Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

As the army led by Liu Bei was about to reach the gathering place of the Suanzao Alliance, Cao Cao was in the midst of directing his soldiers to construct the high platform to be used for the alliance meeting tomorrow.

When Liu Bei's army approached Suanzao, scouts stationed throughout Suanzao naturally reported the matter in advance.

Upon hearing that another lord was approaching, leading an army of about twenty thousand, Cao Cao was slightly stunned. He quickly put down what he was doing and headed towards the gate of the camp to welcome them.

Twenty thousand might not seem like much.

However, among the lords who had arrived at Suanzao, this number was already among the top, so Cao Cao couldn't help but take it seriously.

As Cao Cao hurried towards the gate, he was still guessing, based on the "Liu" character on the large banner reported by the scouts, which Liu-surname lord in the world would be leading an army of twenty thousand to the alliance.

It wasn't until Cao Cao clearly saw Liu Bei standing on the battlefield, clad in black armor, displaying a dignified and imposing manner, that he suddenly realized.

"Brother Xuande!"

Cao Cao immediately greeted him with a smile, as if the previous conflicts between them in Julu had never happened, appearing warm and delighted.

Liu Bei got off the chariot, cupped his fist in return, and said, "Brother Mengde, I heard of your assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo even when I was far away in Wu Commandery. I didn't expect you to be so courageous. It's a pity you were just a bit short of eliminating the national traitor."

Having received many lords and heard such praise for his "assassination of Dong Zhuo," Cao Cao was already used to it and responded with polite words.

"I didn't expect Brother Xuande to come all the way from Wu Commandery. The distance is more than a thousand miles, which shows your heart for serving the country and eliminating the traitor…"

Suddenly, Cao Cao noticed Li Ji, who had stepped down from the chariot behind Liu Bei. His voice paused involuntarily, and his gaze instinctively shifted from Liu Bei to Li Ji.

Compared to when he was a teenager, Li Ji was now over twenty years old, and his face no longer had any trace of childishness, replaced by a calm and gentle demeanor.

Moreover, Li Ji had grown much taller than before, and his slender figure made him even more elegant.

Noticing Cao Cao's almost undisguisedly fervent gaze, Li Ji raised his eyes to meet Cao Cao's, smiled modestly, and bowed slightly.

"Brother Mengde, are you well?"

Immediately, Cao Cao said, "Zikun, many years since we last met, today we meet again…"

However, before Cao Cao could get a few steps closer to Li Ji, Liu Bei stepped to the side, blocking Cao Cao's line of sight and path towards Li Ji. He then grabbed Cao Cao's wrist and said enthusiastically, "Brother Mengde, the journey was long, and I only arrived at Suanzao today. I often hear the soldiers say that tomorrow is the day for the lords to form an alliance. Please, Brother Mengde, tell me more about the current situation in the Suanzao camp."

Immediately, Cao Cao realized that he had been somewhat失态(shī tài: to lose one's composure).

Even though Cao Cao had never hidden his desire to poach Li Ji, it was obviously not convenient to do so in front of Liu Bei.

In Cao Cao's view, this matter was similar to flirting with another man's wife, so he needed to avoid Liu Bei for the time being in order to have the opportunity to communicate with Li Ji in depth.

"That's natural."

Immediately, Cao Cao secretly glanced at Li Ji out of the corner of his eye before leading Liu Bei and his army into the Suanzao camp to settle down, while introducing the situation of the lords who had already arrived at Suanzao.

Li Ji maintained a calm and gentle smile as he followed behind Liu Bei, listening carefully to what Cao Cao said.

This time, in addition to Liu Yan and Liu Biao, the two governors who did not participate in the original trajectory, a large number of other commandery administrators also responded to Liu Yu's call.

Including the newly arrived Liu Bei, the number of lords who had arrived at Suanzao to participate in the alliance had reached as many as thirty-six.

However, among these thirty-six lords, more than half only led two or three thousand commandery soldiers. Some even temporarily recruited young men and came to the alliance, without even having the qualifications to be stationed in the camp.

Among the major and minor lords divided by Yuan Shao, including Liu Bei, there were exactly eighteen major lords and eighteen minor lords.

"With the power of eighteen major lords and eighteen minor lords combined, that Dong traitor, no matter how fierce he may be, is bound to die!"

When mentioning this matter, Cao Cao's eyebrows unconsciously revealed a bit of excitement.

Liu Bei, hearing that so many people were responding to the call of the Han imperial clan, was equally excited, understanding that the people's hearts were still with the Han.

Immediately, after Cao Cao led Liu Bei to the only remaining place in the camp where he could set up camp, he did not stay any longer, but bid farewell to Liu Bei, nodded to Li Ji from afar, and then wisely prepared to leave first.

After all, Liu Bei had just led his army to arrive, and after a long journey, he needed to quickly set up camp, handle all the trivial matters, and familiarize himself with the camp, so he naturally would not have time to chat with Cao Cao.

However, before leaving, Cao Cao unintentionally noticed a young scholar holding bamboo slips behind Li Ji, seemingly reporting something, which inexplicably made Cao Cao couldn't help but take another look, and his heart also moved slightly.

Especially seeing the scene of Li Ji and that young scholar standing together, what surged in Cao Cao's heart was a strong impulse to bring both of them under his command.

Before leaving, Cao Cao specially asked a centurion under Liu Bei: "Who is that young scholar?"

Afterwards, Cao Cao left with the answer he had just received.

'Yingchuan Guo Fengxiao…'

The news of Liu Bei leading an army of twenty thousand to arrive at the Suanzao Alliance also spread throughout the entire camp in a very short time.

The reactions of the various lords were also different, such as Yuan Shu's contempt, Yuan Shao's contemplation, Gongsun Zan's excitement, Kong Rong's curiosity, and so on.

However, tomorrow was the day of the blood oath alliance, and Liu Bei had only just arrived, so even those lords who were interested in visiting or probing did not rush for the moment.

The next morning.

The major and minor lords inside and outside the Suanzao camp almost all got up early to prepare for the important event of the alliance today.

When Li Ji, who had gone to bed a little late last night after dealing with military affairs with Guo Jia, woke up, he found that there were already two lords who had come to visit inside Liu Bei's tent.

One was Gongsun Zan, who was now granted the title of General Fenwu and concurrently the Administrator of Beiping Commandery…

Seeing Li Ji's arrival, Gongsun Zan stood up directly, using the heroic style unique to the men of You and Yan, and hugged Li Ji forcefully, saying with great emotion.

"Zikun, many years since we last met, I still often see your commanding demeanor in my mind."

"I also often think of the bravery of General White Horse."

Li Ji returned the greeting with a smile, praising him.

Although Gongsun Zan was General Fenwu, he undoubtedly preferred others to call him "General White Horse." Being addressed as such by Li Ji undoubtedly made Gongsun Zan's face unconsciously show full of joy.

Immediately, Li Ji turned his gaze to another lord in the tent, whose beard and hair were all white, showing a rather old appearance, but his temperament was restrained and gentle.

The old man was also looking at Li Ji, and then turned his head to Liu Bei and said.

"The name of a national scholar is indeed not false. This kind of demeanor alone is enough to make the world admire."

"Brother Gongzu is too kind."

Liu Bei said modestly, unable to hide the joy on his face, and then introduced to Li Ji.

"Zikun, this is Tao Gongzu, the Governor of Xu Province. Why don't you quickly come forward to pay your respects?"

Hearing this, Li Ji quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.

"So it's Lord Tao. I have been very impolite. Please forgive me."

"What crime is there? This old man and Xuande are like old friends at first sight, a friendship that transcends age. Coming here early this time is also for personal friendship, not for official business."

Tao Qian responded, and then personally helped Li Ji up, saying gently.

"This old man has long heard of the name of the national scholar Li Zikun. Seeing you today is a great comfort in my remaining years. I hope that Zikun will also assist Xuande well in protecting the territory and pacifying the people in the future."

"I will always encourage myself with Lord Tao's words."

Li Ji replied modestly.

Afterwards, Liu Bei, Tao Qian, and Gongsun Zan continued to talk in the tent. Although it was mainly for reminiscing about the past, there was no lack of mutual discussion about the current situation.

Especially now that it was the day of the alliance, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu both had the intention of vying for the position of alliance leader. For example, Liu Yan and Liu Biao did not personally lead their troops to arrive, so the previous competition for the position of alliance leader in the camp was between the two Yuans, so Tao Qian also came to ask who Liu Bei intended to support.

However, when mentioning this matter, Gongsun Zan brought quite shocking news.

That was that Gongsun Zan was here as the representative of Liu Yu, the convener of this alliance, and before leaving, Liu Yu had instructed Gongsun Zan:

【If Liu Bei participates in the alliance, then recommend Liu Bei as the alliance leader; if Liu Bei does not come to the alliance, then choose someone who has both prestige and benevolence as the alliance leader.】

As soon as these words came out, not only was Tao Qian somewhat stunned, but even Liu Bei was greatly surprised, completely not expecting that Liu Yu would value him so much.

After all, Liu Bei and Liu Yu did not have much actual interaction, and the two had never even truly met.

The biggest intersection between the two sides, in addition to the trade that had been going on at Jinmen Port for two years, was Li Ji's previous leading troops to help You Province defeat the Wuhuan.

Tao Qian, who had reacted, still asked with quite a shock.

"General Gongsun, is this true? Can you truly represent Lord Liu's attitude?"

"That's natural. I would not bother to falsely use Liu Boan's name to deceive."

Gongsun Zan replied with a proud face.

This made Tao Qian fall into deep thought on the spot, and then his originally turbid eyes gradually lit up, saying.

"Choosing Xuande as the alliance leader seems to be much more suitable than those two Yuans, and Xuande has the identity of a member of the Han imperial clan and Liu Gong's support, making him the most suitable to be the alliance leader of this alliance."

Of course, Tao Qian's words were not necessarily without his own selfish motives.

Tao Qian himself was only from a humble scholar background, and was not the same kind of person as the aristocratic sons like the Yuan brothers.

On the contrary, since Tao Qian took office as the Governor of Xu Province, he has had quite a close personal relationship with Liu Bei, and they felt like kindred spirits who regretted not meeting sooner.

Even if voting with his backside, Tao Qian would subconsciously choose to side with Liu Bei when choosing between Liu Bei and the Yuan brothers. (End of this chapter)