Seeing the surprised expression on Liu Bei's face, Zhang Heng became serious, cupped his hands to Liu Bei and said: "Mr. Why lose troops in vain?"
"But……"
Liu Bei frowned. Although he couldn't find a reason to refute, he still didn't agree with Zhang Heng's statement.
"Besides, those people don't necessarily want us to join the war."
Liu Bei immediately retorted: "Zi Yi's words are wrong. One more person is more powerful. Why don't they want us to join the war?"
"In Mr. Xuande's opinion, this is true, but in their opinion, if one more person participates in the battle, the credit will be lost. If Mr. Xuande doesn't believe it, we might as well make a bet."
Liu Bei remained silent, with only a wry smile on his face.
He didn't choose to gamble because he knew what Zhang Heng said was right.
In the eyes of those who are truly loyal to the imperial court, the more people participating, the greater the chance of victory.
But in the eyes of careerists, they wish they could take all the credit.
Moreover, he has already made too many achievements before, and if he actively participates in the war now, he will inevitably make people dislike him.
"Ziyi, you think too much about people." Liu Bei shook his head and sighed.
Zhang Heng said with a smile: "In that case, we might as well wait and see what happens. If the princes strongly invite us, we will go to join the battle. If they don't say a word, then we will stay and defend the city. What does Mr. Xuande think?"
"That's all."
Liu Bei nodded and agreed to Zhang Heng's compromise strategy.
Although he wanted to join the war, Liu Bei was extremely disappointed with the subsequent development of the situation.
After some discussion among the princes, the battlefield was finally set at twenty miles west of Xingyang.
Zhang Heng had explored the terrain there before. It was flat in all directions and had an unobstructed view of the surrounding area. There were no dangerous mountains or big rivers. Use that place as a battlefield. Even if you have a great strategy, you can't use it. You can only fight with the opponent honestly.
It seems that the jujube princes are not stupid. They know that Dong Zhuo cannot do anything in advance in this place.
It's just that they overestimated their combat power. Choosing such a place would probably make Dong Zhuo laugh out of his dreams.
The battlefield was decided, and it was Zang Hong who finally stepped forward and led his men to send out the gauntlet.
Thus, a big battle was decided.
However, the discussion was between Liu Dai's small group and Yuan Shao's princes from beginning to end, and no one asked Liu Bei's group for their opinions. This made Liu Bei extremely disappointed.
It wasn't until the discussion was finalized that Liu Dai turned to look at Liu Bei, with an extremely kind smile on his face.
"My dear brother, we will definitely kill the Dong thief in this battle, and we will complete our work in one battle!"
Liu Bei nodded expressionlessly, "What my brother said is absolutely true."
"But there is a difficult problem right now..." At this point, Liu Dai's face became embarrassed, "We are determined to fight with Thief Dong, but we are afraid that Thief Dong will deceive us. Brother, just imagine, if we all come out, Thief Dong will take advantage of this opportunity. What if we send troops to raid Xingyang and cut off our retreat?"
When Liu Bei heard this, his heart suddenly sank.
Why couldn't he hear Liu Dai's words? He just wanted to keep an army to guard Xingyang.
Who should be left behind?
Of course it's him, otherwise why would he tell himself this.
As expected, Rang Ziyi was right. Not only did these people want to grab credit, they actually wanted to exclude themselves.
I originally thought of trying my best to protect them, but now it seems that it is no longer necessary.
When he thought of this, Liu Bei's eyes flashed with determination.
"What my brother said is absolutely true. We should leave a group of troops to defend the city." Liu Bei said calmly.
Hearing this, Liu Dai's eyes flashed with joy.
"Staying behind is an important task, and it cannot be carried out by those who are not wise and brave. Who do you think it is best to keep behind, my dear brother?"
Liu Bei bowed his hand, and just when he was about to volunteer, Zhang Miao on the side spoke in advance.
"Brother Xuande's soldiers are extremely brave and have defeated Dong thieves many times before. Aren't they the best candidates?"
Zhang Miao was afraid that Liu Bei would recommend someone from his side, so he targeted Liu Bei in advance.
Liu Bei nodded immediately, "Brother Meng Zhuo is not worthy of such praise. If so, then Bei will guard the retreat for the army."
"Forehead……"
Zhang Miao almost choked to death at these words. He thought Liu Bei would definitely refuse, so he prepared a lot of excuses in advance.
Who knew that Liu Bei agreed without even thinking about it, which made him at a loss what to do.
This was a crucial battle to annihilate the Dong thieves. People with lofty ideals all fought bravely to be the first, fearing that others would take away the credit. Why was Liu Xuande willing to become the queen?
Zhang Miao naturally couldn't figure it out, but Liu Bei was not interested in answering his doubts.
Liu Dai, on the other hand, felt a little embarrassed when he saw Liu Bei agreeing readily. He quickly took Liu Bei's hand and comforted him: "Don't blame me, my virtuous brother. Brother Fool knows that this battle is a once-in-a-lifetime battle. It's not that he doesn't want his virtuous brother to make meritorious deeds. It's just that he's not a virtuous brother. No!"
"Don't worry, we are gathered here just to destroy Dong's thieves. As long as we can help the country, there is no difference between us. There is no difference between staying behind and joining the war."
This was indeed what Liu Bei said from the bottom of his heart, and it was also his last advice to the princes, although he knew that these people would not listen at all.
After saying that, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh, he was completely disappointed with these people, and even changed his name to Liu Dai.
"My dear brother, these words are very kind!"
Liu Dai gave a thumbs up and praised.
Zhang Miao also agreed: "Yes, Mr. Xuande is a noble and upright man, and he can be a role model for our generation!"
"Everyone, please sit back and prepare for some military affairs. Please leave now."
In response to the compliments from the two of them, Liu Bei no longer had the mood to deal with them and simply turned away.
So that night, Zhang Heng saw Liu Bei drinking alone in the courtyard.
Of course Zhang Heng knew what was going on, but he didn't intend to be Liu Bei's life mentor.
There are some things that you still have to figure out on your own.
In order to prevent Liu Bei from teasing him, Zhang Heng didn't even dare to make a sound and walked out quietly.
Fortunately, Liu Bei was almost drunk at this time and did not notice Zhang Heng.
After walking out of the door, Zhang Heng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, he saw a lost-looking Chen Gong standing in front of the door, holding a bottle of wine in his hand.
"Captain, would you like to accompany me and get drunk together?"
When Chen Gong saw Zhang Heng, he forced a smile on his face and raised the wine bottle in his hand.
Zhang Heng couldn't help being stunned.
What day is it today? Are there so many EMO people?
Ren Zhang Heng used a clever plan to avoid Liu Bei's disaster, but he never expected that Chen Gong would come to visit.
Helpless, Zhang Heng quickly looked around. After seeing no one around him, Zhang Heng felt relieved and invited Chen Gong into his room.
"Gongtai, I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to visit at this time."
Zhang Heng took out two wine bottles and placed them on the table, smiling bitterly.
"Hmph, what's inappropriate?"
Chen Gong snorted disdainfully and immediately started pouring the wine.
Zhang Heng shrugged, "Why should Gongtai ask questions knowingly?"
Although everyone is an alliance in name, they are still quite distinct. After all, Chen Gong belongs to Zhang Miao. If he came to visit Zhang Heng late at night, if anyone saw him, he would inevitably make bad assumptions.
Of course, Zhang Heng didn't care, as long as Chen Gong didn't worry about arousing Zhang Miao's suspicion.
Chen Gong did not continue to argue on this topic. He just filled up the two wine bottles, raised them up and said to Zhang Heng: "Captain, I would like to propose a toast to you!"
"Thank you Gongtai, but...can I not drink it?"
As soon as these words came out, Chen Gong's expression suddenly changed.
Zhang Heng curled his lips and quickly drank the wine in the bottle.
Seeing this, Chen Gong's face looked better, and he raised his glass and drank it in one gulp.
"Why, the captain is afraid that I will poison the wine?"
"good."
Zhang Heng nodded quickly.
Chen Gong:......
Zhang Ziyi, do you know how to chat?
"Don't blame me in public. I've always been more honest and cautious." Zhang Heng shrugged and smiled.
After all, I threatened you severely last time. Who knows if you might lose your mind and come over to die with me.
Facing Zhang Heng who was in deep depression, Chen Gong rolled his eyes helplessly and continued drinking.
"Speaking of which, why did Gongtai come to visit late at night?" Zhang Heng asked with a smile.
Although Zhang Heng detained Chen Gong a few days ago, he did not restrict his personal freedom. It was not until the jujube coalition forces arrived that Chen Gong returned to Zhang Miao.
Zhang Miao didn't even ask why Chen Gong didn't go back, and just treated Chen Gong as close as before.
Well, they are indeed very close, but they are still the same as before without giving them any power.
Such an indifferent attitude made Chen Gong lose interest in explaining.
Later, Dong Zhuo's letter of war arrived, and all the princes unanimously expressed their determination to go to war. Of course Chen Gong could see the gap in strength between the two sides. After returning, he began to advise Zhang Miao not to fight with Dong Zhuo outside the city.
Regarding this, Zhang Miao's attitude was still as kind as ever.
He didn't say he would listen, nor did he say he wouldn't listen. He just smiled and coaxed Chen Gong back.
Chen Gong tried to persuade him several times, but in the end the result was the same.
Now Chen Gong was completely awake.
He suddenly figured out why Zhang Miao didn't reuse him because he didn't like him at all.
In other words, what Zhang Miao values is just his aura as a celebrity in Dongjun and the power of the Chen family behind him. He always carries himself with him just to show off his thirst for talents and gain a false reputation.
If he was not from a noble family and was not a famous person from Dongjun, Zhang Miao would never even look at him.
After figuring this out, Chen Gong was completely disappointed with Zhang Miao.
Frustrated, his mind suddenly recalled what Zhang Heng had said to him that day in front of Xingyang City.
So, he came.
