Yuan Shao thanked His Majesty for his kindness, and then pulled out the emperor's sword. After the shining sword was unsheathed, the soldiers who were watching the whole process under the sacrificial platform raised their spears high and shouted in unison: "Long live! Victory! Long live."

!Must win..."

These inspiring words made Liu Xie take a step back, leaving all the officials loyal to the Han Dynasty in the audience feeling disappointed...

After completing the ceremony, Yuan Shao did not set off directly, but went to the south gate first, and saw Liu Bei and his company.

"Xuande, don't worry. I have asked the emperor to send edicts to all the princes. I will not let you face Yuan Shu alone."

Regarding Yuan Shao's "consolation", Liu Bei could only chuckle, cupped his hands and said, "Then I will borrow Yuan Gong's good words."

"After the war is over, I will prepare a banquet in the palace. You must come back. Otherwise, I will have to drink with the emperor."

Although Yuan Shao spoke with a smile, Liu Bei couldn't hear his hint, so he stared at Yuan Shao and replied very seriously: "The emperor is still young and it is inconvenient to drink. I'd better wait until I come back to do it for you. Please don't do it, Mr. Yuan."

We must force the emperor, otherwise Liu Bei will risk his life, and he will not hesitate to do so."

"I understand what you mean, and I believe you can do it. As long as you come back, I promise to treat you the same as before." After saying that, Yuan Shao patted him on the shoulder. "You are a smart man, follow me from now on.

It will definitely accomplish a great cause that will reach the world.”

"It's a long journey, it's time to set off." Liu Bei did not reply to Yuan Shao's invitation. He simply excused himself and set off with his army.

Yan Liang, who was standing next to him, felt displeased when he saw this situation, and whispered: "This Liu Bei is so rude. My lord, I would like to suggest that we take this opportunity to kill him directly. Even if there are no Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, we thousands of

A hundred battle generals can also help the Lord rule the world fairly!"

In response to the general's suggestion, Yuan Shao smiled, waved his hands and said, "There is no need for this, it's just a little temper. If you don't have any ambition, how can you achieve hegemony in the future? On the other hand, are our armies ready?

"

"An army of three hundred thousand is ready to go, just waiting for the Lord's order!"

"Okay, the whole army attacks!"

Following Yuan Shao's order, the army set off across the north gate amidst the sound of drums and horns...

Just as the various armies were advancing towards Yuzhou, Sun Ce's team finally arrived at Jiaozhi after going through untold hardships.

As for why it was so difficult to say, the main reason is that Jiaozhi County is close to Linyizhou, which is very far away. Sun Ce and others walked there by water. As a result, they accidentally encountered a small storm at sea and lost their way. In the end,

Only by relying on Simon can we reach our destination.

However, because of this storm, the fleet accidentally discovered a small island with minerals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron, and even fruits that grew on trees and were later called coconuts. However, Sun Ce and others

It was the first time I saw it, and I didn’t know what to call it. I just called it “sweet fruit” because of its round shape and delicious taste. I collected two big ships and wanted to take it back for everyone around me to try.

"Three generals, my lord has invited me." Outside Yinglou City, the messenger came to the military camp and conveyed Shi Xie's invitation to Sun Ce and the others.

"He finally thought about it, but he was bored for two days." Sun Ce shrugged and told the three people beside him: "Zhou Yu and Zhou Tai led two thousand people to follow me into the city. Pan Zhang gathered the army and prepared outside the city.

Fight."

"No!" The three of them clasped their fists, and then walked out under the stunned envoy. "General Sun, my lord has made it clear that he only invites you to come alone. Your distrustful attitude makes it difficult to talk about things.

ah."

Hearing words that sounded like reminders and warnings, Sun Ce snorted coldly and replied: "As the saying goes, you must not have the intention to harm others, and you must have the intention to guard against others. Shi Xie and I met him for the first time on his territory.

, how can you not be on guard? As for whether you believe it or not, you have to see Shi Xie’s attitude before making a decision!"

With a reasonable reply, Sun Ce stopped paying attention to the envoy's advice. He got on his horse and came to the city gate. Seeing their menacing approach, the defenders on the city tower thought they were about to fight. They quickly drew up their bows and prepared for battle. In the end, it was better to rely on

The envoy came forward and took out the token given to him by Shi Xie, thus preventing evil things from happening.

After arriving at the agreed meeting place, Sun Ce walked slowly towards the pavilion and corridor. Zhou Tai waved his hand to signal everyone to be on guard, and then followed him.

Shi Xie, who was sitting on the stone bench, was not angry at all when he saw such a movement. He was still making tea leisurely. Another thing I have to mention is that although Shi Xie is now in his fifties and his temples are turning white, it looks like

He was very energetic, no wonder he lived to be ninety years old in this war-torn era when the average age was thirty-five.

"Please sit down and try my skills." Shi Xie pointed to the stone bench opposite and invited Sun Ce to take a seat. Zhou Yu and Zhou Tai were like two bodyguards, looking around to make sure there were no ambushes around.

Sun Ce was not afraid that the old man in front of him would poison his tea. He blew a few puffs of cold air, took a few sips, and replied with approval: "Good tea, but it still lacks the flavor compared to our Yangzhou tea."

.”

"Seriously? Then I'm interested in making an evaluation."

"Of course, if you want it, I will send someone to bring you a few ships when you go back."

"Then I would like to thank the general in advance for his kindness." Shi Xie thanked him with his hands. The conversation between the two was ordinary. If someone who didn't know about it saw it, they would probably think that they were just a pair of grandfather and grandson chatting...

"But before that, we still have to solve the matter at hand first." Sun Ce put down the tea cup, and his eyes became sharper as the conversation changed. "I think you can understand the purpose of my coming here."

"You can see that you're not just here to have tea with me. Tell me, what do you want?"

"Surrender."

Without making many fancy words, after Sun Ce said it calmly, Shi Xie smiled. "You have to give me a reason to surrender, right? If I don't surrender, you will raise an unknown army to capture the territory of my county and oppress me."

Can’t the local people succeed?”

"Maybe, anyway, the world is in chaos now. The princes from all over the country are attacking each other. The war is endless. It doesn't matter if there is an extra person."

"Why? Just your 50,000-strong army? Although I am not good at military affairs, I am not necessarily a coward. There are not many people in Jiaozhou, but they are still capable of fighting. Why do we need to make trouble to the death?"

"A fish dies and a net breaks the net?" Sun Ce laughed when he heard this meaning of perishing together. He laughed extremely wildly. He shook his head and sighed with emotion: "I think you are mistaken. 50,000 is just a vanguard, and there are 200,000 troops behind.

Wait, can your people block it?"

Regarding Sun Ce's narration, Shi Xie was not afraid, but also smiled. "Little baby, don't lie to me. Now everyone knows that Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor. How could your father, as a hussar general, not go after thieves? How can you still do that?

There is a large army behind, so it is obvious that they are trying to deceive me."

"What you said is true, but I must remind you that Yuan Shu is only in one state, but he has to face simultaneous attacks from the north and the south. It won't take three or five months, and others will die! At that time, we can turn our guns and attack you.

Already."??? "What? You mean Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and the others have sent troops?"

"Not only the two of them, but also the direction of Xuzhou and Jingzhou has moved. You are too far away and the news has not spread yet." Sun Ce knew about Jingzhou, but as for the other three parties, he followed Shi Xie's words and told them.

However, the effect was amazing. He watched Shi Xie drink the hot tea in one gulp and said nothing for a long time...

"The stated goal of our army is to capture Runan as quickly as possible, and then choose to continue heading north or turn south depending on the situation. By that time the army arrives, and even if you bring all the people in the state to the battlefield, it won't be enough."

While observing Shi Xie's reaction, he continued to speak more emphatically: "Among our army, the supervisor Wen Du told me that you are an elegant person who is considerate of the people, has great literary attainments, and is courteous to the virtuous and corporal. He specially warned me.

Only when you firmly refuse to surrender will you let me use force and ask me to try to save your life."

"Did that person really say that?"

"If you don't believe it, you can ask him yourself in the future. And he also said that surrender is not slavery, it just makes you belong to my father. From now on, Jiaozhou will still be yours. Our army is destined to advance north, you just need to stay behind

Just make trouble and at the same time open up political, cultural exchanges and trade between the two states."

"If this is the plan, then I can accept it. Anyway, Sun Jian is also a good backer. As long as there is no danger to Jiaozhou, there is nothing wrong with hanging out with him." Shi Xie nodded, taking the suggestion into consideration.

"That's right!" Seeing that the plan was done, Sun Ce was very happy to raise the cup and drink it all in one gulp. As expected, his tongue was burned...

On the other hand, Sun Jian and his subordinate Wenwu, who had arrived in Shouchun a few days ago, were half-kneeling on the ground. Standing in front of them were two eunuchs.

"... Yuan Shu, the governor of Yuzhou, blatantly usurped the Han Dynasty and established himself on his own. He falsely claimed the number of heaven and ordered the hussar general Sun Jian to lead his army to the north to destroy the traitors and protect the Han Dynasty. I admire this."

"Your Majesty, Sun Jian, accepts the decree." After saying this, Sun Jian raised his hands and took the edict from Eunuch Li.

"General Sun, the imperial edict has been issued. Please leave as soon as possible."

Sun Jian patted his chest and said with assurance: "Don't worry, father-in-law, since Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, I have sent all the troops, horses, food and grass here. I will start marching this afternoon and try my best to maintain the unification of Han Dynasty!"

"

"With such a good general, we believe that the Han Dynasty will still have hope for recovery in the future!" Eunuch Li couldn't help but shed tears, which showed that he still wanted to recover the crumbling Han Dynasty.

Looking at his appearance, Sun Jian, who had just put down his rhetoric, licked his lips and felt a little embarrassed. After all, a different voice began to appear in his heart than when he was focused on helping the country...
Chapter completed!