Shi Yi listened to Li Sheng's smiling words in a daze, but his heart was tumbling like a turbulent wave, and he couldn't say what kind of feelings he felt. www.biquge.info Since Emperor Wu respected Confucianism, Confucianism has become widespread as more and more Confucians entered the imperial bureaucratic system, and gradually became the mainstream existence in the Great Han Dynasty. As an important idea in Confucianism, "a gentleman does not speak for profit" has gradually penetrated into the minds of most people. Shi Yi is also a Confucian, although he has also learned a lot of things from other families, but his foundation still belongs to Confucianism, so he always feels a little strange about the outspoken behavior of Li Sheng, who is also a Confucian.

Of course, he didn't dare to directly refute Li Sheng and say that his words were wrong: first, Li Sheng was still the winner after all, and according to the law of "the winner is king", his side must not be too disobedient to him; Second, Shi Yi himself is also a child of a big family, so he naturally understands that the so-called "gentleman does not speak profit" is just talking to outsiders, and within his own family, the atmosphere of saying profit is very strong, although he did not say it directly to Li Sheng, but it was not completely unspeakable; Third, he also understands that the so-called "benefit" in the word is actually the benefit of his own family, and as the patriarch of the family, he can't give up the interests of his family no matter what.

There is no way. Shi Yi could neither directly deny Li Sheng's statement, nor could he suppress his disgust for this statement in his heart, and finally could only choose to remain silent.

Regarding Shi Yi's silence, Li Sheng smiled slightly bitterly. He naturally knew why Shi Yi was silent, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with what he said. He felt it was necessary to say that. Because there are too many relationships involved, and the interests of too many people are affected. These gainers and frustrations will inevitably react to this command in one way or another. Some of them will inevitably touch their own bottom line and cause their own backlash. Seriously, Li Sheng is not willing to see such a fight and killing happen again, he is not a person who is very addicted to the thrill of war, so he thinks that he must explain some of his actions clearly, so that everyone understands what they have to do, and what they are going to do, where is their bottom line, and what will happen to him if he crosses such a bottom line.

"What kind of relationship is the strongest in the world? That's undoubtedly feelings. But in terms of affection, I am willing to cultivate too slowly, so I choose the bundle of interests. I must tie the interests of you Jiaozhou clans with mine in order to gain your support, otherwise my development plans here will be affected. The biggest headache for every monarch is not how powerful the enemy is outside, but how chaotic the internal territory is. I don't want that to happen, so I hope you'll cooperate with me. Otherwise, I would not have spared my sword to cut your throats. Li Sheng was very frank and told his inner plan in front of Shi Yi.

"He's forcing me to make a final decision." Listening to Li Sheng's words, Shi Yi felt this. After all, there are many things in this discourse, which can only be passed on to each other and not enough to be understood by outsiders. If he is still obsessed at this time, I am afraid that he will immediately leave himself here forever. As for the excuse, as long as Kong Mingken on his side uses his brain, are you afraid that he won't be able to think of it? I'm really in danger.

"So just agree to Li Sheng's request?" Shi Yi pondered this and felt a little embarrassed.

If this family completely obeyed his orders and was ruled by him alone, he would undoubtedly agree to Li Sheng's request without saying a word. Because he felt that Li Sheng's request was not harmful to his family. Although a lot of land has been confiscated and a lot of benefits have been lost, while the land interests have been weakened, they can be compensated for the maritime trade, and the gains on their side have not decreased but increased. As for the drastic reduction of the armed forces owned by the family, it seems that it can also be considered from another angle: if Li Sheng can really arrange it as he promised, the degree of protection of his family's location will be improved, and at the same time, his side's investment in the army will be reduced, which is also very beneficial to the family. It's equivalent to using Li Sheng's money to raise a team of people for himself. If there is no longer a mentality on his side to have a state of contact like his brother and then compete for domination of the world, what is unacceptable about this. If it's up to you to decide all of this, that's certainly fine.

But, there is no if. Shi Yi really knew how the people in the family would react if he agreed to these questions here. It's not impossible for them to see the stakes clearly, but the stubbornness of these old people will make them insist on the practice of "only what can be obtained and not allowed to give". They do not allow their family's vested interests to be harmed, even if such damage is only in exchange.

"Trouble!" Shi Yi looked at this side, and his eyebrows furrowed tightly.

Li Sheng had been staring at the expression on this Shi Yi's face, and when he saw him frowning, he naturally knew that he was worried about something. But what is he worried about? Li Sheng also thought about this question intently. He knew that Shi Yi definitely saw the impact of his plan on their family's interests, and he was sure that Shi Yi knew that this impact would be more beneficial than harmful to their family. It stands to reason that Shi Yi should agree with the plan here. However, he was still hesitant until now, and it must have been something that prevented him from deciding.

"And what is this thing that can influence his decision?" Li Sheng recalled the information about the various forces in Jiaozhou in his mind, and suddenly caught a point from it: "Is Lord Shi confused by the opposition of the people in his family?" He opened his mouth softly, and a question cut through Yushiyi's musings like a sharp sword.

"Yes, the elders of the family ......" Suddenly, in contemplation, someone suddenly asked, and the key Shi Yi subconsciously replied. Although he reacted quickly, he stopped his words, and pretended to be confused as much as possible, and calmly interviewed Li Sheng: "Uh, what are you asking?" But Li Sheng still clearly grasped the main point.

"Lord Shi, Patriarch Shi, don't pretend to be crazy and stupid. Do you think that my ears are not good, and I cannot hear your answer? Li Sheng shook his head, with a wicked smile on his face: "The elders of your family are very likely to oppose the plan I gave you, is that so?" Li Sheng stared at Shi Yi with burning eyes, and the sharpness in it forced Shi Yi's eyes to the point that he didn't dare to look at him.

"That's right!" Since Li Sheng had already guessed it, Shi Yi naturally nodded and admitted.

"Well, that's a nuisance." Li Sheng held his chin with his hand and frowned tightly, "Is there a way to convince them?" Li Sheng asked.

"There's no way." Shi Yi shook his head heavily: "If there is a way, will I have such a bad headache?" He squinted at Li Sheng.

"So, is there a way to get these elders to step down and replace them with someone who listens to you more?" Li Sheng asked again. At this moment, he seems to have regarded Shi Yi as his comrade-in-arms to some extent, and Shi Yi himself clearly realizes this.

"This ......" Shi Yi hesitated slightly, and his eyes gradually lit up, "Is it okay?" "He has completely entrusted himself to Li Sheng.

"Why not? You can bring back some loyal people from your troops. I can also send a team of men to follow you. Anyway, as long as you have the power in your hands, are you afraid that they will say more? Li Sheng smiled: "I am only optimistic about you as a collaborator in the Shi family." ”

"Hehe......" said softly, and Deshi Yi's face bloomed: "Thank you, General." He "fell" down.

"You're welcome!" Li Sheng waved his hand lightly, "Actually, I invited you over today, not just for your family's own affairs. Now it is not as good as it was at the beginning, although your scholar family still has the upper hand on the bright side, but the actual strength has been weakened in the battle with me, you know how much you know. The main part of your family's force is almost the same, and I'm very worried now, will those other families who are peeping at your family's status take advantage of your family's current weakening of force and suddenly attack? Will you resist my conditions because the force in your hands still exists? They are different from you, you have suffered from me, and most of them are people who do not know the height of the sky. In order to be more stable in the future, and for your family to still have a good position in Jiaozhou, I hope you can cooperate with me in some aspects. ”

"What?" Li Sheng's words were clear, but the matter was still unclear, Shi Yi looked at Li Sheng puzzled, not knowing what the meaning meant: "What does the adult want me to do?" He had no choice but to directly pick out the topic.

"It is a very important matter to collect the force of your great clans. I don't want to convince them one by one, it's too much trouble. Therefore, I would like to hold a banquet in Nanhai City on the fifteenth day of next month to entertain the leaders of the major families in Jiaozhou and persuade them to listen to my opinion. I'm worried that someone in the alliance will cause trouble, so I need someone to help me. Do you understand? Li Sheng stared at Shi Yi tightly.

"Got it." Feeling the scorching gaze cast on Li Sheng's body, Shi Yi nodded heavily. He already fully understood what Li Sheng meant, and he knew better what role he had to play in this.

"Although I have lost the existence of the number one force in Jiaozhou, it is good to be able to be the second in command after Li Sheng, but I just have to follow Li Sheng with all my might." For the future positioning of the family, Shi Yi has this understanding. He didn't think there was anything wrong with that. After all, as far as the tradition of becoming a king and defeating a king is concerned, he clearly knows that the means that Li Sheng uses to deal with his own one are too light and too light, "Maybe it's just for balance?" He knew that Wu Chen and Lai Gong, who were standing behind Li Sheng in this battle, were not Li Sheng's own cronies.

"Let me, Wu Chen, and those small families contain each other so that they can't dominate the family, and then Li Sheng can use the forces in his hands to suppress the General Bureau. Hehe, Li Sheng's idea is really good. Well, a bit level. Shi Yi thought so when he left Li Sheng's house, and he wondered: "Will I also call Li Sheng the lord directly like those under Li Sheng in the future?" "It's an intriguing question. Shi Yi pondered, shook his head, but threw it aside. For him, this is still something to be considered. For now, how to collect the power of the head of the family from the disobedient elders is the most important thing, and as for the recognition of the lord, it can still be carried out after he has the power in his hands.

*******

Between July and September of the 14th year of Jian'an, a series of events occurred in Jiaozhou, the southernmost part of the Han Dynasty, which shocked the heroes of the Central Plains. The Jiaonan Shi's family, which had been operating in Jiaozhou for more than ten years, "collapsed" under Li Sheng's attack, his head Shixie died, and his younger brother Shiyi surrendered to Li Sheng, and with the support of Li Sheng, the "dissidents" who opposed Li Sheng in the family were cleaned up, and the power of the family was firmly grasped in his hands. In less than two months, Li Sheng had already completed the control of Jiaozhou, and basically formed a situation in Jiaozhou: Li Sheng controlled the army, Shiyi controlled Jiaonan, and Wu Chen and Lai Gong controlled Jiaobei.

"Although Jiaozhou is not completely controlled, the situation formed in this way is the most conducive to the peace of the situation. The land of Jiaozhou is no better than that of the Central Plains, and the intrigues of the local forces in it are complex enough to make anyone who wants to completely conquer it feel terrified. If he is blindly radical, he is afraid that Li Sheng will put all the troops in his hands into it, and he will not be able to stabilize the situation. Therefore, when he had a great advantage, he chose a situation where multiple forces coexist and complement each other, which is indeed a good move. For he would then be able to draw his hand and withdraw most of the troops he had put into his arms, so that he could point his knife elsewhere. In the Taishou Mansion on the front line in Hefei, Jia Xu calmly analyzed the information he had just obtained from Jiaozhou to his lord Cao Cao. Cao Cao's intelligence network is undoubtedly the most powerful of all forces, although it has not been taken into account in many places, but for some "significant" things, he can obtain some information, even if it is the farthest away from the Central Plains Jiaozhou.

"In other words, Li Sheng has completely controlled Jiaozhou?" Cao Cao's eyes couldn't help but widen, "What a fast speed, such a clever means." Wen He, I think we must have a higher understanding of Li Sheng's strength. Do you still have no news about Changsha? ”

"Nope!" Jia Xu shook his head heavily, and said with a little frustration: "The intelligence network we originally set up in Jingnan was originally aimed at Liu Biao and Zhang Xian. Later, Liu Biao attacked Changsha, and the intelligence network was almost destroyed in the war, coupled with Li Sheng's strict control of Changsha, it has been difficult for us to get information over the years, and the situation has not improved much because Li Shengjun officially began to participate in the war. Although a lot of things on the surface have already come out, that's all. Those important things in the dark are still not exposed in the slightest. ”

"Well, that's a problem." Cao Cao pondered for a while, but there was still no better way, so he had to throw the matter aside, "Forget it, this is also something that cannot be rushed." I heard that Li Sheng's guy swept away all the private soldiers in Jiaozhou? Still clamoring that from now on these scholars will not be allowed to have their own soldiers and horses? Is this true? Those families are allowed to do the same? Cao Cao was curious about this, and he had also read the information sent below. It's just that the German information he looks at is not the original version of the intelligence, but has been cut and deleted by the people below. This is also something that can not be helped, after all, there are too many original versions of that information, and Cao Cao can't see all of them even if he has more energy. Therefore, he could only take a general look at the essence and ask Jia Xu, who was in charge of all this, about what he was interested in.

"It's true, according to the information I've received. On the 15th of last month, Li Sheng gathered a large number of people from the Shi family in Nanhai City and held a grand banquet. At this banquet, Li Sheng came up with a trick of releasing power with a glass of wine, and persuaded those people in Jiaozhou to give up most of their land and military power. Seeing that his lord asked, Jia Xu quickly called up the relevant information from his mind. Although his memory has not yet reached the level of perversion that some people will never forget, all the articles that he has read and memorized are all deeply remembered in his mind without exception, and can be easily recalled at any time.

"Oh? A glass of wine release? This Li Sheng will be tricky. The corners of Cao Cao's mouth lifted slightly, and an interested smile appeared on his face: "Let's talk about it, what is going on?" He did it? Cao Cao was eager to know this. As the monarch in power, he naturally knew how the Shi clans in the territory would harm his rule. Although many of his subordinates are from the big clan, this does not mean that Cao Cao himself has a good impression of the big clan. He was also born in a big family, and he can see the nature of these big families clearly, and he understands that for these big families, land, private soldiers, and blood are the three elements on which they depend. Moreover, among these three elements, land and military power are the key of the key. I think that he Cao Cao himself also wanted to collect these rights from the big clan, but he didn't want to cause the loss of Yanzhou, and almost caused himself to lose all his inheritance, and then he gradually reversed the defeat with his own ability, but he had to compromise with those big families on the issue of treating the Shi family, so that it is now. It can be said that the matter of taking action against the big family had a deep impression in Cao Cao's mind, and he suddenly heard that Li Sheng had taken action against the power of the Shi family, and he had achieved success, and he was immediately very interested in Li Sheng's approach. "Perhaps, there is something I can learn from this? Thinking so, he was anxious to know what it all was all about.

"Yes, my lord." Jia Xu naturally understood what Cao Cao cared about, and at that moment he cleared his throat and began to narrate the information he knew: "Everything started after Shi Yi took over the power of the Shi family......

Shi Yi took the assistance and armed more than 3,000 people sent by Li Sheng to his hometown, and after returning to his hometown in Jiaozhi, he solved the opposition in the family in one breath with a thunderous situation, and further fulfilled the original agreement with Li Sheng, began to check his own land and property, and reduced his own private soldiers. Such behavior undoubtedly served as a signal to the panic of the big people in Jiaozhou. They are all privileged vested interests, although most of them are maritime merchants, and they do not value the land and property particularly "seriously", but they are not willing to give up all that they have already obtained, not to mention that Li Sheng has to collect their arms.

"What should I do?" This is a headache for all the big families in Jiaozhou. The use of force to resist Li Sheng's army is obviously a matter that is not considered. Thinking that the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses of such a strong soldier family unified themselves were all done by Li Sheng at once, although there were also reasons why the Jiaozhou soldiers themselves were not suitable for frontal combat, but Li Shengjun's strong combat effectiveness still shocked them. What's more, the current Li Shengjun also has a scholar who has completely taken refuge in them as a guide, so that the geographical advantage of his side can no longer be relied on.

"Tell Li Sheng. After all, Li Sheng is only a foreign lord, and his rule in the local area still needs our assistance. Although he already has the support of such a big head as the Shi family, such support is still not enough for such a vast area as Jiaozhou. As long as we can all stick to our own ideas and explain our opinions to Li Sheng. I think Li Sheng should also compromise with us in order to maintain his rule. "Naturally, there are some clear-headed people in those flustered clans, and they naturally make such suggestions to their own patriarchs in order to protect their own interests.

"That's all there is to it." Those patriarchs and elders said reluctantly, but they still had some confidence in this in their hearts. As the proposer said, Li Sheng is only a foreign lord, and his roots in the local area are not deep, and if he does not get the cooperation of his big families at all, he is afraid that his actions in this Jiaozhou land will suffer a serious setback. "We have deep local roots, and that's what we can rely on." They all believe in that.

Just after most of them had made such a decision, they couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised by the arrival of a piece of news, and they thought that God was on their side: "I hereby invite all the gentry of Jiaozhou to meet at the Hainan County Government on September 15, the 14th year of Jian'an. The Juan letter sent exudes a faint fragrance of osmanthus flowers, and it is written with heavy black ink on nearly a thousand small characters on the head of the rope, and the four and six li's words have been told a lot, and the most important thing is to put forward such an invitation.

"Could it be a Hongmen feast?" Of course, many of these people are skeptical, but more people think that this is an opportunity: "Originally, we wanted to find a reason to meet Li Sheng together, but we didn't want Li Sheng to have such an idea himself." Isn't that right? While there may be risks, they are not significant. Because the guy named Wolong next to Li Sheng will inevitably see the importance of our stability in Jiaozhou. He is unlikely to oppose all of us for his own self-righteous ideas. In other words, as long as we can hold on to our opinions, it will certainly not be us who will give in in the end. On the contrary, if we refuse to go, we are afraid that we will give Li Sheng the impression that we are afraid of him and are unwilling to cooperate with him. This is very bad for us going forward. You must know that we can insist on what we should insist on, but there is one thing that we cannot change, and that is the fact that Li Sheng has become the lord of Jiaozhou. ”

That's what it says. Well, then go for it. Following the opinion of the majority, those few who were still wary of it groaned slightly, and agreed. Of course, in private, they were still prepared for what would happen: most of them sent their own patriarchs and some of them loyal to the patriarch's arms, and left most of their private soldiers and the elder group: "If there is a case, the strength of the family will not be severely damaged." Everything is in the interests of the family. The high-sounding words made the patriarchs secretly annoyed in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do about the elders who held the power in their hands. At this moment, they seemed to have some understanding of the feelings in the heart of Shi Yi, who eliminated the elders of the family in one fell swoop: "Actually use us as bait, these old immortal guys......"

However, despite the dissatisfaction in their hearts, these patriarchs who were sent out as "bait" still had to petition Li Sheng for the benefit of their own families. Even if they can't sustain their family unless they leave the land, they are not willing to simply give up the land in their hands. After all, that's a big stake.

For the Taishou Mansion in Nanhai County, the venue of the banquet, the patriarchs of these large and small families are no strangers. In the past, the Shi family still had an unbreakable grasp of the power of Jiaonan, and these people often went in and out as guests of the Shi family in the Nanhai County Taishou Mansion, which was the fulcrum of the Shi family's rule in the northern region of Jiaonan. Of course, that's a thing of the past. When these people came here as guests, they didn't know how strange it was to face this city, which was still the domain of the scholars on the surface, but had actually changed its surname to "Li". I think that at the beginning, they were still planning to follow this scholar family by force to rebel against Li Sheng's rule in Jiaonan, but now they have to recognize Li Sheng's rule over Jiaozhou as representatives of their respective families. Although they are all doing this for their own interests, the thought of their former enemies becoming their masters, a sense of humiliation of being conquered involuntarily spreads in their hearts. They feel bad about it.

Li Sheng did not go outside the main hall of the Taishou Mansion to greet these gentry. Although he also understood that how to get these people to nod to the terms he had announced was the only purpose of holding this banquet today, he knew that there was no need for him to save face and meet with these people before the meeting. For although this banquet is to a large extent full of compromises like negotiations, in the face of the whole general situation, oneself, who has always had an absolute advantage, should never bow his head first.

In the words of Kong Ming, the military advisor beside him, that is: "When necessary, making the necessary arrogance is the best way to lower the morale of the other side." Now that we have the upper hand, we can naturally use this arrogant behavior to bring invisible pressure to the other party. ”

To be honest, in terms of Li Sheng's own personality, he is not used to this kind of deliberate arrogance. Because in his opinion, this kind of arrogance is undoubtedly a complete villainous behavior, and Li Sheng himself hates being a villain, and he wanted to do that kind of behavior like a corporal of Lixian as before, to get close to his goal and persuade them. But Kong Ming didn't think it was useful to do this: "My lord, this is the first time you have met them, even if you give them a good first impression, can you immediately transfer their past cognition and give up their benefits?" I guess that's unlikely. Only a fool would suddenly obey the person he just met. ”

"Ugh! That's right. Li Sheng was stunned by Kong Ming's words, and finally had to listen to Kong Ming's words and put on a shelf.