When the three brothers Liu Bei heard Gong Jing's invitation, they each had different ideas. Li Zhong and Gao Meng actually wanted to agree. After all, being appreciated by the governor of a county was already a step to the sky for them.
As long as they agree to stay in Qingzhou, they can't be said to be able to become marquises or prime ministers in the future. But they can definitely live a good life with this relationship. The three brothers are definitely famous in Qingzhou.
But only Li Zhong and Gao Meng couldn't think of it, because Liu Bei is now their backbone. And if Liu Bei doesn't agree, there's nothing they can do.
Faced with Gong Jing's appreciation, Liu Bei had his own ambitions. He did not want to just stay in the Qingzhou area, and if he was willing to pray to his teacher Lu Zhi at that time. It was entirely possible for him to hold a small official position in the court, but he did not.
Liu Bei himself couldn't say anything about this. It's just that he feels that he shouldn't stay here. There is a broader world ahead of him waiting for him to see and conquer.
Cao Cao, on the other hand, looked at the three Liu Bei brothers. He also looked forward to what the three Liu Bei brothers would choose. Moreover, Cao Cao himself had a different feeling. He always felt that Liu Bei would definitely be the best among men in the future.
But he didn't know where the only feeling came from, so he didn't think much about it.
Liu Bei: "Thanks to the eunuch for interrupting us, we are three brothers, but this is not our ambition."
"When we three brothers became sworn brothers, we already agreed that we would fight for the people of Li. At the same time, we would fight for the Han people, so we spontaneously organized a rebel army and came to support."
"And we three brothers originally wanted to go to support Youzhou first, but on the way, we learned more urgent information from Qingzhou, so we came to support Qingzhou."
"Bei, I would like to thank you, Lord Prefect, for your kindness."
After Liu Bei finished speaking, he bowed deeply to the prefect. To express their feelings and rejections.
Gong Jingdu: "Hahaha, it doesn't matter."
"And you are able to come all the way to Qingzhou to support us, for which I can't thank you enough."
"Tonight, we will entertain some strong men."
"Of course, there is also the army led by General Cao. Without further ado, let's head into the city."
"As for these rebels, let's drag them to work as laborers first. It just so happens that Qingzhou City needs to be repaired now."
"General Cao also has the achievements of three brave men. I will definitely report them to the court truthfully. There is also this hero who killed the leader of the Yellow Turban Army."
"Hahaha!"
Cao Cao: "Cao is very grateful. Thank you very much, Lord Prefect, for your support."
"I just have one more thing to ask for. I hope the governor can prepare dry food for us to set off to Youzhou tomorrow. After all, Youzhou is now like a trapped beast."
"If our support can arrive earlier, the chance of Youzhou being able to hold on will be greater."
Cao Cao could be said to be righteous. Gong Jingdi looked at Cao Cao, who was only less than 1.6 meters tall. He found that the other person's eyes were sharp, and he looked quite majestic upon closer inspection. If he were older, he would feel as if he was facing his boss.
It turned out that at this time Cao Cao already had the characteristics of a superior man. It's just not obvious enough, but it's still impressive.
Gong Jingduo: "Don't worry about what General Cao said. Although we don't have much food ourselves, you two will definitely have enough food when you wake up early tomorrow morning."
"Hurry into the city and make repairs, don't waste the good opportunity."
Liu Bei: "Then I would like to thank you, Lord Prefect. I am grateful."
Liu Bei himself did not expect that Cao Cao would raise the issue of dry food, and then he would benefit from it.
Therefore, he also cast a grateful look at Cao Cao.
After the group entered the city, Gong Jingzhao settled Cao Cao and Liu Bei. His lieutenant asked incomprehensively: "Master Taishou, we don't have enough food ourselves."
"We can't hold on for a few days at all, so why do we need to give some away?"
"What should we do if the Yellow Turban Army comes again next?"
As the two of them were walking back, his lieutenant couldn't help but ask this question.
Gong Jing said: "Food must be given. We can't collect it from the nobles. We can also borrow it from the people, but if we don't give it to them."
"Then we in Qingzhou will truly be fighting alone, and no one will come to save us again."
"So, don't feel bad about the food. You will take the people to work hard tonight, and be sure to replenish their food before tomorrow morning."
Lieutenant General: "No, my subordinates will take care of it immediately."
After the deputy general finished speaking, he immediately took people to handle this matter.
At this moment, the three brothers Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun and Liu Bei were drinking and eating together. I don't know what they talked about, but Cao Cao suddenly said: "Brother Xuande, these two fierce generals are really as fierce as tigers and leopards, and they can kill enemies all the way."
"It really makes Cao envious."
Regarding Li Zhong's outstanding performance just now, Cao Cao expressed congratulations and envy from the bottom of his heart. After all, in his opinion, it was a pity that such a brave general did not serve under his command.
Of course, he won't be jealous either. After all, although Li Zhong and Gao Meng were extremely brave, in Cao Cao's view they were still slightly inferior to the Xiahou brothers.
After saying that, Cao Cao looked at Xiahou Dun who was eating meat and smiled.
However, from here on, Cao Cao wanted to have a cavalry team like the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and a seed was planted in his heart.
Liu Bei: "Thank you for the compliment, General Cao. Although my second and third brothers are brave."
"But this General Xiahou is even more powerful. Taking the enemy general's head among thousands of troops is like picking out an object from a bag. It is really enviable."
The two of them started to compliment each other like this, but Li Zhong had a different idea in his mind. They believe that the generals of the Yellow Turban Army are just like chickens and dogs. If they were replaced by them, they would naturally be able to do the same.
But they didn't say anything. After all, not to mention the huge identity gap, if nothing else happened, they would be together when they arrived in Youzhou.
Therefore, there is no need to make everyone unhappy in order to fight for a ranking. Moreover, during the day, these people even ate the dry food given by each other, which can be said to be favored by others.
Of course, Xiahou Dun himself was somewhat unconvinced. He believed that Gao Meng and Li Zhong were not worthy of comparison with him, but it was difficult for Cao Cao to lose his temper here.
Fortunately, we were eating meat and drinking wine. After all, we have to get up and march to Youzhou tomorrow.
Cao Cao: "Brother Xuande is joking. Come on, let me toast some of the heroes!"
A few of them were drinking and eating meat, but Gong Gong Jingdu, the governor of Qingzhou, was really in trouble. Just after counting the Yellow Turbans captured by them, there were actually more than 30,000 and almost 40,000 deserters.
Basically they are all here, only a few have escaped. The rest died in the battle, and the rest are here.
For Gong Jingyi, he simply couldn't afford to feed these prisoners. So we can only think of another way. Those who can be assigned to the military camp to become recruits will be kept, and the rest can only be killed.
In other words, of the almost 40,000 people, only 20,000 people can be left at most.
And these Yellow Turban Army, composed of ordinary people, do not know their own fate, which is so sad.
On the other side of Youzhou, Zhang Jiao attacked the city many times. He had already led his troops to retreat to a position less than twenty miles away from Youzhou City. He wanted to surround Youzhou City for a few days and gather his strength to capture it in one fell swoop.
After several Yellow Turban Army sieges, there are now less than 10,000 defenders left in Youzhou City. Regarding this, both Huangpu Song and Liu Yan felt heartbroken.
But there's nothing that can be done about it, and they can't support it much longer now. If reinforcements don't arrive in a few days, they will definitely be defeated.
Of course, Zhang Jiao, as the attacking party, also suffered huge losses. The Yellow Turban Army he led lost 100,000 people but was still unable to capture Youzhou City. Now he has lost his previous magnanimity.
Moreover, his two younger brothers still don’t know whether they are dead or alive. If he knew about this, he might go berserk.
Lu Zhi's army has almost reached Youzhou City, but now his own army only has more than 30,000 people left. He still had no chance of winning against Zhang Jiao's army of nearly 300,000 men, and he knew this very well.
But facing the information discovered by the scouts, he himself had no way to deal with it. And now 30,000 vs. 300,000 is no longer something that can be compensated by the equipment advantage. Only a very good cavalry can win.
However, among the 30,000 people led by Lu Zhi now. The number of cavalry was only two to three thousand, and this was still under his deliberate control.
Otherwise, he will only sacrifice more, and the current big man cannot withstand his consumption.
Lieutenant General: "General, 30,000 versus 300,000. The enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered, and our soldiers are all ordinary armored soldiers."
"Although the equipment is better than the opponent's and they are well-trained. But we are still no match for the opponent. The difference in numbers is really too big."
"So the general thinks that we can wait for another two days. Wait until other counties send support, and then take advantage of our own time to send some good soldiers to serve as the Yellow Turban Army to let our people sneak in."
"Having a clear picture of the enemy's situation will help us with our next deployment. But the premise is that Youzhou City can hold on until reinforcements from other counties arrive, otherwise our chances of winning are still slim."
