Chapter Seventy-Ninth Betraying an Ally

  "This is natural!" Li Zhong nodded his head and smiled: "Gongsun's loyalty and righteousness can be seen by the sun and moon, and Li Zhong also deeply admires him."

  Guan Jing also hurriedly flattered Li Chong a few times, at this time he couldn't lose his manners.

  At this time, Li Zhong suddenly stood up and said with a apologetic expression: "General Guan, I'm very sorry, I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I'll take my leave first. This is the county magistrate, Cheng Yu, let him replace me to entertain you, General Guan. If you have any urgent matters, you can discuss them with County Magistrate Cheng."

  Having said that, Li Zhong bowed his hands and stood up to bid farewell and left.

  Although Guan Jing was somewhat displeased, Li Chong's official position was higher than his, and Cheng Yu's official position who stayed to accompany him was not lower than his own, so he couldn't say anything and could only stand up to return the courtesy.

  Cheng Yu was indeed a cunning old fox. How could he not know Li Chong's thoughts? He immediately ordered someone to prepare wine and dishes to entertain Guan Jing.

  At the banquet, Guan Jing took out a letter and handed it to Cheng Yu, saying: "This is a letter from my master to Mr. Li, I didn't have the chance to give it to him earlier, would you please help me deliver it?"

  "Oh! Don't worry, General Guan. I will personally deliver it to the Lord's hands." As he spoke, Cheng Yu took out the letter and read it carefully.

  Although Guan Jing felt that Cheng Yu's move to intercept Gong Sun Zan's letter was somewhat presumptuous, Li Zhong had instructed him before he left, and Guan Jing could not say anything, so he could only quietly wait for Cheng Yu to finish reading.

  Gongsun Zan's letter said something that Cheng Yu did not expect, after removing the nonsense, it was an invitation to Li Chong to send troops to attack Liu Yu, and promised that after the success of the matter, he would hand over the land west of Dai Prefecture to Li Chong for governance.

  Cheng Yu finished reading the letter and verified that the seal was correct. Only then did he carefully fold the letter, put it in an envelope.

  Seeing Cheng Yu finish reading the letter, Guan Jing hastily asked: "Lord Cheng, what about our alliance?"

  Cheng Yu let out a wry smile and said, "Guan Changshu, you overestimate me. Although the master has instructed me to fully receive Guan Gong, forming an alliance is a major matter, how can I make decisions on my own? This matter will have to wait until I report back to the master and await his decision."

  Guan Jing also knew that he couldn't get any definite news from Cheng Yu, so he could only smile wryly and raise his wine cup to drink.

  For the next three days, Li Chong did not meet with Guan Jing. As a modern person, Li Chong still understood some negotiation skills and delayed for a while, maybe making Guan Jing anxious.

  On the fourth day, Li Chong met with Guan Jing.

  Guan Jing was indeed anxious and as soon as they met, he directly brought up the issue of forming an alliance. This wasn't because Guan Jing couldn't wait, but rather that Li Zhongyu and others couldn't be delayed, whereas Guan Jing couldn't afford to wait.

  Li Chong did not form an alliance with Gongsun Zan, but only considered him as an ally, which had little impact on himself. However, from Gongsun Zan's perspective, it was completely different. According to Gongsun Zan's estimation, although Li Chong's forces were weak, sending out 3,000 troops would not be a problem. More importantly, the location of Yanmen Commandery was too crucial, situated at the western border of You Province, which was also where Liu Yu's military strength was weakest.

  It can be said that once Li Chong and Gongsun Zan formed an alliance, they could at least affect the movement of Liu Yu's tens of thousands of troops.

  At present, Liu Yu's intention to mobilize his troops is very clear. Gongsun Zan estimated that by next summer, after the spring plowing was completed, Liu Yu would definitely send troops to attack him.

  Six months seems like a long time, but mobilizing an army of 100,000 is somewhat strained.

  Li Chong listened silently to Guan Jing's oath, then shook his head and said: "Guan Zhang Shi, this matter of the oath is a serious one. Let me discuss it with others before giving you an answer, how about that?"

  "May I ask how much longer Lord Li needs to deliberate?"

  "Three days... three days then!" Li replied in a deep voice.

  Three days later, Li Chong met with Guan Jing again. Before Guan could ask any questions, Li directly refused: "Guan Zhangshi, I have already discussed this with the others. Since Liu Yu and I have no grudges or grievances, I'm afraid we cannot form an alliance with General Gongsun to attack him. I apologize sincerely."

  "Go cheat a ghost!" Guan Jing cursed in her heart. If you didn't want to form an alliance with the master, you would have driven me out of the Yin Mansion long ago. What's the point of meeting me three times? It's just wanting some benefits, isn't it? However...it seems that not shedding some blood won't do.

  "This way, if the adults are willing to send troops to assist, our master is willing to give the adults a hundred war horses and a hundred steel knives." Guan Jing said in a deep voice.

  Cheng Yu, with a cunning expression, immediately spoke up: "General Guan, please be careful with your words. This is not a matter of war horses, but rather my lord does not wish to engage in armed conflict with Liu Yu. As fellow officials under the same emperor, why should we slaughter each other? Why don't my lord intervene and mediate the dispute between General Gongsun and Lord Liu?"

  "Hahaha......" Guan Jing looked up at the sky and burst out laughing, saying with great satisfaction: "Two hundred war horses, two hundred steel knives, the three thousand men and horses mobilized by Lord Li, all the grain and fodder will be taken care of by my master, how about it?"

  Cheng Yu glanced at Li Zhong's expression, nodded and said: "Liu Yu colluded with the alien tribe, indeed a heinous crime, but General Shi should also know that the cavalry of the alien tribes outside the pass are like the wind, coming and going. Even if my master has the heart to punish the rebels, it would be impossible!"

  "Bastard, why not just say we don't have enough warhorses?!" Guan Jing cursed in his heart, but showed a smile on his face and nodded, saying: "Since Lord Li has the intention, my master will not sit idly by. How about our side sends 300 warhorses?"

  "Good!" Li Chong clapped his hands and said loudly: "Please, Bo Gui brother, rest assured that once Liu Yu sends troops to attack you, Li Zihuo will definitely lead 3,000 elite soldiers to sneak into Dai Prefecture and harass Liu Yu's rear."

  After discussing the terms, they naturally signed and stamped on the treaty. Guan Jing took out a treaty that had been prepared long ago, Li Chong took it over and saw that there was already Gong Sun Zhan's signature and seal on it, so he took out his own official seal and pressed it heavily, picked up the pen and wrote his name.

  Within ten days, Gongsun Zan delivered the promised warhorses and steel knives to Li Chong's hands, and Guan Jing then took the alliance treaty back to Youzhou.

  Li Chong looked at the galloping war horses and burst out laughing: "Hahaha... Gongsun Zan... you're really a fool..."

  Tai Shi Zi and other generals also rejoiced, this is indeed a fine warhorse. To be honest, now warhorses are even more precious than people.

  "What made you say that, sir?" Cheng Yu asked in puzzlement. Logically speaking, Gongsun Zan had been sincere and had sent the warhorses and other agreed-upon items to Li Chong's hands ahead of time. Even if Li Chong was delighted, he shouldn't have insulted Gongsun Zan!

  Of course, Gongsun Zan was also helpless. If he really wanted Li Chong to send troops after handing over the agreed-upon goods, that was just wishful thinking, and no one would be foolish enough to agree to it.

  Li Zhong stopped laughing and said to Cheng Yu: "Cheng Gong, the letter from Gongsun Zan asking me to send troops is in your hands."

  "Of course it is! Such an important thing sinking naturally wants to be preserved properly, what intention does the master have in mentioning this?" Cheng Yu asked doubtfully.

  "Chen Lin, I've heard that your calligraphy is on par with Cai Gong's. Can you imitate others' handwriting?" Li Chong asked Chen Lin.

  Chen Lin said with a smile: "I report to the master, Chen Lin has been practicing calligraphy since childhood, imitating others' handwriting is naturally not a problem, but I don't know whose handwriting the master wants me to imitate."

  Li Zhong said solemnly, "Since that's the case, Kong Zhang, copy a letter from Gongsun Zan to me, replace my name with... Zhang Yan will do. Also, you should be able to forge the seal, right? Once it's done, affix the seal and hurry up to deliver it to Liu Yu."

  Cheng Yu heard this and his body jerked up, stuttering: "Master... you're too wicked!"