When the army reorganization movement in Jingnan, known as the "July Consolidation", was released in Changsha and gradually expanded like all the counties of Jingnan, the plan, or to be precise, a great conspiracy, was carried out intensely in the city of Yulin County. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info trial, a trial that caused a lot of headaches for the Yishi family, which made Shi Xie, who came here at the invitation of Li Sheng, worried.

There has always been a so-called marriage habit between the wealthy families, and the various intricate relationships make their entanglement with each other by no means simply summarized by who is the enemy of whom, as it is said from the outside. Although Li Sheng is only dealing with a few short-sighted guys in Yulin County now, his selection of people is important, and the scope of involvement is huge, but it is related to several families that are very related to Shixie himself. Because Li Sheng fought for the reason of the common people, and did the feat of the sergeant doctor, several implicated families had to join forces, on the one hand, they began to compete with Li Sheng, and on the other hand, they forced Shixie to intervene in this matter, so that he had to come from Jiaozhi, where his base camp is located, to Yulin, where Li Shengxing's camp is now located, to plead to Li Sheng, the "little fox", for these unsightly scum.

"But it's just a favor!" Shi Xie, who was asked to stay in the post house, sighed helplessly in the face of the information he had just obtained from Li Sheng, and his eyes were aimlessly cast into the void, which was full of sharpness: "If it weren't for those guys who used the trick of retreating to force me over, I would just be afraid that I wouldn't even want to pay attention to these things." Look at them, what kind of thing are they doing! He knew that what was written in the information was true, and he couldn't help but feel a resentment in his heart for those who had committed crimes.

"Big brother, don't be angry, don't be angry." Shi Yi, who came here with Shi Xie, persuaded his brother with a sneer: "What these people do is indeed a little unruly, but that's just the end. Big brother must not pay attention to the details and ignore the essence of the matter. ”

"Oh? What does this mean? Shi Xie naturally had a slight understanding of this, but he still wanted to listen to his brother's advice. For the eldest brother standing beside him at the moment, he has great expectations for him. And Shi Yi did not live up to this expectation, I dare not say that compared with the kind of strong people in the Central Plains, but at least in this remote place of Jiaozhou, he Shi Yi can be regarded as a figure with both civil and military skills, not only is he extremely skilled in archery and horse, and he is very experienced in the politics of the county, but he is also good at handling the relationship between the families. If Shi Xie, as the head of the family, is the leader in the south of Jiaozhou, then Shi Xie, the brother Shi Xie relied on the most, is undoubtedly the mastermind of Jiaonan. There are many things that Shi Xie has decided after discussing with him.

"The people of the Shi family have committed crimes since ancient times, so Li Sheng, an outsider, can just do it impartially, can he use it to make such a storm in the city? I don't think what he really means is here, but about those of us who are in the south. Didn't my brother see the record that most of the people from Jiaonan given by Li Sheng here? Although there are some people in Jiaobei, they are also people who have a close relationship with Jiaonan, but there are none related to Lai Gong and Wu Ju. What does this mean? It's not that Li Sheng wants to use this matter to suppress us. Shi Yi said confidently, he felt that he had seen through the whole thing.

"So what do you think we're going to do? Do you want to ignore it? Shi Xie raised his voice slightly and hurriedly asked. He looked very anxious, the green tendons on his forehead were exposed, and he seemed to be a little at a loss, but this was only his surface, in fact, his calm eyes had clearly shown his composure and calmness, and he thought he had his own opinion on this matter. What I care about now is whether my eldest brother is the same as what I think.

"Ignore it? Unless the elder brother is going to sit back and sit still. Shi Yi is Shi Xie's own brother, so naturally there are so many scruples between his words, and he directly pointed out the worst consequences of letting go.

"So meddling in the matter? Just plead with Li Sheng like this? Shi Xie also understood that that was not advisable, so he changed his course on the spot and tentatively changed his statement.

"If that's the case, then my brother is waiting to be alone. At that time, I was afraid that as soon as Li Sheng made a move, the first to open the door to greet Li Sheng were the people in our city. After all, the things those people have done have been announced to the world by Li Sheng, and everyone knows what kind of goods they are. If we intercede for them, we are afraid that we will lose the support of the people. Shi Yi said coldly, and also proposed such a terrible consequence to his brother.

"And what do you think I should do?" Shi Xie asked even more helplessly, "I can't withdraw, and I can't intercede." Are we just stiff? I'm afraid it won't work either. Li Sheng won't let us go so easily. Since he provoked this matter, he must have left a back hand after this incident. ”

"That's for sure, of course. Although Li Sheng's strength is the weakest among the great princes in the world, and his reputation is not very prominent in the world, judging from his consistent performance, being able to endure and use strategy is really the greatest success of his current foundation. For such a strategizing opponent, how can a mere plan have no backhand. Shi Yi nodded and said, "As far as I can see, everything they are doing now has already been calculated. As the elder brother said, in such a situation, our withdrawal will cause opposition and betrayal from the people of the family, and our intervention may cause resentment among the people of the whole state. It seems that we have only a stalemate. Obviously, if we continue this stalemate, I am afraid that Li Sheng will use some brains to deal with us, and if we use the method of inciting from both sides, I am afraid that we will really offend both sides. ”

"So what are we going to do?" Shi Xie asked again, cold sweat oozing from his forehead. Although he also thought that Li Sheng had the next step behind his current methods, he didn't think much about how much of this backhand might be, especially when he didn't think of using the method of two-headed incitement to deal with himself as Shi Yi said: "If this is really the case, it is really terrible." ”

"I think we should intervene in this matter first, stabilize Li Sheng for the time being, and let him not have such an idea of continuing to incite. Secondly, on the one hand, we must convince the people in the south that the eldest brother has indeed interceded with Li Sheng, but failed because of Li Sheng's disagreement, and on the other hand, we must give an account to the people, and if necessary, we should issue statements such as a letter of guilt. In general, it doesn't matter to us whether those people live or die, whether it is the people or the family, as long as we can give them what they need, they can easily settle it. As for the last Li Sheng's side, as long as the eldest brother remembers that he can't let out Jiaozhi and Nanri, and can't lose control of the soldiers, we can give the rest of Li Sheng whatever he wants. After all, whether it is us, Lai Gong, or Li Sheng himself, they all understand one thing, that is, Li Sheng's management of Jiaozhi may be superficial at the moment. Li Sheng is a figure who wants to dominate the world, and he will never exert his efforts for a mere Jiaozhou. For him, Li Sheng, the enemy is in the east, north, west, not in the almost inconsequential south. Shi Yi suggested to his brother.

"In other words, we are going to surrender Li Sheng and make concessions to Li Sheng, right?" Shi Xie's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he stared at his younger brother tightly.

"That's right." Shi Yi nodded heavily, and did not flinch a little in the face of Shi Xie's gaze: "Doesn't the eldest brother have any ideas about this matter?" I don't think so. If you don't want to take refuge in Li Sheng, then what is the eldest brother doing here? ”

"Hehe, is it only here to take refuge in Li Sheng?" Shi Xie looked at his younger brother and shook his head gently: "Brother, you haven't thought long enough." While the analysis of the situation is good, you can't see enough of the road ahead. Jiaozhou can't stand on its own feet, that's right. Because we simply don't have the strength to stand on our own. But the only person who wants to take refuge is Li Sheng? Not necessarily. I'm just here to see what Li Sheng is like. As for whether he really wants to take refuge in him, he has to wait and see. In fact, according to my estimates, we are facing a predicament of only one year at most. If we can survive this year, we will have more ways to go. This is also the reason why Li Sheng is so eager to go south after the end of Chibi. ”

"A year? Why? Shi Yi asked curiously. He was visibly surprised by what his brother had said: "Will it be any different in a year's time?" ”

"Huh, different? Of course, there will be a difference. Shi Xie laughed: "Brother, do you know why I went north to Xuchang in the first place? ”

"Isn't it to take refuge in Prime Minister Cao?" Shi Yi said tentatively with some suspicion.

"Of course, it's to take refuge in Prime Minister Cao." Shi Xie nodded heavily, "Do you know why I went to Cao Cao when Liu Biao was still in control of Jiaozhou?" ”

"Because Cao Cao is the strongest force in the world, the eldest brother sees that Liu Biao can't resist Cao Cao, and Jingzhou will be owned by Cao Cao sooner or later." Shi Yi also participated in Shi Xie's defection to Cao Cao at the beginning, so he answered his brother's current question very positively.

"It's not just Jingzhou, at that time I thought that the whole world would fall into the hands of Cao Cao, but I thought...... Alas, everything is impermanent! Shi Xie's voice suddenly lowered, full of helplessness.

Those who are less powerful can only take refuge in those who are strong. In this troubled world, you either make yourself stronger, or you have to rely on the strong to survive. When Liu Biao was still there, Liu Biao was undoubtedly such a strong man, so Jiaozhou was attached to him and obeyed the management of Lai Gong and Wu Ju appointed by Liu Biao. And when Cao Cao was about to go south, not only the people in Jingzhou wanted to take refuge in Cao Cao, but even in Jiaozhou, which was far away in Tiannan, there were also people who wanted to take refuge in him -- Shi Xie was one of the representatives. However, a fire in Chibi made this kind of refuge a bamboo basket for nothing, and Cao Cao, who was defeated and could not go south in the short term, had lost the strength to contact Jiaozhou and control Jiaozhou. This forced them to change their ways. At this moment, there were two masters who appeared in front of them: one was Li Sheng and Li Zixu, who directly controlled Jingnan and had 70,000 male soldiers, and even used a strategy to attack Jiangling and Xiangyang and make Cao Cao panic to the north; The other is Sun Quan, who has Jiangdong after three generations, has thousands of warships, and exists as the main force of Chibi to resist Cao. There are young people on both sides, and on both sides are rising stars who were not very famous in the world and shocked the world by relying on this red cliff war. In the end, Jiaozhou still needs to think a little bit about where to go.

Originally, Lai Gong and Wu Ju had already taken the lead in taking refuge in Li Sheng, so Shi Xie, who was considered their opponent, should naturally go to Sun Quan, but Shi Xie did not. Because he saw the current situation clearly, he knew that Jiangdong's support for him was definitely not as great as Li Sheng's threat to him at the moment. Although Jiangdong and Li Sheng are already allies, in the face of practical interests, in front of the territory of a state, what alliance can last? Li Sheng had already driven his own army to Cangwu and directly threatened him, while the Jiangdong side was still entangled in the battle for Huainan, and there was Shanyue's elbow behind them, and the two seemed to lean on Li Sheng's side as the best choice.

Of course, Li Sheng is still young, and there may be many inconsiderateness, and it is not clear whether he has the stomach to accept all rivers. For Li Sheng, a newcomer, he didn't know much about him, so he didn't dare to be 100% sure that the other party would accept him even though Lai Gong and Wu Ju had already taken refuge. This is an uncertain point. Because of the uncertainty, he was a little apprehensive. In fact, as far as he is concerned, he is still more inclined to take refuge in Sun Quan, and as for Cao Cao, there is no hope at all.

"Adjacent to our Jiaozhou are Jing, Yi and Yang. Liu Zhang of Yizhou is weak and does nothing, let's not talk about him. At present, the people who can make us take refuge in Jiaozhou are Li Sheng in Jingzhou and Sun Quan in Yangzhou. Li Sheng from Jingzhou has already come here, so let's not talk about him for the time being. It's just that Sun Quan of Yangzhou, although he has a heart for my Jiaozhou, he is also powerless. He is now being dragged in Huainan to face Cao Cao. It is estimated that it will take nearly a year for the results to be separated between them. Not to mention that Sun Quan's own side is still being restrained by the Shanyue people. I think it will be a year before Sun Quan has the heart to come to Jiaozhou. Shi Xie pondered and explained.

"So what?" Shi Yi asked puzzledly, "What if Sun Quan's people join?" Could it be that Sun Quan will definitely give us better treatment? ”

"Not really!" Shi Xie shook his head lightly and said, "Sun Quan's people may not necessarily give us more benefits. But at the same time, with Li Sheng's joining, it is different. If Sun Quan and Li Sheng also come to compete for Jiaozhou, then we are like businessmen waiting to be sold at a price, and we can live in strange goods with the items that others expect. As he spoke, Shi Xie sighed, as if he felt sorry that he couldn't do this right now.

"I see!" Shi Yi's eyes lit up suddenly, and then they darkened again: "But it will take another year." A year is not long, it is not short, but it can change a lot of things. He also sighed a little, but was more curious: "The eldest brother has already thought of this, so he must have his own opinion on the road we want to walk in the future." Please also be sure to give me advice. ”

"That's right. However, as long as you see the right timing, the operation is good. It is not impossible to get the most out of our family. Shi Xie said calmly. He is the eldest brother and the head of the family, and such a calm attitude is naturally not comparable to Shi Yi.

"...... exactly?" Shi Yi looked at his eldest brother expectantly.

"Concrete? Now there is no specifics. Shi Xie chuckled and shook his head, "We still know too little about Li Sheng, so we can't draw conclusions about him directly. So I'm going to meet him first. I want to use my own eyes to see whether this young man is worth our refuge, and how much he can benefit from us in order to take refuge. ”

"Huh? How is that? Shi Yi was speechless in surprise, "Just to meet Li Sheng, and come to this Yulin in person, big brother, are you too reckless to do this." In case Li Sheng turns his face, it won't be easy for us to do it. Shi Yi was anxious about this.

"Flip around? I don't think so. Shi Xie stubbornly shook his head and denied: "I think Li Sheng should care more about our life and death than others." After all, if you want to become a person who takes over the world, you can't rely on some small tricks. We have come here in the open, but alone, and if he puts us under house arrest or executed, I am afraid that it will not be good for his reputation. Li Sheng is not a big force like Sun Quan and Cao Cao, he doesn't have much reputation and foundation to ruin. And I've already left a message to Ah Hui, asking him to maintain the corresponding pressure on the border between Jiaozhi and Yulin in order to respond to our actions. If anything happens to me here, he will directly become the leader of the scholars. ”

"This ......" Hearing what the eldest brother said, Shi Yi's heart became more uneasy instead of letting go. What kind of person is his nephew, the eldest son of the eldest brother, Shihui, others don't know, isn't it clear to him, the second uncle who has watched him grow up since he was a child? Although Shi Hui has always been well-behaved and intelligent, and after a few years of study, he can be regarded as a successful scholar and martial artist, but Shi Yi understands that after he has achieved success, he has no one in his personality and his eyes are above the top. In the place, it was the same nonsense as those fools, except that he used some cleverness when he was messing around, and did not make things bigger; In the army, as a major general, he couldn't tolerate people, and he would repay him, although he never caused any big trouble, but it also made the atmosphere in the army extremely uncoordinated. And that's when he's watching with himself and his brother watching. Now that he is allowed to lead the army alone, what kind of move will he make, Shi Yi is really worried. He looked at his brother and opened his mouth but didn't say anything. "My brother is good at everything, but he is too confident in his son. Right now, I'm afraid that he won't believe anything I say. Looking at the excitement on Shi Xie's face, Shi Yi smiled helplessly, "I hope there is no case." ”

The meeting with Li Sheng took place five days after arriving in Yulin in the back garden of Yulin Taishou's mansion. Perhaps Li Sheng had already considered the problem of Shi Xie and Lai Gong not dealing with each other, and this meeting was only accompanied by Yu Lin Taishou Han Xuan and Li Sheng's own military advisor Zhuge Liang, and Lai Gong was persuaded by Realization and did not stay by Li Sheng's side. It is the first month of July, it is a day of flowers and fruits, the whole back garden is not only full of the fragrance of osmanthus, but also can see lychee, longan and other unique fruits that belong to the south full of dripping on the branches. It was already very hot, but for the people who were going to talk, because of the shade of the trees and the water wheels spinning beside it, although there was a slight stuffiness, it was still within the tolerable range.

When Shi Xie came to the back garden, Li Sheng was already there. It's just that he didn't honestly sit in the pavilion in the back garden that was used as a meeting place, but stayed on the bank of the creek and teased the carp in the stream with the scraps in his hand. This was originally a leisurely scene full of leisure and leisure, but in Shixie's own opinion, Li Sheng's actions were full of confidence. "Why is he so confident?" Shi Xie thought wildly, and suddenly felt a bad feeling in his heart.

Since he came here, he is naturally Li Sheng's guest. When Shi Xie appeared at the gate of this courtyard, someone had already reported to Li Sheng that Shi Xie had arrived. It's just that Li Sheng, who got the report, didn't make any moves, he still concentrated on teasing and watching the smart and changeable carp in the stream with Kong Ming, watching them play in the water, and feeling their happiness. He didn't raise his head until Shi Xie walked to his side, only Yu Lin Taishou Han Xuan, who was standing beside Li Sheng, embarrassed and smiled bitterly at Shi Xie who had just come here.

Looking at Li Sheng, who didn't pay attention to him, and looking at Han Xuan, who was smiling bitterly at him, Shi Xie's heart could be described as full of flavors. On his own territory, he is a hero who calls for wind and rain to dominate the party, and in the entire Jiaozhou, he can be regarded as a well-known hero, when has he ever been so looked down upon? Facing Li Sheng's back, he had a feeling of being insulted.

"I, Shixie, am also the lord of Jiaonan who owns the three counties, and I am treated like this by such a small hairy person as you, and I look down on people too much. When the guests came, instead of standing up to greet each other, they also turned their backs to each other. This is really a faux pas, a real faux pas. Shi Xie was secretly annoyed, and even had the urge to turn around and leave in his heart. He is a son of the wealthy family, and even if he doesn't usually show it, he has his own pride. If it weren't for the interests of the entire family, and if it weren't for the fact that the oppression brought by Li Sheng was too strong at the moment, he would not have condescended to come here to meet such a young "nouveau riche". Li Sheng is a complete nouveau riche in the eyes of a scholar like him, who has no foundation and no family. Although people outside say that Li Sheng is the descendant of Li Yinggong, the former leader of the party, this matter has not been confirmed conclusively, so it is not clear how credible it is. Even if it was true, the anger in his heart was still burning, and he didn't want to admit it.

was about to leave, but saw Li Sheng standing up leisurely and looking at himself with a smile: "Lord Shixie, Li Zixu is justified here." He said and bowed to Shi Xie, but he did it according to the number of courtesies, and he did it according to the specifications of the junior to meet the elders, so that Shi Xie was both embarrassed and surprised to be stuck there, and he didn't know what he should do for a while. If Li Sheng really ignores himself, then of course he can leave angrily. But Li Sheng is smiling and humbly saluting himself now, the so-called reaching out and not hitting the smiling person, it seems that he can't be too much to this Li Sheng.

Helpless, Shi Xie had no choice but to step forward and salute Li Sheng in return: "I've seen General Zhennan." ”

Regarding how to call this young adult after meeting Li Sheng, Shi Xie thought about it for a long time: he can't call Li Sheng Changsha Taishou, because that seems to be too much to look down on Li Sheng, Changsha Taishou can only manage one county, and Li Sheng doesn't talk about Jiaozhou at the moment, but also closed four counties in Jingnan, far more than Changsha; Of course, you can't call him the state pastor as soon as they meet, because he doesn't plan to take refuge in Li Sheng like this, but just wants to see it first, so Jiaozhou Mu, who has a clear intention to only represent him, can't put it on his head; Thinking about it, it seems that only the title of General Zhennan is more suitable. Zhennan, guarding Nannaner, whether it is Jingnan or Jiaozhou, is regarded as the category of Zhennan, and whether this category has an actual direction is the most suitable for the current ambiguity. -- Shi Xie finally made such a decision.

Hearing Shi Xie call himself like this, Li Sheng smiled slightly and nodded noncommittally, as if he had understood what Shi Xie was thinking in his heart. He stepped forward half a step forward and supported Shi Xie, and said to Shi Xie with a smile: "I have been waiting for a long time for Lord Taishou. Because of the long wait, it was a little boring. I can't stand being bored, so please forgive me for any rudeness. ”

"Don't dare, don't dare!" Shi Xie politely waved his hand again and again: "The general is so polite, the old man is ashamed to be ashamed." ”

"Where is there anything you don't dare?" Li Sheng smiled, stretched out his hand and led Shi Xie to the place where he had prepared to meet guests, the pavilion under the shade of the trees. After dividing the master and slave to sit down, the two sides were slightly polite, and Li Sheng introduced his military advisor Zhuge Liang to the other party. "This is my Zhang Zifang." He said meaningfully.

Hearing Li Sheng say this, Shi Xie showed a smile that was really like this, but he also praised it appropriately: "I have heard the name of Mr. Wolong a few years ago. Although I have long heard that Mr. and General Zhennan are both young people, but now I really feel that the back wave is overshadowing the front wave. We are all old, and judging from the current situation of the Battle of Chibi, I am afraid that in the future, it will be a world of young people. ”

"Your Excellency, I'm very upset." Zhuge Liang hurriedly humbled himself, and then turned the topic to business: "I want to invite the adults to join the great cause of our army, I don't know what the intentions of the adults are?" ”

Maybe Shi Xie himself still has the mentality of waiting and seeing Li Sheng, but Li Sheng never wants Shi Xie to perfunctory about it. Whether it is Li Sheng or Zhuge Liang, their attitude towards Shixie's side is very clear, that is, to let Shixie directly express his position whether to accept Li Sheng's management of Jiaozhou. If so, then naturally he can also concede some benefits to him. If not, then there is nothing to say, just prepare for war.

At present, Li Sheng thinks that his advantage in Jiaozhou is very obvious. After suppressing and co-opting those opponents in the three northern counties of Jiaozhou according to the series of plans he had originally formulated, not many people in the north of Jiaozhou dared to oppose Li Sheng's arrival. With the initial integration of the army in the hands of Lai Gong and Wu Ju in Li Sheng, Li Sheng has been able to deploy the 20,000 people he brought with him on the southern front of Yulin with relative confidence, and everything can be suppressed by Shixie's Jiaozhou army when the order is issued here.

Yes, Li Sheng plans to have a showdown with Shixie directly: is it a battle? Is it down? He didn't want to be in the blur anymore.

"Join the general's cause? If the general had a chance of success, I would have been willing. But as far as I know, the general seems to be the weakest of the three Jiangnan families? Although it is possible that we will get more by joining the general, as the head of the family, I have to think about it for my family. "The people of Nanjiao, who made a fortune mainly in business, did not shy away from their interests, but after Zhuge Liang clearly expressed his willingness to have a showdown, Shixie did not hesitate to say the benefits he hoped to get.