Chapter Eighty-Three: Extravagant Aspirations for Jin Yang

  As Li Chong's order to retreat was given, the 500 elite cavalry who had gone ahead began to pack up their camp in an orderly manner. In less than an hour, the 500 elite cavalry slowly retreated along the original route.

  Just as the 500 elite cavalry retreated into the border of Yanmen, Zhao Yun suddenly emerged from the scouting team and shouted loudly at Li Zhong's rear team: "If General Gong Sun is defeated, Liu Xuande does not lead his troops to rescue him, Zhao Yun will definitely come to surrender to Lord Li."

  The soldiers of the rear team heard it clearly and rushed to report to Li Chong. When Li Chong heard this, he was immediately delighted, Zhao Yun was a man who kept his promises, and what he said would be done. He just waited for Gongsun Zan's defeat and death.

  Zhou Tai beside him also congratulated: "Congratulations, milord! Congratulations, milord! You've gained another peerless and fierce general!"

  Zhou Tai was indeed sincere in congratulating Li Chong, of course he also had his own small abacus. As long as one is a martial artist, who doesn't want to lead troops and fight? What's the point of being a bodyguard leader? If Zhao Yun were to defect to another lord, that lord would definitely let him take his place, then wouldn't he be able to lead troops and fight?

  After all, the newly surrendered generals are not familiar with various aspects, and it is easy to appear that soldiers do not recognize their commanders, and commanders do not know their soldiers. There is no way to let the surrendered generals lead the army directly into battle, except for the situation where the surrendered general brings his troops to surrender.

  Taishi Ci also smiled and said, "Congratulations to our lord. Zhao Zilong is a man of great bravery and is from the White Horse Righteous Army. He is well-versed in cavalry battles and will certainly become one of our lord's most trusted generals."

  Li Zhong turned his head to glance at Taishi Ci, who showed a hint of disappointment but with an expression that gave off a sense of relief, and couldn't help but smile inwardly.

  Li Chong thoroughly understood Taishi Ci's mind. Now, most of Li Chong's cavalry were led by Taishi Ci. To put it nicely, he held a high position with great power; to put it harshly, he was in a monopolistic position. In fact, Taishi Ci did not want this situation to occur either, after all, having too much power would easily provoke the jealousy of other generals and the suspicion of their lord.

  But Li Zhong had no choice, except for Taishi Ci, others were not suitable to lead the cavalry, Liao Hua and Guan Yu were supposed to lead infantry, as for Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai, can you expect a pirate to command the cavalry in battle?

  When they arrived, the ice and snow had not yet melted cleanly. By the time they met with Cheng Yu and Jiang Qin, a few small flowers were already scattered along the roadside, indicating that spring had arrived.

  Without the pressure of war, Li Chong's soldiers were in high spirits, treating the march as a pleasure trip. Some skilled archers among his personal troops would often roam around the army, shooting and killing wild beasts startled by the large crowd, having a great time.

  Li Chong also knew that a stretch and a relaxation were the way to control from above, so he closed one eye and opened the other, letting these soldiers vent for a moment.

  Seeing Li's good mood, Taishi Ci said with a smile: "The lord is too bad, knowing that Zhao Yun's martial arts are high and strong, but not informing me and Youping in advance, almost making us lose face on the spot."

  "What Ziyang said is absolutely right, but I'm even more miserable than him, almost lost my life." Zhou Tai said with a lingering fear in his heart.

  Li Zhong gazed up at the sky for a long time, leaving Taishi Ci and Zhou Tai bewildered. They had no idea what was going on with Li Zhong's behavior. Just as they were about to ask him, Li Zhong said regretfully: "Alas! Zi Yi, this is indeed my fault. How could I have forgotten that Zhao Yun is also under Gongsun Zan's command?"

  Taishi Ci and Zhou Tai were left speechless, their mouths agape. After a long while, Taishi Ci finally spoke up with a sorrowful face: "My lord, your memory is truly impressive, able to forget such an important matter! Quickly tell us, who are the strongest warriors in the land? Let me and Young Ping prepare ourselves!"

  "This is Zhou Tai shouting in surprise: 'Not right, Master, how did you know that Zhao Yun's martial arts are strong? I think this is also your first meeting, isn't it?'"

  Li Chong tightened his grip on the reins, halting his warhorse, and said in a deep tone: "This is because I have a master who knows everything about astronomy and geography, and my master told me about all the powerful warriors in the world when I came down from the mountain, so I know that Zhao Yun is extremely formidable."

  This is utter nonsense. Li Zhong really had no excuse, so he found an excuse from a rotten wuxia novel and casually made something up.

  Unexpectedly, Zhou Tai immediately showed a respectful expression and exclaimed: "The master's teacher must be a divine being, isn't it the legendary Guiguzi? It must be him, only Guiguzi can have such insight. If I could meet him, he would point out a few moves to me, haha..."

  Li Chong listened with his mouth agape, thinking that Zhou Tai's imagination was truly rich. If he were to be born in a later era, even if he couldn't lead troops into battle, he would still be a great god-like figure when it came to writing online novels.

  What Li Chong didn't expect was that Taishi Ci also chimed in, "Exactly! If Guiguzi could teach me a few moves, that would be great! However, thinking about it, someone like him is usually a dragon that appears only at the beginning and not at the end. We ordinary people rarely get to see him!"

  Two idiots! Seeing the increasingly fervent eyes of Taishi Ci and Zhou Tai, as if they were about to beg Li Shun to meet Ghost Valley Master again, he hastily poured cold water saying: "Actually, I don't know my master's name either. I asked my master, but my master didn't answer. My master only said that the mountain gate will be closed for sixty years... Alas! I don't know if I can see my master again!"

  Taishi Ci and Zhou Tai immediately hung their heads in shame, Li Rensheng feared they would bring up the topic again, hastily saying: "The world's martial generals, discussing martial arts, Lü Bu Lü Fengxian is undoubtedly the world's number one."

  "This is natural!" Taishi Ci nodded and said, while secretly letting out a sigh of relief. If Lü Bu's martial arts were not the best in the world, then how could he dare to go out and fight battles in the future?

  "The second should be Zhao Yun, also known as Zhao Zilong. However, the next few people's martial arts skills are not much different. Ma Chao, the eldest son of Ma Teng from Xiliang, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu under Liu Bei, Xu Chu and Dian Wei under Cao Cao, and Sun Ce from Jiangdong should be about it. Just pay a little attention to Zi Yi and You Ping." Li Zhong said slowly.

  "It's all right! It's all right!" Zhou Tai also patted his chest and said, after all, who doesn't like to have fewer opponents? Those fierce men who are afraid of having too few enemies are indeed rare.

  Cheng Yu was uninterested in the topic of conversation among the three men. Seeing that their conversation had come to an end, he interjected: "My lord, now that Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao are at war, my lord should take advantage of the situation to expand his power. The only question is what my lord's next goal will be."

  "Hmm, not bad! I wonder what Lord Cheng thinks we should do next?" Li Chong looked at Cheng Yu with a faint smile.

  Cheng Yu's eyes suddenly became sharp, he knew that at this time he must show his own value, otherwise, not to mention Li Chong, even Taishi Ci and others would look down on him. Cheng Yu took a deep breath and said slowly: "My opinion is to take Jin Yang."

  "Capture the city of Jin Yang." Li Chong calculated for a moment and felt that this idea was quite difficult, so he asked: "General Cheng, the walls of Jin Yang are high and thick, and there are many soldiers guarding it. We have less than 10,000 troops, how can we capture such a strong city?"

  Cheng Yu knew that if he answered this question poorly, he would be ridiculed: If you don't have a solution, then don't boast, saying who won't work, I can also say conquering Chang'an is good, the problem is whether you can do it? Cheng Yu smiled lightly and said: "Your Excellency can use the method of dividing into small groups, secretly infiltrating 1,000 soldiers into Jinyang, waiting for Your Excellency to attack the city, and then combining inside and outside to capture Jinyang in one fell swoop."

  Li Chong was somewhat moved and said slowly: "This method is good, but when will we attack Jin Yang?"

  Cheng Yu sighed and said, "It depends on the lord's decision. However, I think it would be better to wait until after the autumn harvest. At that time, Zhang Yang will also lead troops to attack the mountain bandits in Shangdang, and taking Jin Yang will be easier."

  "Alright, let's go with Cheng Gong's idea for now." Li Chong nodded and said on horseback.

  Returning to the Yin House, Li Chong began preparing for an attack on Jin Yang. He couldn't help it; he was in a hurry now. It was all his own doing, provoking the decisive battle between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao prematurely. As expected, Gongsun Zan could only hold out for three or four years. By then, Yuan Shao would have unified Hebei, and if he didn't take action against himself, it would be strange.

  When the time comes, he will defend the Yin Guan alone. Don't joke around, just the city wall of Yin Guan, when Yuan Shao's 100,000-strong army arrives, one charge and he can't even hold it back. Only by occupying Jin Yang, such a strong city, is there a possibility of holding off Yuan Shao's army. It would be best to capture Jin Yang and occupy Huguan, and reject Yuan Shao at the gate.

  After the plan is finalized, the next step is to cultivate in spring. Li Chong is not good at this. What he can do is only to dispatch troops to help the people repair water conservancy and open up wasteland. This is not that Li Chong loves the people like his children and treats them kindly. It's a matter of the sheep's wool coming from the sheep's body. The people's food harvests are poor, what can Li Chong use to fight battles?

  Returning to the backyard garden, I saw little Cai Yan holding a crystal mirror and examining it everywhere. As soon as she saw Li Chong, she let out a surprised cry: "Li Lang, look quickly! This crystal is very magical, it makes things look really big!"

  Li Chong rubbed his forehead, this truth even a three-year-old child knows! And yet he still brings it up to show off. Looking around and seeing no one, Li Chong quickly walked over to Cai Yan's side, reached out and wrapped his arms around her slender waist, holding her until they reached the wooden bench where people rested, lowering his head to sniff the subtle fragrance on Cai Yan's body.

  At this moment, Li Chong didn't have any evil thoughts, he just wanted to quietly stay for a while and be in a daze. Since arriving at the Three Kingdoms, Li Chong had been struggling hard, fighting north and south, not for power, but because Li Chong was afraid of death, yes, it was precisely because he was afraid of death.

  Don't look at Li Chong now as the imperial court governor, sitting in a region, but life is still not guaranteed, just like Cai Yong and Dong Zhuo, one with high prestige, one with strong power, both died unjustly, even the former emperor, Emperor Liu Bian was poisoned by Dong Zhuo.

  To live a good life, you must climb to the pinnacle of power, sit on that dragon chair, and have great strength to intimidate all enemies with ulterior motives.

  "I must take down Jin Yang..." Li Chong muttered to himself.

  Xiao Luoli Cai Yan leaned against Li Chonghui and listened carefully, then raised her head and asked: "Does Lord Li want to attack Jinyang?"

  "Hmm!" Li Chong smiled and tightened his arm around Cai Yan's waist.

  Cai Yan let out a soft cry and asked: "Why does Lord Li want to attack Jin Yang, has Zhang Yang offended Lord Li?"

  Li sighed softly and said in a gentle voice: "Zhang Yang didn't offend me, it's just that I had to conquer Jin Yang..."

  "Oh... I see, then let's fight!" Cai Yan said with a pout.

  "Doesn't Princess Zhao ask why I'm attacking Jin Yang?" Li Chong stretched out his hand and rubbed Cai Yan's cheek, saying with a smile.

  "Don't ask, Li Lang beats the bad guys, Zhao Ji helps you beat him, Li Lang beats the good guys, Zhao Ji also helps you beat him." Cai Yan said with an unusually firm tone, looking up at her small face.

  Li Chong heard this and his whole body shook, he only felt a thousand flavors surging up to his heart, looking at Cai Yan's cherry lips that were red and about to drip, he fiercely kissed her.