Chapter 346

Yuan Shu was buried in the sea of fire.

Ji Ling had also led his army to surrender to Gu Yi.

In an instant, Qiao Rui and the forty thousand soldiers under his command became people without a master.

Among the four factions of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Ce, and Gu Yi,

Qiao Rui had to choose a backer for himself as soon as possible.

Otherwise, he and the forty thousand troops under his command would certainly be wiped out very quickly.

Liu Bei's current faction among these four was basically at the bottom.

If it weren't for the fact that Sun Ce's reputation as a "butcher of aristocratic families" was so foul, causing the Huainan aristocratic families to collectively help Liu Bei,

I fear that with Liu Bei's current military strength, he would have long been unable to withstand the fierce attacks of the Sun family army.

This is not to say that Liu Bei was inferior to Sun Ce,

but because Liu Bei's foundation was truly too poor.

Having occupied Huainan for less than three months, he couldn't wait to respond to Yuan Shao's call to move north and participate in the second coalition against Dong Zhuo.

This led to Liu Bei having this fertile land of Huainan in his hands, but not knowing how to manage it.

Moreover,

in the Battle of Hulao Pass,

Liu Bei, like Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and others, paid the price of losing troops and generals.

Just after returning to Huainan, he immediately fell into a tug-of-war with Sun Ce.

He couldn't get any breathing room at all.

Looking at Sun Ce,

the Sun family army under his command were all battle-hardened soldiers.

In terms of individual combat power, they were far stronger than the soldiers under Liu Bei's command.

The reason Liu Bei was able to hold on until now,

besides the help of Guan and Zhang,

was the full support of the Huainan aristocratic families, which was the fundamental reason Liu Bei was not defeated by Sun Ce.

However, the help of aristocratic families was ultimately an external force.

Liu Bei originally did not think Qiao Rui would lead those forty thousand soldiers to join him.

But now, he had received a letter sent by Qiao Rui's men.

This naturally filled his heart with immense joy.

Consequently, Liu Bei hurriedly sent men to call Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Jian Yong to discuss the matter.

These three were also the true core team under Liu Bei's command so far.

"Big Brother, could there be a trap with this Qiao Rui?"

Guan Yu said with a suspicious expression.

Unlike the Guan Yu in original history,

the current Guan Yu was filled with caution and vigilance because the three brothers were often tricked.

He was afraid that one careless move would lead to the three brothers losing everything.

And compared to Guan Yu, Zhang Fei was much more carefree.

He smiled and patted Guan Yu on the shoulder, saying:

"Second Brother, you are truly a bit too vigilant."

"After the Pretender Emperor Yuan Shu died, Qiao Rui became a person without a master."

"Moreover, that Qiao Rui is originally from Shouchun, Huainan."

"Big Brother now occupies Shouchun, so Qiao Rui wanting to lead troops to join Big Brother is also within reason."

Being told this by Zhang Fei,

although Guan Yu still had vigilance in his heart,

he still couldn't help but nod slightly.

In this late Han era, the concept of one's hometown was very strong.

Half of the land of the three commanderies of Huainan was occupied by Liu Bei, and Shouchun City was also controlled by Liu Bei; this was naturally a great attraction for Qiao Rui.

If he led troops to join Liu Bei, his treatment would likely be much better than joining Sun Ce, Cao Cao, and others.

"Xianhe, how do you view this matter?"

Liu Bei asked Jian Yong.

Compared to the three brothers Liu, Guan, and Zhang, Jian Yong was a pure scholar.

Although he couldn't be called a person of great ability,

he could at least help Liu Bei handle official business in normal times.

And because he was a fellow townsman of Liu Bei, he was quite trusted by Liu Bei.

Hearing Liu Bei's inquiry, Jian Yong analyzed:

"My lord, this humble official has the same thoughts as General Yide."

"Actually, not just Qiao Rui, but even among the forty thousand soldiers under Qiao Rui, as many as half are Huainan people."

"Compared to leaving their hometown to join Gu Linzhi or Cao Mengde, joining you or Sun Bofu is undoubtedly what best serves their interests."

"But what kind of character that Sun Bofu fellow has, everyone knows."

"After Qiao Rui joins him, whether he will be highly valued is unknown, but his military power will certainly be quickly divided!"

"At that time, whether Qiao Rui can keep his life is an unknown."

"But if he joins you, my lord, that would be different."

"For one, possessing the support of local Huainan aristocratic families,"

"you only need to drive Sun Bofu away, and you can quickly stand firm in Huainan."

"For two, your reputation is many times better than Sun Bofu's."

"As long as Qiao Rui is not stupid, he should choose you without hesitation between Sun Bofu and you."

These words of Jian Yong could be said to have touched Liu Bei's heart.

Is reputation actually useful?

Of course it's useful!

A great reputation means more people will join you.

A very bad reputation means very few people will voluntarily join you.

Because it is different from the original historical trajectory,

Liu Bei's reputation might not necessarily be said to be very good now, but Sun Ce's reputation was undoubtedly bad to the extreme!

As the saying goes,

don't fear being incompetent yourself, fear others being powerful!

In a situation of comparing who is worse,

Liu Bei's reputation is certainly much better than Sun Ce's.

This also invisibly formed an attraction for talent.

Consequently, between Liu Bei and Sun Ce, Qiao Rui would definitely prioritize choosing Liu Bei instead of Sun Ce.

Seeing that his three core team members no longer had any objections to accepting Qiao Rui's surrender, Liu Bei said with a smile:

"Qiao Rui also proposed in the letter that he wants to join forces with our army to pincer Sun Ce and drive Sun Ce completely out of Huainan!"

"This..."

The expressions on the faces of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Jian Yong were all different.

As for Guan and Zhang, they were moved by Qiao Rui's desire to achieve great things; it was truly damn strong!

He hadn't even officially surrendered yet, and he was already thinking about working for his future boss.

If Qiao Rui were placed in the 21st century on the Blue Planet, he would definitely be an excellent worker.

Jian Yong was thinking about what benefits this would have for Qiao Rui.

The next moment, Zhang Fei rubbed his hands and said:

"Big Brother, agree to him."

"I have long wanted to tear that Sun Ce kid to pieces!"

"This time with Qiao Rui's help, our army will pincer from both sides, and Sun Ce kid will definitely have nowhere to escape!" ===== CHAPTER 347 =====