

Li Li smiled and nodded and said, "Well, since Gongming insisted on doing this, then stay!"

After saying that, Li Li slowly turned around and walked to the city tower, watching the battle between Ma Chao and Sun Ce in front of the city.

At this time, Guo Jia, who had never spoken, whispered to Li Li: "I underestimated Sun Ce before, mistakenly thinking that he was a brave but not a resourceful person. Now it seems that this is not the case. He was just now inciting trouble in public in front of the two armies, trying to draw some secrets from General Ma Chao's mouth. Unexpectedly, Ma Chao didn't want to talk to him at all. He didn't talk much, and fought again without saying a few words. However, Sun Ce was really amazing. He could fight with General Ma Chao for 40 rounds without a winner. Judging from his posture, this posture could support at least dozens of rounds. From this point of view, Sun Ce is really a brave and resourceful person, and he should not be underestimated!"

"Oh, what happened?" Li Li was stunned when he heard the sound. After thinking for a while, he chuckled: "Sun Ce and his father Sun Jian have extremely similar personalities. The father and son have fought side by side for several years. Therefore, Sun Jian has a great influence on Sun Ce, which is almost deeply rooted and difficult to change. Sun Bofu is arrogant by nature and proud to his bones, but arrogance does not mean that he lacks wisdom, nor is he an impulsive and reckless person. But he has a fatal flaw, that is, he would rather break than bend, and he would not bow to anyone except his biological parents. Because of this, he had encountered walls everywhere before, so he had nowhere to settle down and had to surrender to Yuan Shu.

However, this son is definitely not a person who is inferior. He has always been obsessed with inheriting Sun Jian's last wish, seizing Jiangdong, and establishing a hegemony. It just makes me wonder that Yuan Shu has always been stingy and has taken good care of Sun Ce. Why did he hand over 20,000 troops to Sun Ce and lead his troops to join the alliance? This move is not like Yuan Shu's style of dealing with things. When did he become so generous?"

After hearing this, Guo Jia's brows moved slightly, and when his mind turned sharply, a sudden look flashed in his eyes. Then he asked softly: "Has the lord ever heard of Sun Jian's attack on Luoyang Palace to find the imperial seal?"

"Huh?" Li Li responded in shock, and immediately remembered a memory that was thrown behind him. The key word was the imperial seal that fell into the hands of the Sun family and son. However, this matter was silent with Sun Jian's death, and no one mentioned this matter again in recent years. It was because of this that Li Li threw this matter behind him, and he did not associate Sun Ce with the imperial seal together for a while.

"The meaning of Fengxiao is that the reason why Sun Ce was able to get 20,000 troops from Yuan Shu this time was that he used the imperial seal he exchanged for Sun Jian's life to mortgage it to Yuan Shu, thus borrowing these troops?"

"That's right!" After hearing Li Li's inquiry, Guo Jia nodded and then sneered: "With Jiujiang Yuan Shu's human nature, don't say 20,000 soldiers and horses. Even if it is 2,000 soldiers and horses, he will not hand them over to Sun Ce. Because he did not trust Sun Ce at all, he did not trust the old subordinates left after Sun Jian's death. He was wary of Sun Ce and others everywhere, for fear that they would rebel again. Therefore, if Sun Ce wanted to get troops from Yuan Shu, he had to take out something that made Yuan Shu's heart moved so that he could get what he wanted. Sun Ce is currently living under someone's roof and protecting himself is not enough, so there is no valuable thing to give to Yuan Shu. Therefore, Sun Ce still has this army in his hands now, and there is only one explanation, that is, he presented the jade seal to Yuan Shu, thus getting some soldiers.

In addition, a jade seal alone may not be worth 20,000 people. Although Sun Ce was very happy, Yuan Shu would not be willing to let it go. Therefore, the reason why Sun Ce could bring 20,000 yuan was probably Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others who repeatedly urged Yuan Shu to send troops to join the alliance. Yuan Shu was upset by their urging, but he was not easy to refuse. At this time, Sun Ce was willing to offer the opportunity to pass on the imperial seal in exchange for the opportunity to lead the alliance. With such a match between the two, Sun Ce could get 20,000 people from Yuan Shu to join the alliance."

Li Li nodded happily and said, "Twenty thousand people, there are not many people who say too much, and there are not many people who say too little. Even if Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others are not satisfied, they can't find an excuse to accuse Yuan Shu. This is Yuan Shu's usual style!

When Chenliu met in the past, Yuan Shu brought 20,000 troops to the alliance, and got a position as the deputy leader of the alliance, responsible for the food and grass of the alliance. As a result, most of the food and grass deducted were obtained by Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shu himself became slutty, which made all the princes extremely dissatisfied with him. Therefore, if nothing unexpected happened, Yuan Shu would never come to the alliance again, so as not to be used by Yuan Shao again.

As the saying goes, there is nothing difficult in the world, I am afraid that there are people who are determined to send troops. Yuan Shu, who made up his mind to not send troops, was interfered by Sun Ce in the middle of the journey, and he used a stone to exchange for 20,000 soldiers and horses from Yuan Shu. The jade seal of the country was exactly what Yuan Shu liked. After being stimulated, Sun Ce finally got his idea, two years ahead of schedule!”

"Two years? What does the lord mean by two years?" Guo Jia asked in surprise.

"Uh!" Li Li woke up when he heard the sound and smiled vaguely: "Nothing. What I mean is that if we were given two more years, we would not be as passive as we are now."

"Oh, so that's it." Guo Jia nodded happily and said thoughtfully: "What the lord said is right. Now we have just solved the problem of insufficient food and grass. We have a lot of money. If we have two years to prepare, we can build more sophisticated weapons and armor, equip the entire army, and even expand 100,000 more troops. By then, even if the princes of the Central Plains unite, we can defeat them head-on, and then lead the Central Plains and sweep the states.

It’s a pity that the facts can’t be as satisfactory. Although our army is not much smaller than the Allied forces, our military reserves are obviously insufficient. We don’t have the advantage in confronting the head-on battle with the Allied forces in Sili, and even if we win, it will be more than worth the loss. Our own casualties are too great and we are still unable to capture the Central Plains states. Instead, we will leave Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others the opportunity to catch up. Because of this, our army will retreat again and again this time to avoid facing the head-on battle with the Allied forces, take the opportunity to drag them down and lose them, and then rely on the Xiongguan natural barrier to defeat the Allied forces in one fell swoop and win the final victory. Only in this way can our army’s casualties be minimized and preserve their strength for the subsequent competition for the Central Plains."

After hearing this, Li Li nodded happily, but in fact he was smiling bitterly in his heart. In fact, the two years he just mentioned meant that Sun Ce used the imperial seal to borrow troops from Yuan Shu, which should have happened two years later, but now it has been two years ahead of schedule, which has completely changed history and completely changed from the history in Li Li's memory. It was also from the beginning of this Central Plains Alliance that the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty that Li Li knew was completely overturned, and everything that happened afterwards would become unpredictable and confusing. The only thing that remains unchanged is that the heroes of all the princes were still those familiar to Li Li.

But what Li Li didn't expect was that after hearing the word "two years", Guo Jia actually analyzed the situation so thoroughly, and even said in front of the generals a general a general the strategy of responding to the enemy in this battle of Sili. This made Li Li smile bitterly, and he was a little worried that the consequences would be unimaginable. Fortunately, the generals on the city tower were Li Li's confidant generals, and the only general who was either a confidant was Xu Huang, who had just joined his command.

The reason why Li Li kept Xu Huang by his side was that his true intention was to facilitate his observation of his character and character. Although Xu Huang was a loyal and righteous person in history, Li Li still believed in his eyes more. After all, hearing is better than seeing him. If he knows someone, he must observe his actions. Until he truly confirmed that Xu Huang was sincerely loyal to him, Li Li would entrust him with important tasks and regarded him as a trusted general who could entrust major events.

This is not because Li Lisheng is suspicious, but because the world is chaotic. Everyone is adjusting their position as the times change. People's hearts are unpredictable in the troubled times, and history has changed. Who can be sure that those who created this history will not change accordingly. Therefore, with a cautious attitude, Li Li usually keeps the newly recruited main generals by his side, which not only makes them feel highly valued, but also makes it easier for Li Li to observe his personality nearby, and understand his talents and flaws. Then, because of the application, he arranges him in the position where he can best display his talents.

Why not do such a good thing?

Because of this, most of the generals of the Western Liang army came from the Jinqiwei, and were all appointed as generals and marquis, and were highly valued.

In fact, not only Li Li is like this, but everyone in the world is like this; leaders choose their confidants first, and ordinary people will also choose people with good relationships with them to entrust big things. No matter how things change in the world or how dynasties change, people have the same heart and the same reason.

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