"Yeah." Li Li nodded gently and said frankly: "I have to admit that I did have some misunderstandings about you before, but I didn't expect you to have such a broad mind."

"The general is so serious."

Sun Ce shook his head and said, "It's not that I have a broad mind, but that I must be tolerant to others in order to achieve great things, so that I can win over the wise ministers and generals to my side. If I don't have a bright mind, how can I accomplish this?"

Li Li was stunned when he heard this, and then nodded with consent, saying, "That's true. Since ancient times, those who have accomplished great things must have a mind and demeanor that ordinary people cannot reach, followed by perseverance and ability. Only in this way can a large number of like-minded people work together to plan major events."

After a brief tone, Li Li's tone suddenly turned: "So, it must be of deep meaning to invite me to meet in front of the formation this time. But one thing I want to remind you that at this moment, you are enemies and not friends. Unless you are willing to surrender to me, any unrealistic things will be avoided. Tell me, what are your intentions?"

"The general is quick to speak, which is very suitable for me." Sun Tao's expression changed when he heard the sound. He smiled indifferently and whispered: "I'm not hiding the general, I'm here to ask the general to give me an edict. I wonder if the general can agree?"

"Edict? Hahaha!" Li Li pondered and laughed in surprise: "You want me to give you an edict? How come you have such an idea? Do you think I will give it to you? Why? I hope you can give it to me with a suitable reason, otherwise you will be rude and it is impossible!"

After hearing this, Sun Ce seemed not surprised at all. He turned his head to look at the army behind him and whispered: "I wonder if the 30,000 Baibo Army can make the general tempted? I think it should be worth the money to exchange for so many troops and horses for an edict. I guess the general won't refuse?"

"Oh?" Li Li was slightly stunned, a light flashed in his eyes, and he smiled and said, "It seems that you have planned it a long time ago! But you should know that the Baibo army is nothing to me, Li Li, and can be destroyed by turning your hands. Therefore, this reason is a bit reluctant. You must know that even if you don't betray them today, I can completely wipe them out sooner or later. Besides, whether you can wipe them out all of them in one fell swoop, you have to rely on the soldiers under my command to fight bloody battles. It is not what you said to give me the 30,000 Baibo army."

"So, the general looks down on this little gift? Since that's the case, then forget it. Anyway, Yuan Shao is leading hundreds of thousands of troops behind our army, and it's enough for the general to deal with it at that time." Sun Ce squinted his eyes and chuckled.

Li Li disagreed and said, "It doesn't matter. My Xiliang army is now full of lice and is not afraid of biting. Compared with more than 400,000 allied troops, the 30,000 Baibo army is really not worth mentioning. Killing one is to kill, killing hundreds of thousands of troops is still to kill. There is no essential difference. What do you think?"

"Well, the general is very good." Sun Ce responded happily, and then his tone changed: "But the general seems to be too contemptuous of the Baibo army. I believe the general also knows that there are not only the bandits in the Allied Army this time, but also the 80,000 Heishan Army led by Zhang Yan. They are from the same clan and originated from the same lineage. As the saying goes, the lips are dead and the teeth are cold. Once the Baibo army is completely wiped out, the Heishan Army, which Zhang Yan's troops will inevitably feel sad, and they will inevitably have some concerns when doing things.

In this way, the 30,000 Baibo Army was not just 30,000 troops, but a representative of a large army of more than 100,000 bandits, equivalent to 30% of the Allied Army's troops. This is a great gift, not much less than the 100,000 stones of food and grass given to the general by Liu Biao in Jingzhou. I wonder if the general is still satisfied?"

Li Li's expression was slightly shaking, and his eyes were staring at Sun Ce with bright eyes. The two of them immediately looked at each other and smiled.

Then Li Li nodded slightly and whispered: "You really make me look at you with admiration. It seems that people in the world are blinded by your irritable personality, but they don't know that you have such a strange heart hidden under your reckless appearance. Well, I have accepted your gift. I wonder what kind of edict you want to give you the official position and title of your father during his lifetime?"

Speaking of this, Li Li chuckled and said, "Actually, you don't have to ask for the edict at all. Now all the princes take their own official positions and privately appoint civil and military officials. You can imitate them and just stand up for themselves. Why do you need edicts?"

Sun Ce was slightly stunned when he heard this. He never expected that Li Li would tell such a truth to devalue his identity.

Because Li Li is now the representative of the emperor, once the edict completely loses its effect, it means that the emperor in Li Li's hands is no longer valuable, which is equivalent to weakening Li Li's influence and the overall strength of the Western Liang army. After all, as long as the emperor is in Li Li's hands, the Western Liang army always occupies the name of righteousness. No matter where the army is used, it is famous and justified; vice versa.

After a little thought, Sun Ce smiled indifferently and knew that Li Li was talking nonsense.

There are indeed several princes in the lower side who have owned troops and set up official positions without authorization to reward civil and military generals under their command. However, this is a minority after all, only a handful of princes in Jizhou Yuan Shao, Yanzhou Cao Cao and Jiujiang Yuan Shu. Although most of the princes also have their own troops and do not pay tribute to the court, they dare not set up official positions privately.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that today, most of the princes in the following areas are in charge of the provincial governor, but no one will give them any titles of prefecture or above. For example, Yuan Shao of Jizhou was very dissatisfied with the position of general of chek and cavalry, but he was still the general of chek and cavalry, but he did not dare to usurp the position of general without authorization. Yuan Shao of Jizhou was like this, and other princes did not need to say much. They dared to set up private official positions for their subordinates, but did not dare to increase their titles.

The reason is that apart from the orthodox name of the emperor himself, what made all the princes most afraid of was the powerful deterrence of Li Li and his Xiliang army under him. Therefore, until the chaos in the world, no one dared to be king and dominate, and he placed his official position under Li Li, so as not to be targeted by Li Li and wait for an opportunity to send troops to attack.

After sorting out his thoughts, Sun Ce said respectfully with a smile: "The General is too humble. The reason why the princes of the Central Plains united to fight against the General is because they were overwhelmed by the General. They always felt like a light on their backs, like a thorn in their throats, unable to sleep or eat, and were in a panic all day long. Although they dared to set up official positions and reward them with their subordinates, they did not dare to set up official positions for themselves, which shows how powerful the general's tiger is.

In contrast, my Sun Ce is only a mere lieutenant, and he is also an official position granted by Yuan Shu. Under Yuan Shu, the gentry officials in other prefectures and counties do not recognize them at all, and it is equal to none. To be honest, after this alliance, Sun plans to leave Yuan Shu and return to his hometown in Jiangdong to make a living. If I do not have the emperor's edict in my hand, I will be unable to move forward, and I will be even more likely to be recognized by the local gentry families. Therefore, I beg the general to fulfill his promise and entrust me to the prefect of Yuzhang, and inherit my father, Marquis Wucheng!"

"Prefect Yuzhang?" Li Li looked stunned and pondered: "I remember Ling Zun Sun Jian should have been the prefect of Changsha before. Why do you want to be the prefect of Yuzhang? Do you want to govern across the river from Yuan Shu and dominate Jiangdong?"

"This, the general is very proud of Sun Ce." Sun Ce's expression changed and said humbly: "I am not afraid that the general will laugh. I still have no place to stand. I have borrowed more than 10,000 people under my command. In addition, money, grain and weapons are even scarce. Therefore, if I can seize a place to stand, I will be satisfied. How dare I hope to dominate Jiangdong? I also ask the general to fulfill it and issue an edict at my request!"

"Hahaha!" Li Li narrowed his eyes and stared at Sun Ce's dodging gaze, and smiled: "Actually, you don't need to hide it, and there is no need to deceive me. You can speak it out openly. If you want to seize Jiangdong and become a prince, how can you hide this thought from me?"

"Uh!" Sun Ce responded in surprise: "The general is as insightful as a general, Sun Ce is ashamed."

At this moment, Sun Ce's attitude was very low, with a rather submissive attitude, which was completely different from his arrogant look that he was angry and angry before.

This is really a person who is under the roof and has to bow his head. He now seeks Li Li, and the grand and hegemony he has been looking forward to in his heart is placed on an edict. Although he has more than 10,000 people in his hands, he has not accumulated money and grain, nor has he famous enough. If there is no imperial edict for the emperor, it would be difficult to achieve anything with the few people in his hands alone. However, once he has an imperial edict for the emperor, it would be completely different. The army is famous and justified. There is no worry that most of the gentry in Jiangdong will not support him.

Only in this way can we achieve success.

It’s a pity that Sun Ce’s humble attitude against his will was really clumsy, and he could not escape Li Li’s eyes at all. He could see through his disguise at first glance. This is because of Sun Ce’s nature. He was not a humble person, and he would rather fail than surrender. But at this moment, in order to achieve his long-awaited grand career, he had to bow to Li Li and flatter him with kind words in order to get his long-cherished wish.

Looking at Sun Ce's humble expression of a forced smile, a cold light flashed across Li Li's eyes and said in a deep voice: "Now it is the time when our army is in a war with the Allies. If our army is defeated in this battle, what's the use of me even if I give you an edict? I wonder if you have considered this section?"

When Sun Ce heard this, his eyebrows jumped twice, looked up at Li Li, and said, "Since the general is asking, I will tell the truth. I hope the general will not blame him for any inappropriate words."

"It's okay to speak out." Li Li nodded slightly and responded.

Sun Ce nodded slightly and said frankly: "If the general is defeated in this battle, the general will definitely face a disaster and will be doomed; but the emperor is still the emperor, and the edict is still valid. After all, no matter which princes the emperor falls into, he still uses the emperor to order the princes. The world still follows the emperor's edict, and the edict given to me by the general is still counting. This is a heartfelt statement. If there is any rudeness, please be kind and complacent."

"Hahaha! Your words are indeed the truth!" Li Li smiled happily and said, "Since that's the case, I can promise you that everything will be as you wish, and I will give you an edict. But I have a word first. If you still cannot step out of Jiangdong's expansion territory in Jiangbei within ten years, when my army reaches Jiangdong, I hope you can lead the people to surrender to me, and don't resist unnecessary resistance, so as not to get rid of the devastation of the creatures and blood stain the Yangtze River!"

"Within ten years?" Sun Ce narrowed his eyes slightly and said in suspicion.

Li Li nodded slightly and said affirmatively: "Yes, if it is more than ten years, and today's words are invalid, you should assume that this is not the case."

"Huh?" Sun Ce frowned and pondered, then looked at Li Li for a moment, and said solemnly: "Okay, as you said. From today on, we will make a vow based on ten years. If you can reach the Yangtze River within a specified period, I, Sun Ce, are willing to bow down and surrender; if you cannot, the vow will be invalid, and we will compete on the battlefield!"

"As you wish, it will be limited to ten years!" Li Li agreed happily.

After hearing this, Sun Ce drove his horse to Li Li, stretched out his right hand, and said solemnly: "Since that's the case, you and I will swear to high-fives!"

"Ba,ba,ba!" Seeing this, Li Li stopped talking and stretched out his right hand to slam the high fives with Sun Ce, making an oath.

In this scene, the soldiers of the two armies and the civil and military soldiers of the Xiliang army on the city tower were all stunned. They didn't understand what Sun Ce and Li Li were saying, and why they walked together for no reason and had a great time talking and celebrating each other.

It is true that the swearing of high-fives was Sun Ce's inspiration, but before that there was no such thing as the swearing of high-fives.

However, things are done by man, and before, it does not mean that there is no far away. Once someone takes the lead in doing this, it will slowly follow it. Just like the Three Jewishes in Taoyuan, although there were also those before, it was not popular, but it has quickly spread since the Jewishes in Taoyuan until it was passed down thousands of years later.

However, at this moment, will the oath between Sun Ce and Li Li be fulfilled? Everything is unknown. If the oath is invalid, then the oath of high-five will be submerged in the rain of swords, guns and arrows, and is unknown; if it is fulfilled, it will be a beautiful story passed down from generation to generation.

"The edict will be handed over to you when the first snow this winter is coming. The situation in Yangzhou is chaotic, but it is difficult to capture Jiangdong at this time. I hope you will take care of yourself." Li Li whispered in the end.

Sun Ce nodded softly and said softly: "Thank you for your accomplishment, let's see how the general's soldiers annihilate Bai Bo's army."

After saying that, Sun Ce beat the horse back to the formation, shouting angrily as he walked: "Li thief bullies me too much. When I break through the city, I will see how rampant you are!"

"Sun Ce is so angry. I'm waiting for you to attack. Let's see what you can do to me!" Li Li shouted loudly, and immediately drove the Jinniu Beast King and turned around and ran towards the city gate, quickly disappearing in front of the two armies.

"All the soldiers obey the order!" Sun Ce, who was riding his horse back in front of the formation, raised his overlord gun and ordered sternly: "The left-wing army of Han Xian's troops attacked the west of the city, and the right-wing army of Yang Feng's troops attacked the east of the city. Obey my orders and attack the city!"

"Boom--Kill!"

With Sun Ce's order, more than 30,000 Baibo troops on both sides of the left and right were moved, carrying a ladder on their shoulders, pushing the city-torn cart, and erecting a catapult to attack Dongyuan City.

At this moment, although Han Xian, Yang Feng and Li Le and other Baibo leaders were suspicious, they always felt that Sun Ce and Li Li had a very strange dialogue in front of the formation. Unfortunately, Sun Ce did not leave them time to think, and immediately ordered the siege after returning to the formation. Han Xian and others were forced to establish great achievements and violent and angry tempers that Sun Ce had previously established, and they clearly felt uneasy but did not dare to disobey the orders, so they immediately led the army to attack the siege.

However, they did not know that the entire Baibo army was sold to Li Li by Sun Ce. This rush was equivalent to stepping onto the gate to hell. From then on, life and death were vague, and there was no return.

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