Xiaoqi

Li Li frowned slightly, and a sharp look flashed in his eyes, then he smiled coldly, and said disapprovingly, "If Ji Yu thinks this is a matter of self-satisfaction, then what's the matter with you? As for me, what can I rely on?" , Ji Yu has already seen it, and now I am sitting in front of you, isn't that enough?" Facing Liu Zhang's angry face, Li Li would not give him a good look, let alone show weakness.

Everyone knows that although Li Li is modest, he has always been strong in his work.If he was willing to show weakness in public, he would not have fought repeatedly with Han Sui and Ma Teng back then; if he could show weakness to the Central Plains alliance of princes, there would be no war between Sili and Li; if he was willing to show weakness easily, how could he have achieved today.

In troubled times, showing weakness is useless.The only way out is to be strong and continue to grow and develop; on the contrary, showing weakness means timidity, and timidity will not be able to gain a foothold in the world. In the end, it can only disappear and become a speck of dust under the feet of the strong.

Therefore, the word showing weakness does not appear on him, nor does it suit him.Over the years, why has he ever shown weakness?

However, not showing weakness does not mean being upright and stubborn, not knowing how to judge the situation, and blindly being tough and reckless. strong.

At the beginning, he and Lu Bu were both generals under Dong Zhuo's tent. If he did not know how to adapt and endure, and dared to confront Lv Bu, he might be strangled by Lu Bu in the cradle before he made his fortune.But Dong Zhuo didn't think highly of him at first, so he was idle in Chang'an City for several months.However, he later won the appreciation of Dong Zhuo with his own strength, and finally received a great gift from Dong Zhuo, which laid the foundation for him to dominate Xiliang in one fell swoop.

Corresponding to showing weakness.The only criterion for survival in troubled times is to be strong and strive to be strong.This is because in troubled times, human life is worthless, and the world is struggling in troubled times. Compassion is the most common and most easily ignored thing. No one pays attention to the weak, even if they sympathize with the weak, there is nothing they can do.Only after the troubled times are pacified, most people have the energy left to sympathize with and help the weak; and before that.Everyone must be independent and self-reliant, otherwise they will be lost in the chaos of war.

In troubled times and disputes, there is only self-improvement; the weak prey on the strong.There is only self-improvement; relying on the sky, the earth, the parents, and ultimately, oneself.

At this moment, Liu Zhang tried to challenge Li Li face to face, obviously he was not qualified enough.A little too tender.

It's not strong enough by itself.How to compete with the strong?

Seeing Li Li's unkind expression, Liu Zhang felt pity all of a sudden, and the anger on his face faded away. Instead, his face was full of sadness, his eyes drifted away, as if he was afraid of Li Li, and he didn't dare to confront him, let alone provoke Li Li. .It is not difficult to see from this.Liu Zhang is still afraid of Li Li in his bones; this may be the imprint that has been fixed when they first met, so that Liu Zhang is still afraid of Li Li many years later.Seeing Li Li's displeasure, he flinched immediately.

I have to say that the friendship between them is really different and different.

When the two got acquainted at the beginning, they had a deliberate friendship with a purpose. Liu Zhang was older than Li Li, but he was willing to be his younger brother, and Li Li took the lead in everything;Because of this, during the more than a year in Chang'an, the two got along very well, and indeed forged a rather deep friendship.

But after a lapse of many years, Liu Zhang thought that he no longer had to be afraid of Li Li, and that he could stand upright and have a fair conversation with him on an equal footing.But as soon as he showed signs of showing, he was slapped on the ground by Li Li, which made him look ashamed and lose his temper at all.Not only that, but when he saw Li Li's expression was unkind, and he seemed to be angry, he immediately succumbed, and his straight waist immediately hunched down, just like when they first met, he didn't have the courage to confront Li Li directly. Confrontation.

It's really one thing and one thing, like a pack of wolves.From the time when wolf cubs are born to when they learn to hunt, they determine their affiliation and find their respective positions in the pack, which will not change throughout their lives.

"Brother, calm down, I don't mean to offend my brother. However, Yizhou is the inheritance left by my ancestors of the Liu family, and it has been inherited for more than [-] years. If it is lost in the hands of the foolish brother, what will the foolish brother look like in Huangquan the next day?" See the ancestors of the past. It is what my brother said just now, a foolish brother is really hard to obey, please forgive me if I am rude." Although Liu Zhang's tone of voice was a little lacking in confidence and his words were soft, his expression was extremely firm and his eyes were firm. clear position.It was obvious that he was still clenching his teeth and not letting go, still trying to hold on, without the slightest intention of compromising.

After Li Li heard the words, instead of being angry, his brows were relaxed, and his expression was calm, making it impossible to see a trace of happiness or anger.Immediately, he smiled lightly and said calmly: "Your brother's words are very true. Since the time when Gaozu was granted the title of King of Han and led Yizhou, Yizhou has been the land of great Han dragons. For a long time, no matter how the position of governor of Yizhou changes and alternates, , the princes and princes who sit here are all relatives of the Han family. Until ten years ago, your father succeeded as the governor of the state, and then passed it on to his younger brother; he has experienced the Eastern and Western Hans successively, which lasted for more than [-] years. Therefore, the younger brother said that Yizhou It is the foundation passed down by the Liu family ancestors, it is not an exaggeration at all. From this, it can be seen that the virtuous brother is a man of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, and I am deeply admired and gratified for my brother."

While speaking, Li Li's tone paused, and he continued: "Since that's the case, I think Brother Xian will not forget the promise he made at Brother Wei's house in the past. At that time, Brother Wei promised Brother Xian that once the time is right, Brother Xian will be escorted here Yizhou, inherited the position of Yizhou pastor, and the virtuous brother promised to his elder brother: "Only the foolish brother will be the leader in his lifetime."

To this day, Brother Wei has already fulfilled his promise to help his younger brother ascend to the position of shepherd in Yizhou.My virtuous brother has not forgotten the teachings of my ancestors, but he has forgotten his promise to me, and has been ignoring it for many years. Not to mention that my virtuous brother did not send troops to help me resist the princes of the Central Plains, but the taxes, food and salaries for the past six years have also disappeared.Shouldn't my virtuous brother explain this behavior in detail and give me an explanation? "

"Ah! This..." Liu Zhang's expression changed upon hearing this, and his face turned pale as he cried out in surprise. He faltered for a long while, but was speechless.

Indeed, Li Li's words made it impossible for Liu Zhang to refute. Even if he wanted to explain, he would use forceful words, waste more words, and be futile.The fact is just like what Li Li said, when he deliberately approached Li Li back then, he only wanted to establish a friendship with Li Li, not for real benefits, but for saving his life so that he would not die in vain.Unexpectedly, after getting acquainted with Li Li, there will be unexpected gains. Li Li promised him in person that once the time is right, he will help him return to Yizhou and ascend to the position of Yizhou Shepherd.Immediately, Liu Zhang was overjoyed and very excited. He couldn't help reciprocating, and made a solemn promise to Li Li that if he could return to Yizhou and inherit the position of state herdsman, he would definitely follow Li Li's lead in his lifetime and never lose.

In the spring of the following year after making promises to each other, Li Li fulfilled his promise and sent a group of elite guards including Shi A to escort Liu Zhang back to Yizhou, and gave him an edict to ascend the throne of Yizhou Shepherd, helping him to sit in Shangzhou without any danger. As a herdsman, he raised the nine counties of Yizhou.However, after Liu Zhang took charge of Yizhou, except that he provided [-] shi of food and grass to support Li Li during the Sili War, he neither obeyed Li Li's orders nor contributed any money or food, just like a stone ox entering the sea without a word.

Now, when Li Li once again brought up the promise made back then, Liu Zhang was speechless, and breaking his promise was second to none. The most important thing was that he had no intention of fulfilling his promise at all, let alone obeying Li Li's orders.In other words, the reason why he solemnly promised at the beginning was nothing more than to win Li Li's trust, trying to use Li Li's hand to help him escape from Chang'an and return to Yizhou to inherit his ancestral business. things.As for the promise made to Li Li, it was just a play on the occasion, and it was a perfunctory perfunctory if it happened to coincide with the meeting.

In fact, after Liu Zhang returned to Yizhou and became the prefect, he threw his previous promise to Li Li out of the sky and forgot it completely.After so many years, if Li Li hadn't brought up the promise he made again, maybe Liu Zhang would never think of it in his life, and would completely regard it as an unbearable old event, and he would not even think about it, let alone fulfill it. promised.

Not only that, after Liu Zhang ascended to the position of Yizhou Shepherd, he was once secretly proud of himself, thinking that Li Li was so smart that he was so naive for a while, and he was willing to help him for the sake of the so-called friendship and a promise that could not be fulfilled. Remove obstacles and take charge of Yizhou safely.For this reason, Liu Zhang was complacent and complacent for a long time, and even despised Li Li for a time, laughing at Li Li's ability to be an enemy of the world's princes, but he was defeated by Liu Zhang.After being pandered to by him, deliberately making friends with hypocrisy, he played Li Li around, and then he used him once, "lost his wife and broke the army" without knowing it, and he was still staring at Chang'an. Waiting for him to contribute money and food.

Liu Zhang, who thinks he has a plan, has already forgotten everything in the past after six years of being a state shepherd. Although he still has some guilt for losing to Li Li, he has never thought of trying to make up for it.However, what he never imagined in his dreams was that the old events that had long been left behind by him were brought up again, and the "participant" was sitting next to him at this moment, "collecting debts" face to face.

At this moment, Liu Zhang blushed and lowered his head in shame, fidgeting and not knowing what to do.

"Ji Yugui forgets things a lot, maybe he has already forgotten the promises he made in the past, but Brother Yu has never forgotten them for a moment, he has always remembered them in his heart, and he still remembers Ji Yu's voice and smile when he made the solemn promise. The words are still fresh in my ears, and my memory is still fresh. "

Seeing Liu Zhang hesitated for a long while without saying a word, Li Li smiled indifferently, and said in an unhurried voice: "Six years have passed, maybe Ji Yu has long forgotten the original promise. However, you should know that brother Yu was born in poverty, My parents passed away early, self-supporting, diligent and thrifty housekeeping, never taking advantage of others, unwilling to owe others favors, but a bit petty, I have to pay back what others owe me sooner or later. To be honest, today I came to ask for debts , Brother Xian’s previous promise should be fulfilled this time.”

Chapter 163 Twisting the fingers softly, fighting for the front

Seeing Liu Zhang hesitated for a long while without saying a word, Li Li smiled contemptuously, and said in a slow voice, "Six years have passed, maybe after Ji Yu takes charge of Yizhou, he will deliberately forget everything he did for his brother. I even think that what I have done is not worth mentioning at all, or I am passionate about myself and cannot blame others.

Ji Yu would not appreciate this at all, let alone be grateful, and even secretly laughed at my ignorance and childishness, and I was misunderstood by my cleverness, and I was to blame.However, the virtuous brother should know that brother Yu was born in poverty, his parents died early when he was young, he is self-supporting, diligent and thrifty in managing the family.All along, I never take advantage of others, I don’t want to owe others favors, and I do everything with a clear conscience and no fear of others’ words.

Besides, I'm a little petty.I don't want to take advantage of others, I don't owe favors, and I have to pay back what others owe me sooner or later. Whether he remembers the old debt or not, I always remember it.To tell you the truth, today I came to ask for a debt, and my brother's promise in the past should be fulfilled this time. "These words were soft but hard, with thorns in the flesh, and they were majestic in a calm voice, as if they had cleared the fog to see the truth.

Liu Zhang was horrified when he heard the sound, and suddenly looked up at Li Li, and said angrily, "Fulfill the promise? Where do you start with this? Yizhou is my Liu family's foundation. What does it have to do with the general? What's more, the current general has nearly 20 troops. The soldiers are approaching the city, and Yizhou is already in dire jeopardy. The matter has come to this point, why should the general be pretentious? If the general wants to take Yizhou, he must attack the city directly, and Liu swears to live and die with Chengdu!" As soon as these words came out, it meant that Liu Zhang had completely torn the city apart. Get rid of your hypocritical face, and don't want to make a deal with Li Lixu anymore.No longer talking about other things, just get straight to the point, and confront Li Li with real swords and guns.

It can be seen from this.At this moment, Liu Zhang had suddenly realized that he had always thought that he was doing his best, but in fact it was Li Li's deliberate attempt to lure him into a trap.

Back then when he met Li Li in the brothel, it seemed accidental, but in reality it was inevitable.It should be known that there are many beautiful wives and concubines in Li Li's house, and Li Li's own power is overwhelming.If you don't have any beautiful women you want, why go to the brothel to find flowers and ask willows in person.So that encounter itself was a game, a game that Liu Zhang deliberately let him get into.But this bureau was not a scam, because he had nothing at the time and was not worth being cheated at all.

Afterwards, Liu Zhang climbed deliberately.Trying to establish a relationship with Li Li.To save lives.Little did they know that Li Li also had the same intention, so the two hit it off immediately, walked around frequently, communicated very closely, and their friendship became deeper and deeper.After that, everything will naturally come to fruition. Li Li promised him to help him sit on the position of Yizhou Shepherd, and Liu Zhang agreed casually.After the promise is fulfilled, I will obey Li Li, but Li Li will follow suit.Immediately afterwards.Li Li then fulfilled his promise, let him return to Yizhou, sent elite soldiers to escort him along the way, and helped him secure his seat in Yizhou Mu.

After taking Yizhou, Liu Zhang once thought that he had planned carefully and had superior skills, so he deceived Li Li's trust, and with the help of Li Li's influence, he succeeded in inheriting the position of state shepherd left by his father Liu Yan, and took control of Yizhou to separate himself from one side.For the past six years, he has always thought that he was in charge of Yizhou because he was following the heavens, as it should be, and Li Li's help to him was only trivial, not worth mentioning at all; even without Li Li's help, he would still be able to Sitting on the position of Yizhou Mu, you can still rule Yizhou.

So Liu Zhang didn't feel that he was ashamed of Li Li, and he didn't owe Li Li anything. Even if he owed him, it was only a little favor.But what is this debt of favor to the princes on the Mushou side? It is completely negligible. Who would take this debt of favor to heart.With this kind of thought in mind, Liu Zhang sat in Yizhou with peace of mind for six years, with more than [-] soldiers and horses in his hand, enjoying the glory and wealth, enjoying himself leisurely, completely forgetting that he had made a solemn promise to Li Li.

Six years passed by, and Zhao Wei's rebellion made Liu Zhang realize for the first time that his position as state shepherd was not secure, and that if he was not careful, he would be replaced by someone with evil intentions.This made him feel the crisis for the first time, and he truly realized that even without Liu Zhang in Yizhou, there are still countless people who can withdraw the state and county, and it is not only him.Therefore, when he quelled Zhao Wei's rebellion, he finally realized that what Li Li had done for him was not worth mentioning, and its potential role was immeasurable; He can run Yizhou safely.

In contrast, since the Yizhou Army rushed to aid Zhang Lu and participated in the Battle of Hanzhong, banditry and undercurrents surged in Yizhou, and it was no longer as stable as before.This phenomenon did not attract Liu Zhang's attention at first, and naturally he would not know the hidden reasons.It wasn't until Zhao Wei openly rebelled that Liu Zhang finally realized that the source of the chaos in Yizhou was that he had lost Li Li's support, which made some unscrupulous people no longer fearful, and finally showed their true colors , Brazenly launched a rebellion, blatantly rebelled and seized power.

Before Zhao Wei's rebellion subsided, Liu Zhang got a secret report that Li Li's army was taking advantage of the civil strife in Yizhou to attack the Shu Road and divided his troops into two groups to attack Yizhou.At that moment, the fear in Liu Zhang's heart could not be increased. For the second time in his life, he felt that the crisis was coming, and realized that there must be an inevitable connection between Zhao Wei's rebellion and the Xiliang army's entry into Sichuan, otherwise there would be such a coincidence in the world.It's just that he couldn't figure out what the relationship between the two was. It couldn't be that Zhao Wei's rebellion was secretly instigated by Li Li, right?

Fighting wolves at the front door and entering tigers at the back door.

In the past three months, Liu Zhang has been so busy and exhausted that he was slightly tipsy after a few drinks, and unexpectedly saw Li Li sitting next to him when he opened his eyes.

In a daze, after listening to Li Li's words, Liu Zhang completely sobered up, and his mind was clearer than ever.

At this moment, when Li Li claimed to "go to the door to collect debts", Liu Zhang was furious and refuted it sternly without showing weakness.

However, at the moment when the voice fell, Liu Zhang had a faint realization: "I have no use value, now the time is ripe, Li Li no longer needs him to sit in Yizhou, this time I came here to take it from him." Take back the escrow right and really collect Yizhou."

The reason why he had this kind of thought, or in other words, his awareness, was because he felt that he had been "guarding the backyard" for Li Li all these years, so that Li Li didn't have to worry about the safety of the hinterland of Liangzhou at all. worries.

In the six years since he was stationed in Yizhou, he never took the initiative to send troops to invade Liangzhou and harass Li Li's rear base.Not only that, but he also restrained Zhang Lu in Hanzhong for Li Li, so that he did not dare to act rashly, until Li Liteng stepped forward to regain Hanzhong.After losing Hanzhong, Liu Zhang not only failed to contain the Xiliang army, but stood still and guarded the southwest gate for Li Li invisibly.

It is precisely because of his existence that the Xiliang rear area under Li Li's rule can enjoy peace and stability for a long time without any worries.As a result, during the Central Plains War, Li Li was able to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops to the Central Plains to participate in the war without any scruples, and successively wiped out Yuan Shu in Huainan, Lu Bu in Xuzhou, and other small groups of princes.

In other words, apart from him, Liu Zhang, no other prince sitting in Yizhou would be as peaceful as he is.In the past six years, if other princes were in charge of Yizhou, Li Li would always face tremendous pressure.Whether it was the early Sili War or the subsequent Central Plains War, especially when Hebei was defeated, the princes sitting in Yizhou would wait for the opportunity to send troops to attack Liangzhou on a large scale, harassing Li Li's rear, making it difficult for him to look back and face the enemy .If this is the case, even if it is impossible to capture the hinterland of Xiliang, it will definitely be able to restrain a large part of Li Li's troops, forcing Li Li to be unable to escape from the restraint of the Yizhou Army. He is stretched so tight that he will definitely not be able to achieve today's brilliant record, let alone do so Easily seize half of the country.

Therefore, in a sense, although Liu Zhang has been in Yizhou for more than six years, although he was not under Li Li's rule in name, he actually "guarded the gate" for Li Li, relieved Li Li's worries and made him He was able to let go of his hands and feet and wantonly conquer the princes of the Central Plains.

Conversely, if Liu Zhang intends to confront Li Li and insists on being an enemy, the situation in the world will change accordingly.

Even when Zhang Lu occupied Hanzhong, Liu Zhang could persuade Zhang Lu to jointly send troops to harass the rear of Xiliang. Even if he could not capture Liangzhou, he would still disturb the two states of Xiliang and make Li Li very anxious and have no time for him.Even if Li Li wanted to send troops to destroy him, the Yizhou army was fully capable of blocking the Xiliang army from the Shu road by virtue of the thousands of miles of Shu road, making it impossible for the Xiliang iron cavalry to step into Yizhou.It should be noted that if the Yizhou Army is fighting the Xiliang Army head-on, relying on the unparalleled geographical advantages of the Shu Road, it will not be a problem to stalemate with the Xiliang Army for three to five years.

However, the fact is that after Liu Zhang took command of Yizhou, he posed no threat to the Xiliang Army at all, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he kept his own law and order.The only fly in the ointment is that after Liu Zhang took control of Yizhou, he would no longer donate money, food and supplies; otherwise, it would be no different from completely surrendering to Li Li.

After thinking about this point clearly, Liu Zhang just realized that he thought he was tricked, but Li Li actually tricked him.He thought he was superior and took advantage of Li Li once, but he didn't know that he was being used by Li Li all the time.Although he didn't admit that he was ashamed of Li Li, he respected Li Li deep in his heart and didn't want to be his enemy, so he indirectly stabilized Li Li's rear and guarded Yizhou for Li Li, and won a precious victory for Li Li to lead the army to conquer the world. six years.

After Liu Zhang figured out the key links, he understood everything, and all the contexts were presented in his mind.All of a sudden, he felt sad, decadent and depressed, with mixed feelings.

However, when he calmed down slowly, the guilt that had been in his heart for six years and the tremendous pressure he had borne in recent months disappeared, and the loneliness and desolation that filled his heart also disappeared, replaced by It is unprecedented ease and relief.

Chapter 164

Today, the situation in the world is becoming clearer, and the war situation in the Central Plains has fallen into a relatively stable stalemate.