Chapter Nineteenth: The Apricot Forest Alliance

  "What's wrong, Zi Yi regretted?" Li Zhong turned over and laughed: "If not, you can join Cao Mengde! To be honest, among the lords of the world, I only look up to him."

  Taishi Ci chuckled and blew out the oil lamp, saying: "Don't worry! I'm still waiting for you to take up an official position, no intention of changing allegiance. However, Zi Huan, tell me first, why didn't you surrender to Cao Mengde?

  Li Zhong said with a sigh: "I admire Cao Mengde, but the factions of his generals are too severe. Xia Hou and Cao's families are vying for power, and Cao Cao was originally adopted by Xia Hou's family. They are all blood relatives, I am an outsider, there will be no day to stand out."

  Tai Shi nodded silently and said: "Yes, with your vision, if the position is still after these people, it's indeed a bit humiliating."

  Li Chong yawned and said vaguely: "No more talk, sleep! Wait and watch the good show."

  Li Chong and others were exhausted from the journey, so they went to bed early to rest. In Cao Cao's large tent, however, the lights were still shining brightly as everyone was discussing Li Chong and Taishi Ci.

  Xiahou Dun, being straightforward and frank, held the highest position in Cao's camp. He spoke first: "My lord, I think Taishi Ci is too humble to follow that young whippersnapper. If he follows you, he will surely become a great help to you."

  Cao Cao was a man who loved talent and asked: "What method did Yuan Rang use to persuade Taishi Ci?"

  Xiahou Dun was taken aback and said matter-of-factly, "What method is needed? Can Li Ziyue compare to our lord? A wise minister chooses his master and serves him. I don't believe Taishi Ci can't see this point. At worst, we'll arrange an official position for Li Ziyue with a heavier salary, hmm! Let him practice military affairs."

  As soon as this was said, everyone expressed their agreement, and thus Cao's camp gained a few more points of strength.

  Cao Cao sank into thought for a moment, then said: "You underestimate Li Ziyue. If he didn't have some ability, how would Taishi Ci, such a fierce general, follow him? Let's wait and see, these next few days we'll focus on dealing with the alliance."

  In the following ten or more days, various princes responded one after another and rose in arms to welcome him.

  In the first year of Jianping, in the middle of January, the heroes finally completed their gathering. Hebei Taishou Yuan Shao and Nei Taishou Wang Kuai stationed troops in Hebei, Yanzhou Cishi Liu Dai, Dongjun Taishou Qiao Mao, Shanyang Taishou Yuan Yi, and Jibei Xiang Bao Xin stationed troops in Suancheng. Sun Jian and Yuan Pu stationed troops in Luyang, Kong Rong stationed troops in Yingchuan, with a total of over 200,000 soldiers, supplied by Han Fu from Ye City.

  As the saying goes, a snake without a head cannot move forward. The Allied Forces are mighty and vast, so it's only natural that they would elect a leader to take charge of affairs.

  In Suānzǎo set up a military camp, pitched the army tent, and then all the vassals gathered in the big tent to discuss the selection of the alliance leader.

  Li Chong's status was not enough, so he could only be Cao Cao's follower, standing behind Cao Cao and watching the various governors and administrators in the big account blush.

  The leader of the alliance had only two choices, one was Yuan Shao and the other was Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao's cousin.

  Li Chong was uninterested in these people's disputes and had long known that Yuan Shao would be elected, so he shifted his attention to the various lords of the different factions.

  The first to catch the eye was Yuan Shao. Among all the lords, the one with the most majestic appearance was Yuan Benchu. Yuan Shao was eight feet tall, with a robust physique and a very fair complexion. In stark contrast to Yuan Shao was Yuan Shu, who was not very impressive in stature and had wasted the beautiful genes of the Yuan family.

  Li Chong only took a glance at Yuan Shu and didn't want to look anymore, turning his gaze towards Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan looked majestic and strong-willed, with the image of a loyal minister and general. But Li Chong only now realized that Gongsun Zan was vastly different from how he was portrayed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the novel, Gongsun Zan was extremely loyal and righteous, but at this meeting, he had brought only three thousand soldiers, clearly with the intention of preserving his strength.

  Standing behind Gong Sun Zan is none other than the Big Eared Bandit, with a face as white as jade and lips as red as rouge - it's obviously Liu Bei, Liu Xuan De. And that big fellow with leopard-like head and ringed eyes, hawk-like nose and tiger-like whiskers must be Zhang Fei. The one left over with a face full of red shoe oil is none other than the later-to-be Martial Saint Guan Yu, Guan Yun Chang.

  As Sun Jian was still in Luoyang, Li Chong did not get to see this founding father of Eastern Wu.

  Li Chong suddenly discovered a very funny fact, that is, except for Cao Cao's identity being not bad, the Big Ear Thief Liu Bei and Sun Jian are now both unknown small characters.

  Seeing these lords now full of vigor and spirit, who knows that in a few years' time, most of the lords present will have turned to dust? Li Zhong thought about this and couldn't help but sigh. Indeed, as the saying goes: "No matter how dashing a figure one is, they will eventually be worn away by wind and rain."

  It is said that they are promoting the leader of the alliance, but there are only two people who can compete for the position of the leader of the alliance. They are Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, both from a family with four generations of high-ranking officials. Even Cao Cao and Han Fu are not their match. One of these brothers is born out of wedlock, while the other is legitimate.

  Although Yuan Shu was the legitimate heir of the Yuan family, most of the lords present supported Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance.

  Yuan Shao was highly respected at the time, with both literary and military talents, and was known for his humility and willingness to yield to others. He held the position of Colonel-Director of Retainers. After Emperor Ling's death, he had secretly plotted with He Jin to eliminate the Ten Eunuchs, but their plan was leaked out and He Jin was killed. Yuan Shao then led his troops to slaughter the eunuchs and dominated the imperial court, making him the most powerful man in the capital at that time.

  After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, Yuan Shao also had a confrontation with him, drawing his sword, and can be said to have been extremely bold.

  In terms of impression, Yuan Shao was far ahead of Yuan Shu. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had a close relationship, so he naturally supported Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance. It's worth noting that Cao Cao was the initiator of the alliance, so his opinion was very important. Of course, Yuan Shao was also very astute. Although he wanted to be the leader of the alliance, he still had to pretend to decline and instead nominated Liu Dai as the leader of the alliance.

  Liu Dai was not foolish either, he knew that Yuan Shao would just make excuses, so he said some words about his own lack of ability and declined several times, after which Yuan Shao firmly occupied the position of alliance leader.

  Yuan Shu was appointed as a granary supervisor.

  After electing a new leader of the alliance, all the vassals wanted to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth to prove that they were righteous and Dong Zhuo was cruel.

  The next day, a three-layered altar was built, and the five-colored flags were arranged all around. On top of it, a white banner with a yellow axe was erected, and the military symbols and general's seal were presented. Zhao was invited to ascend the altar, and everyone washed their faces, burned incense, and dressed in their finest attire. Zhao wore his sword and ascended the altar with a solemn expression, burning incense again and bowing twice. The oath read: "The House of Han is unfortunate, and the imperial authority has been lost. The treacherous minister Dong Zhuo took advantage of the chaos to

  Disaster and calamity befall the Emperor, bringing suffering to the people. Zhao and others fear for the fate of the dynasty, gather righteous troops, and rush to save the country. All our allies unite in heart and effort,

  "I will be loyal to the death, and never have a second thought. If anyone betrays this oath, may he lose his life and leave no descendants. Heaven and earth, ancestors and spirits of the land, are all witnesses to this!" Then, the various lords, led by Yuan Shao, knelt down, offered incense, and made a blood oath...

  Li Chong felt drowsy after listening, to be honest, he only understood less than half of what Qiao Yu said. As for the performance of these vassals, he had even less interest in watching, having experienced countless such scenes in his past life.

  The real challenge is yet to come, which is how to divide the troops.

  The result of the division was that Wang Kuai stationed his troops in Henan, Sun Jian led the vanguard to attack Liangdong (east of Linru County), and the remaining lords were led by Yuan Shao, who pressed on Tiger Trap Pass.

  "It's just like what's written in the book!" Li Chong nodded to himself, it seemed that this little butterfly still didn't have such great energy, everything was under his control, but he didn't know that with his arrival, history had already undergone a subtle change.