Chapter 133

Guo Jia read the letter asking for help and paused.

"This subordinate believes that my lord should go. Kong Rong is on good terms with you, and there is the grace of gifting horses and grain before, so going to rescue him is the righteous thing to do."

"Moreover, my lord's name for benevolence and righteousness spreads throughout the world; others may not go, but my lord should go."

Sun Jian Yong muttered,

"Qingzhou is very far from Bingzhou, and there is a Jizhou in between. My lord would be exhausting the troops on a long expedition."

Meaning he wouldn't gain any benefits.

Liu Bei, however, didn't care.

He had to go to Qingzhou. Just as Guo Jia said, others could choose not to go, but Liu Bei was a model of loyalty and righteousness, and he also had an idol's burden to maintain.

The most critical thing was that although Bingzhou was developing well,

its population was still too small compared to the territories of the warlords in Guandong.

Qingzhou's population was close to four million. Recently, with the Huang Jin chaos, at its peak, the Huang Jin Army claimed to have reached nearly a million!

Although that was a bit of an exaggeration, one in four people in Qingzhou was a Huang Jin soldier.

But the number was still extremely large.

This batch of Qingzhou soldiers was eventually taken by Cao Cao, which immediately made Cao Cao wealthy. He selected three hundred thousand Qingzhou soldiers, and the others became farming peasants.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei stood up tall.

"Kong Kong Beihai helped me back then, and now that he is in trouble, I must go to help."

"Guo Fengxiao, Zhang Yide, Zhao Zilong, Chen Dao, Sun Jian Yong, you all follow me to Kong Beihai."

"Yes!"

"This time, in addition to the five thousand personal guard cavalry, Zhao Zilong and Zhang Yide, you each lead five thousand cavalry."

"Yes!"

"Ju Shou, you are responsible for coordinating the affairs of Bingzhou in Jinyang City."

"Zhang Zhang Liao will guard Wuyuan Commandery, and Ju Yi will be responsible for Yanmen."

"Gao Shun and Zhang He will be responsible for Hedong Commandery and keep an eye on the movements of Dong Zhuo's army."

"Xu Huang will guard Shangdang, and Jia Kui will serve as the Assistant Administrator of Shangdang Commandery."

"Yunchang will guard Zhixian with Xu Shu assisting him. Xu Rong will station troops in Bo County, Henei. For those Henei commoners who want to go to Bingzhou, he will be responsible for their safety."

"Yes."

In the backyard of the Inspector's Mansion,

Liu Bei hugged Cai Yan.

"Yan'er, your husband is going on an expedition again and won't have time to accompany you."

Cai Yan snuggled into Liu Bei's arms and said admiringly,

"My husband takes the world as his own responsibility, with benevolence, virtue, and loyalty. I like it too much to complain, but you must pay attention to safety so that others at home don't worry."

Liu Bei nodded. "By the way, you have also finished your confinement."

Cai Yan smiled faintly, her cheeks slightly red. "Husband~!"

Liu Bei understood.

That evening, Liu Bei went to comfort Lady Gan, who had even fairer skin.

Three days later,

At the military camp outside Jinyang City, Liu Bei waved his hand.

"The whole army, set off!"

The sound of horse hooves was constant, dust flew, and fifteen thousand cavalry marched out of the camp in a grand manner.

Liu Bei looked back at Jinyang City in the distance, and the few beautiful figures looming on the city tower made his heart feel warm.

Guo Jia let out a long sigh.

"My lord, I have finally left Jinyang City!"

Liu Bei??

"Guo Fengxiao, why do you look like you're about to let yourself go?"

Guo Jia smiled bitterly.

"My lord, you will never understand the pain of having a fierce wife at home!"

Liu Bei laughed heartily.

"Guo Fengxiao, a wanderer like you should be kept in check."

Guo Jia glanced at the city tower behind him and waved at a beautiful figure.

In Hedong, Anyi City,

Pei Mao sighed with emotion.

"My lord, Du Ji is indeed a great talent. With his help, the lives of the commoners in Hedong are even more prosperous."

"He encourages farming and mulberry cultivation, encourages the commoners to raise cattle and horses, and resolves old cases. A true talent!"

Liu Bei smiled. Could a talent who brings prosperity to the commoners and achieves top performance year after year be bad?

Du Ji was a bit embarrassed by the praise and cupped his hands.

"My lord, it is mainly due to the support of Administrator Pei that I dare to let go and do things."

Liu Bei nodded.

"Hedong having the two of you is a blessing for the commoners. I have noted your achievements."

Du Ji hesitated to speak.

Liu Bei smiled.

"Bohou, if you have anything to say, feel free to speak directly."

Du Ji cupped his hands.

"My lord, my old friend Xun Xun Gongda, together with Zheng Tai and He Yong, conspired to kill Dong Zhuo but failed and were imprisoned."

Liu Bei?

"Xun Xun Gongda? Xun You? He is also a man of loyalty and righteousness; we cannot let them die unjustly in prison. Rest assured, I will immediately send someone to find a way to rescue them."

Du Ji bowed deeply.

"My lord is of high righteousness, I thank you!"

Liu Bei nodded. Xun Yu had already followed Cao Cao, and this Xun You was no worse; he devised the plan to behead Yan Zhang Liang and Wen Chou and was full of wisdom in the conquest of Hebei.

In the struggle for supremacy at the end of the Han Dynasty, without the disciples of the cultured Xun family by one's side, the prestige was still a bit lacking.

Both the Xun family and the Zhuge family had an idea, which was not to put all their eggs in one basket.

Both Ding Yuan Shao and Cao Cao had strategists from the Xun family under their command.

Liu Bei had someone notify Bai Yuekui to rescue Xun You and the others at all costs.

In Outside Yecheng,

Ding Yuan Shao looked at the bamboo slips in front of him.

"Liu Bei wants to go to aid Kong Kong Beihai? And pass through my Jizhou?"

Sun Jian Yong cupped his hands.

"Alliance Leader Ding Yuan, my lord wants to invite you to go to Qingzhou together to rescue Kong Rong."

Ding Yuan Shao??

He didn't want to go at all. He was having a great time fighting Brother Gongsun Zan; where would he find the energy to rescue some Kong Rong?

And that Kong Rong didn't display the spirit of yielding pears and yield Qingzhou to him!

Moreover, Qingzhou claimed to have hundreds of thousands of Huang Jin soldiers; it was very chaotic!

Ding Yuan Shao coughed.

"It's not that I don't want to, but that Brother Gongsun Zan keeps attacking me, leaving me exhausted and unable to spare any troops."

Sun Jian Yong cupped his hands.

"In that case, my lord will lead twenty thousand troops to pass through Jizhou. I hope Alliance Leader Ding Yuan will make it convenient."

Ding Yuan Shao was shocked. Could this Liu Bei be plotting some "borrowing the road to conquer Guo" scheme!

Xu You interjected,

"Inspector Liu aiding Kong Kong Beihai, wouldn't it be closer to go through Yanzhou?"

Ding Yuan Shao also nodded.

"Indeed, since Kong Rong's situation is critical, it would be better for Liu Xuande to go through Yanzhou."

Sun Jian Yong sighed.

"My lord would like to, but Yanzhou has been in the flames of war recently, and I'm afraid it's hard to buy grain. My lord doesn't have much grain with him, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to sustain until Qingzhou."

Ding Yuan Shao was almost choked to death. After all that talk, he was still here to ask for grain!

"Didn't I just give Liu Xuande one hundred thousand shi of grain!"

"Alliance Leader Ding Yuan, my lord has taken in hundreds of thousands of commoners from Fengyi, and now he has long been living beyond his means."