After receiving the task from Liu Yu's mansion, on the way back, Li Su has been figuring out the level of his leadership on horseback.

It was also today that Liu Yu said so many words to him, and Li Su completely understood why Liu Yu was simple on the surface, but secretly he was actually very rich and would buy officials.

Originally, I saw in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" that "Liu Yu is known for his honesty on the surface, and Emperor Ling authorized him to be exempted from paying money for repairing the palace", but after being killed by Gongsun Zhan, Gongsun Zhan raided his house, but found that "Yu Ji's concubines are decorated with pearls and jade, and their clothes are gorgeous and abnormal", and other contradictory phenomena finally have an explanation.

He pretended to be frugal, not because of his hypocrisy, but because the diplomatic work of the Han Dynasty required him to maintain such an image.

Only when Liu Yu is frugal and simple, those Hu chieftains who get "rewards" from Liu Yu will cherish them extraordinarily, and will believe that "Liu Yu actually has no money, and the reward he gave me is a special case, an extrajudicial favor that needs to be kept secret, and he will not give it to others."

In this way, after getting the money, every Hu chief thought that he was a special case and received extra courtesy, so that they would not feel that the money of the Han Dynasty was easy to take and the Han Dynasty was weak and could be bullied.

is still the same sentence, whether it is "New Year's coins" or "buying official money", the biggest loss caused by doing this kind of behavior is not the money itself, but the reputation of the money spent. If you have the ability to only spend money and not bear the notoriety of spending money, then spending money itself actually doesn't matter.

It's like the Cuban Missile Crisis, 25 years later, when those top-secret diplomatic archives were declassified, it was discovered that Kennedy had actually withdrawn twice as many missiles during the Cuban Missile Crisis!

But why does the world think that Hecorn is the one who has failed and confessed? Just because he was the one who promised to withdraw first, he withdrew Cuba's missiles not long after the US-Soviet crisis was resolved, so he lost face.

It was only after the Cuban crisis was resolved, more than half a year later, and the rumors had subsided, that Kennedy quietly withdrew the ballistic missiles of Yili and Tuqi, so international public opinion did not link this retreat with the "confession" at the time of the initial crisis.

On the diplomatic front, the most important thing is the manipulation of face, international prestige, and confidence in the international community, not the actual amount of money and weapons delivered.

As soon as I hear the word "money", I think about the New Year's coin, which is a sign of diplomatic immaturity.

Of course, the fig leaf of the Song Dynasty's "reward" to Liao and Xia failed in history, not because of the failure of money diplomacy itself, but because the IQ of the Song Dynasty scholars and doctors was too low, and the number of countries in the "international environment" at that time was too small.

When the international environment is only Liao and Xia, it is difficult for you to ensure that "Liao does not know that you are against Xia, and Xia does not know that you are against Liao". In addition, the scholars of the Song Dynasty did not have the sense of secrecy of secret diplomacy at all from the beginning, and the first time they confessed to Liao, it was almost openly cowardly, so that Li Yuanhao followed the trend and copied his homework.

But Liu Yu is facing the "Five Hu", and Liu Yu pays attention to secrecy from the beginning, even if the first money he gives, it is a threat:

If there is a third party in the world who knows that you have received the money, then our cooperation will be interrupted forever! You just wait to bear the wrath of the Great Han Dynasty and the other four Hus!

It's like Kennedy's condition on Hema: I can withdraw more than one more missile, but you are not allowed to interpret it to the media, and you are not allowed to link our withdrawal to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Once the media beeps and damages Amerikan's international prestige, then I will not withdraw any of them and will fight with you to the end!

……

In his mind, Li Su took stock of all the key points of diplomatic thinking that Liu Yu had just instructed, and he really had to admit with emotion in his heart:

Liu Yu's diplomatic talent can be more than a thousand years ahead of the historical level! Such a flexible person, even in the Song and Ming dynasties, is definitely the first person in the world in diplomatic work!

It is no wonder that the prestige of reverence for heaven and man can be operated among the Hu people in the late Han Dynasty.

In his previous life, he studied at the Foreign Affairs Academy for seven years, and he was only slightly better than Liu Yu's decades of practical work experience.

In this world, in the field of diplomatic thinking, only Li Su and Liu Yu can fully understand each other.

Over the years, Liu Yu has faced other dull staff, maybe he is also very depressed in his heart, and he feels that the IQ of his subordinates can't keep up with his thinking.

In this case, it is not surprising that he used his privileges again and again to pave the way for Li Su's future, so that Li Su could be promoted as soon as possible and obtain a bigger stage of performance.

Sometimes Li Su is also thinking: If Liu Yu is a younger generation, maybe he and Liu Bei will still obediently assist.

But this cannot be assumed that Liu Yu, who is nearly fifty years old, is destined to be unable to personally usher in the moment when the world is peaceful again.

Liu Bei and Li Su should inherit Liu Yu's destiny and will, and help the Han family well.

……

After thinking about this, Li Su realized that he had unconsciously rode his horse to the Jixian County Government and the Guangyang Governor's Mansion.

Before Li Su turned over and dismounted, there were already a few pro-soldiers next to him who came over to help him diligently, and a pro-soldier brought a dismount stone for him to step on.

These people in Liu Bei's mansion are all familiar with Li Su anymore, and they don't need to be informed, so they directly lead Li Su in.

When I walked to the second gate, I saw Liu Guanzhang rushing out, talking to Li Su and talking about goodbye:

"Brother Xian, this is a closed-door book? I want to be a brother in the past two months. Every time I see the proclamation of the imperial court, without the virtuous brother by my side, I don't know how to interpret the general trend of the world. ”

"Brother has asked, it's not too late." Li Su was not polite to Liu Bei, did not say those modest words, and looked like he was unyielding.

But Liu Bei likes this kind of honesty.

After chatting for a few words, Li Su had time to turn to Zhang Fei: "Yide's injury is completely healed?" Congratulations. ”

Zhang Fei crossed his waist proudly: "When you were caught writing a book, I had been lying for two months, and no matter how bad it was, I would hold back the birds!" How's it, if you call you, you are finally going to raise troops against Zhang? Just go out and loosen your muscles.

When I was harvesting grain in the autumn, I was envious of the second brother who led the team to harass Zhang Ju every day, and he was able to win the first rank of Zhang Ju's grain collection team every day. ”

Looking at Zhang Fei's posture, I'm afraid it's no problem to eat a hoof and pig's feet in one meal.

"By the way, Boya, but does the envoy have any orders?" Liu Bei Guan Yu also hurriedly asked, obviously they were also curious.

Li Su said bluntly: "The envoy asked me to prepare for a few more days, first wait for the detailed work to spread the "Treatise on the Prosperity of the Palace" all over Youzhou, and wait for the first batch of books to be obtained by the Jingshi Luoyang, and then he will send me to envoy Wuhuan to try to persuade Qiu Liju to surrender."

Qiu Liju is short of food now, as long as he doesn't want to slaughter the people and cause a big crime that can't be turned back, then the probability of cooperating with us is still quite high. ”

Liu Bei hurriedly persuaded: "Sure enough, it's still this day...... However, Boya, will it be dangerous for you to persuade in person? ”

Li Su: "The prestige of the envoy has always been very high among the Hu, even if he refused to surrender, he never dared to kill the envoy sent by the envoy, and this has been the case since more than ten years ago. However, the security problem cannot be ignored - the main thing is that he cannot be bumped into by Zhang Ju's descendants, Zhang Ju has already claimed the emperor, he can only go all the way to the dark, and he will definitely be killed if he encounters an envoy. ”

Liu Bei hurriedly asked: "Then I will send more elite soldiers to protect you, I heard that when he was in Chaohu, when he entered the camp of Zulang, the commander of the Jiujiang Sect, to seize the army, Yun Chang brought elite soldiers and 100 cavalry to protect it, this move must be several times more ferocious than Zulang, without three or five hundred elites, I am afraid it will not be perfect." ”

Li Su smiled and excused himself: "There are too many people, but the target is too big to approach quietly." Between Zhang Ju and Qiu Liju and Su Li, there must be some suspicion of each other now, maybe Zhang Ju will also have eyeliner sentry in Qiu Liju's camp. The brigade entered and exited the camp, and Zhang Ju would definitely get a tip.

In my opinion, it is better to only bring a few fierce generals this time, as for the guards, all of them use the elite Wuhuan cavalry under the brother's tent to disguise themselves as scouts from Qiu Liju, so that they will not be suspected by Zhang Ju's eyeliner in the Qiu camp. ”

Liu Bei thought about it, and many of the elite cavalry under his command who had followed him for many years were Wuhuan people. Now that the cavalry team has gradually expanded to one or two thousand people, and there are also a considerable proportion of Wuhuan warriors, it is of course no problem to pick out some of them to be Li Su's bodyguards.

But he was still worried: "Of course, it's not a problem for the virtuous brother to want the Wuhuan elite, but if he only disguises himself as a scout, I'm afraid the number of people can't be too many." In the Wuhuan fighting style, there are only twenty or thirty scouts in each team......"

"I'll just pick thirty elite ones, as long as I can see Qiu Liju safely, I don't have to worry about it in the future."

If Qiu Liju really wants to be unfavorable to people, let alone thirty rides, three hundred rides is useless.

Liu Bei thought for a while: "Okay, then I want Yun Chang to ...... again."

Li Su hurriedly refused: "No need, Yun Changyide is a general, it was just an expedient measure in Chaohu at the beginning, how can it always be like this." I'll ask my brother to borrow Zilong and Youping, and I'll bring my own Dian Wei guard, it's enough.

When the time comes, Brother and Yun Changyide can first feint on the border to attack Zhang Ju's headquarters, mobilize the enemy's army, attract attention and create chaos, and it can be regarded as a pull and a dozen, and cooperate with my persuasion and deterrence. However, be sure not to attack the Chuli Division. ”

Li Su is very knowledgeable, and on this occasion of dividing the enemy, it is necessary to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger. It's like if you want to seek peace and surrender to Beiping in the three major battles, then Jinmen can be captured by thunderous means, showing that "it's not that we can't fight, but we don't want to fight."

When we are at the door, we must fight to promote peace.

Liu Bei felt that it was very reasonable, and completely agreed: "Okay, I will choose the most elite Wuhuan cavalry archer with thirty horses, disguise the scout and accompany Boya, before Boya is about to arrive, I and Yun Changyide will lead the troops to the north to detour, whether it is to rob the camp first, or to fight in the field, and defeat Zhang Ju's headquarters for a while." ”

"Thank you, brother, for your thoughtful arrangement."

……

Five days later, Liu Bei and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had already marched from Jixian County to the front line on the border between Yuyang County and Youbeiping County with 2,000 cavalry and some other receiving troops.

Liu Bei's infantry attacked eastward along Gengshui from Wuzhong County, and easily captured a small county town that had almost been abandoned by the rebels, Xu Wu (Zunhua in later generations).

The reason why the rebels abandoned the defense was also because they ran out of food, and they did not want to afford the thousands of people who were still living in this small county - before the rebels left, they robbed all the food that the people in the city could find before retreating, leaving only the people who had nothing to eat to fend for themselves.

Therefore, Liu Bei's march was not so much to attack and recover the city, but to take the initiative to assume the morality of relieving more than 4,000 hungry people.

Liu Bei was a benevolent man, and when he saw that the people were dying of hunger one by one, he had to distribute military rations for relief. Fortunately, Xu Wuxian and Wuzhong County are both along Gengshui, and it is quite convenient to transport grain. And there is still a large number of garrison grain in Wuzhong County controlled by the imperial court, and there is no loss on the way to transport it.

After letting the hungry people eat a meal of wheat porridge mixed with wheat bran, the representative of the people in the city told Liu Bei that when Zhang Ju's rebels ran out of food and withdrew, there were still 7,000 women, old and young in the city, and now there are only 4,000 left, and 3,000 have starved to death before Liu Bei arrives.

When Liu Bei heard this, he couldn't speak for a long time, only sighed.

After a day of repairs, Liu Bei himself stationed in Xu Wuxian with 3,000 infantry to stabilize this new front-line bridgehead.

Then let Guan Yu and Zhang Fei continue to march eastward with 2,000 cavalry, make a tentative attack, and try to sneak attack and capture if they can sneak attack, but if they encounter Zhang Ju's large army, they will immediately withdraw to Xu Wu.

At the same time that Liu Bei's men and horses arrived at Xu Wu, Li Su, who had made all the preparations in Jixian County, also set off with a group of elite entourage.

In addition to himself, he was followed by Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Zhou Tai, and Wen Ze, a fierce general who was ordered to break through from Gongsun Zhan - Wen Ze is now directly serving under Liu Yu's account, and the reason why Li Su took him was not because he liked his martial arts, but because Wen Ze was familiar with the terrain of this generation.

Five months ago, Wen Ze took twelve cavalry warriors to break through from the siege of Guanzi City, how can he kill back, and who knows the terrain better than him?

Finally, there is Liu Bei's usual personal soldier captain Liu Dun, who has now been promoted to Qu Junhou, but he still returned to his old profession and picked thirty Wuhuan soldiers with the strongest cavalry and archery martial arts.

Liu Bei also picked the best weapons and horses for everyone, and he also had one person and two horses.

Such a group of 1 civil official, 5 military attachés, and 30 cavalry, a total of 36 cavalry, the number of people happened to be equal to the number of people when Ban Chao envoys to the Western Regions and attacked and killed the Xiongnu mission to force the surrender of King Shanshan.

"It seems that this number is quite auspicious, Ban Chao relied on 36 horses to convince a big country in the Western Regions to return to Han, it seems that I can 'get a tiger without entering the tiger's den' today, I don't know what kind of idiom my deeds will give me in the history books in the future."

After setting off, Li Su looked at the people under his command and wanted to invent a few popular idioms for future generations of students to recite allusions.

Or, if you don't enter Longtan, you will get dragon eggs?

It seems to be a bit vulgar, and when future generations hear it, Brother is imitating Ban Chao, no, no.

After thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't think of the right one, so Li Su had to give up for the time being.

36 Cavalry maintained physical strength, walked slowly, and three days later entered the territory of Youbeiping.

After a good night's sleep in Xu Wuxian to recuperate, and then set off at dawn the next day, it can be regarded as entering a state of running at full speed.

Within a day, they went straight from Xu Wuguo Lingzhi to Lulong's Lonely Bamboo City.

There, there is the Wuhuan camp of Qiu Liju.