Chapter 4 Joining Forces

  Li Chong heard this and smiled, saying word by word: "This is the problem, in the end it's either you listen to me or I listen to you."

  Guan Hai suddenly jumped up and burst out laughing. After a long time, he finally said something that shocked Li: "Of course... we'll listen to you!"

  "What!" Li Chong's eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets, he raised the question of who was in charge just to refuse to cooperate with Huang Jin. Li Chong thought that it was impossible for him to let himself be the boss, and who wouldn't want power? The leader of thousands of people is also a leader! Does Guan Hai have a habit of being a younger brother or something?!

  With a smile, he looked around and said, "What about you?"

  Liao Hua smiled and said: "I also think Li Dage is pretty good..."

  The rest are just going through the motions and won't have any objections, for them whoever is in charge is all the same, finding a smarter master can only be beneficial and not harmful.

  "Why?" Li Chong stared at Guan Hai and asked.

  Guan Hai smiled wryly and said: "I know you suspect me, but what I said is true. I am willing to acknowledge you as my master, but I also have a condition."

  Li Chong furrowed his brow and asked: "What conditions?"

  Guan Hai hesitated for a moment, then slowly said: "My condition is that before you become an official appointed by the imperial court, we are still... friends. We address you as 'young master' or 'mister', not 'your lord'. Of course, all matters of the mountain stronghold will be decided by you, it's just a matter of title."

  This guy is clearly going to play a delaying game, Li Chong is not a fool, he also saw through Guan Hai's small abacus. Guan Hai's meaning is very clear: if you, Li Chong and Li Zihui, can achieve something, we will follow you; if you are unable to accomplish anything, sorry, brother will find another way out.

  Typical petty farmer mentality. Li Zhong cursed in his heart, he still thought that the benefits brought by crossing over were the aura of a king, what a waste of emotions.

  "This is a big deal, let me think carefully about it." Li Chong said slowly.

  Now that the bait is laid out, it's up to Li Zhong to take it or not. Guan Hai thinks Li Zhong will definitely agree, and in Guan Hai's opinion, this logic is very simple: if you, Li Zhong, are not rebelling against the emperor, then why do you study the art of rebellion so thoroughly? Isn't that just trying to cover up your true intentions?

  Li Chong carefully thought back to the history of the Three Kingdoms period, and several paths were laid out before him. The first was to surrender to the imperial court and become a loyal minister of the Han dynasty, which was absolutely not an option, with only death as the certain outcome.

  The second is to rely on Cao Cao, which is the most stable way. Li Zhong believes that even with his own predictive ability, it's not a problem to mix up an official position under Cao Cao. However, there is also a problem under Cao Cao, that is, the factional struggle among Cao's subordinates, such as the Cao family, Xiahou family, Xun family, Sima family and so on, is very serious.

  But for himself, there was absolutely no chance of standing out under the shadow of these families. Although self-preservation was not a problem, he would never become a core figure in the Cao Cao group.

  Even if one learns from Jia Yu, Ming Zhe preserves his body, but after the Sima family usurped Cao and established the Jin Dynasty, it is absolutely not what he saw. The emperors of the Sima family are almost all foolish rulers, and later there was the drama of the Eight Kings' Rebellion, and after the Eight Kings' Rebellion, it was the Five Barbarians' chaos in China. Li Chong is a standard great Han nationalist, in his previous life he didn't have this opportunity, but in this life, Li Chong will absolutely not watch the tragedy unfold with his eyes open.

  Ethnic integration! Damn it, Li Chong personally saw the Uyghurs receiving preferential treatment due to ethnic policies when he was in college. At that time, Li Chong was very indignant. Are minorities superior? And what's more, some minorities can have two children and get bonus points on the college entrance exam. It's infuriating!

  The third is to live a life of idle clouds and wild cranes, which is absolutely not possible. Isn't that just a waste of crossing over? Moreover, idle clouds and wild cranes also need to eat, who can be leisurely without money?

  In summary, except for relying on Cao Cao, it was just himself alone. Thinking of this, Li Zhong's heart suddenly became agitated and his breath quickened. Who could bear the temptation of being above all men and dominating the world? Guan Yu gave him an opportunity, and Li Zhong felt that all the blood in his body was boiling up.

  Some people are naturally more impulsive, while others are more rational. Li Chong belongs to the latter. Since crossing over, Li Chong has not been flustered, but rather has calmly analyzed his situation. However, there is no absolute in this world. For example, now that the word "Emperor" has appeared, it has floated into Li Chong's mind. Many people oppose imperial autocracy, but that's because they've never had the chance to be emperor themselves. Once they have the opportunity, who can resist the temptation?

  To be exact, no matter how noble or humble, firm or weak a person is, he cannot resist this temptation. Li Chong has fallen into the most irresistible temptation in the world, and at this moment, Gan Hai plays the role of a devil with a tail and horns.

  "Alright! Since Brother Guan is so insistent, I'll reluctantly agree."

  Guan Hai smiled slightly and bowed with his fists: "Then I've met Master Li!"

  Everyone was in an uproar, paying their respects and asking after each other's well-being. Li Chong suddenly remembered something and hastily asked: "Since we're all on the same side now, where is Guan brother's mountain stronghold? How many men does he have? Can you tell me about it first?"

  Guan Hai cleared his throat and said: "Yuan Jiao, you talk to Mr. Li."

  Liao Hua said with some embarrassment: "We... our mountain stronghold is nearby, with a total of 1,342 people, 13 war horses, and enough food for two months. We still have some money, but it's very difficult to buy food now, otherwise we wouldn't have come out to hunt."

  Li Chong rubbed his forehead, the problem of food and clothing had not been solved in that dynasty. To be honest, if everyone was well-fed and warm at the end of the Han Dynasty, there would have been no Yellow Turban Rebellion.

  However, upon hearing that Guan Hai still had over a thousand men and horses, Li Zhong was very satisfied. During the Three Kingdoms period, the average county soldier was around three hundred people. Guan Hai's men and horses occupying a county city still had some grasp.

  "Is there food in the nearby city?" Li Chong asked immediately, he knew that now to solve is just the food problem, soon will enter winter, no food everyone will starve.

  Liao Hua obviously had done his research and immediately replied, "Donglai County definitely has grain and fodder, but the city walls of Donglai are strong and there are over a thousand soldiers. If we attack Donglai, our forces will be too weak and there's no hope. However, Dongmu should have some grain and fodder, and its city walls are dilapidated with few soldiers, making it easier to attack."

  "Then let's attack Dongmu!" Li Chong replied, what's there to hesitate about? Donglai has grain and fodder, but it's definitely not going to be easy to take, can't just go and die, Dongmu may have less grain and fodder, but at least it can alleviate the urgent need for now, don't know what these people are still hesitating about.

  Liao Huamian said with a worried expression: "Although the number of soldiers in Dongmu is not large, there are still over 300 people. I'm afraid it's also difficult to defeat them!"

  Li Zhongqi's straightforwardness is not surprising, the Yellow Turban Rebellion cannot succeed, more than 1,000 people attacking more than 300 people, three times the military strength is also afraid, in front of Guan Hai leading tens of thousands of horses to attack Beihai without success, and then Liao Hua's three times the military strength is also timid in battle. These people have too low combat effectiveness. Li Zhong did not wrong the Yellow Turban Army this time, in history Zhang Jue's victory was relying on human sea tactics, although the government army's combat effectiveness is also very low, but bullying the Yellow Turban Army is really no problem.

  "Why? Can't we take down Dongmu with over a thousand of us?" Li Chong asked indignantly.

  Guan Hai took over the conversation, sighing: "Out of our thousand or so people, more than half are women and children. Only about three hundred can actually go to battle, which is roughly equivalent to the Eastern Mu's garrison troops, so..."

  Li Chong felt a suffocating sensation in his chest and almost spat out blood, now he really regretted it, didn't the Yellow Turbans bring their families when they went to battle? Isn't this a travel group?

  "So... we have to think of another way." Guan Hai continued.

  "What else can be done?" Li Chong asked immediately.

  With a flourish of his hands, he said confidently: "Now we are all under your command, of course we will listen to you. You say what to do, and we'll do it!"

  "Damn it!" Li Chong couldn't help but curse out loud. He finally understood why Guan Hai and Liao Hua had been pulling him into their partnership, claiming that everything would be done with himself as the main priority - these guys were just using him as a scapegoat! If Li Chong didn't get any food, he'd definitely end up being cooked and eaten.

  Liao Hua suddenly said: "I know there is another place with grain."

  "Where?" Li Chong hastily asked.

  Liao Hua replied: "Xuzhou's Mi family."

  Li Zhong coldly smiled and said: "Why didn't you say Xiangyang has grain?"

  "What I meant was not going to Xuzhou to grab grain, but rather the merchant caravan of the Xiao family in Xuzhou."

  "What does it mean?" Li Chong and Guan Hai asked together.

  Liao Hua said slowly: "I went to Donglai County today to find General Guan, planning to exchange some fur for arrows. I heard that the Jiang family is going to exchange grain for salt and iron in Donglai on October 14th."

  "Not bad!" someone next to us added, we also heard it.

  Li Chong suddenly became excited, robbing a merchant group was much simpler than attacking a city, there was nothing to worry about. So Li Chong asked enthusiastically: "What date is it today in October?"

  Liao Huawen was taken aback by the words, looking at Guan Hai with inquiring eyes. The others also didn't want to be outdone. Guan Hai chuckled: "This... anyone with great talent is not bound by trivial matters. Zi Hui is such a person. It's understandable that he doesn't know the month and year. And it's possible... today is October 8th."

  Guan Hai couldn't make sense of it for half a day, no way, Li Chong's situation was too bizarre, just now he was talking about the great things under heaven, and now he didn't even know the year or month.

  Guan Hai suddenly remembered that when they first met, Li Chong asked him what year it was now. The great thief, who had been deeply influenced by serious feudal superstition, couldn't help but think: Could Li Chong be the one who learned from that immortal? It's probably this concept of "no age in the mountains" and "years unknown".

  Liao Hua and others, on the other hand, were secretly worried, thinking to themselves that this new lord wouldn't often make mistakes, would he? If so, it's better for everyone to disperse early.

  Li Zhongzheng was excited, completely unaware of Liao Hua's mental activity, clapping his hands and shouting: "We'll just rob the grain merchant team, maybe we can solve the problem of winter food at once."

  Liao Hua's words struck Li Chong's enthusiasm: "Brother Li, the Zou family's merchant caravan has at least two hundred guards, and they are not inferior to the government army. Each of them is well-equipped and has been through many battles, their combat effectiveness is even stronger than that of the Dongwu government army...

  Li Chong was truly at his wit's end this time, he finally understood that during the Three Kingdoms period, the most powerful soldiers were the private armies of families, also known as the personal troops of some civil and military officials. These people were well-equipped and had rich combat experience, no need to ask where their combat experience came from, it was all thanks to the Yellow Turbans' bandits who plundered everywhere. The Yellow Turbans would naturally look for wealthy targets to rob, so both sides had many opportunities to engage in battle.

  Then there were the imperial troops, who were all equipped with standard equipment. Although they were not as good as the private armies of the families, they were far stronger than the Yellow Turbans. Moreover, these troops had received formation training and were most suitable for large-scale battles.

  The ones at the bottom are definitely the Yellow Turbans. These people are poorly equipped and haven't received professional training, to be honest, they're just cannon fodder.

  "Can't you even take it by force if you can't take it by strategy?" Li Chong replied irritably.

  Liao Hua disapproved of Li Chong's atrocious attitude, in his opinion as long as Li Chong could grab the grain, shouting a couple of times was nothing, better than starving anyway.

  "How did you get it?" Everyone asked together.

  Li Chong said helplessly: "Sitting here thinking can't think of a solution, I'm not a god. Tomorrow we'll go to Donglai to confirm the situation and then take a look at the terrain around Donglai to see where to ambush. Finally, we still have to consider the transportation problem. The Zhao family will definitely report to the authorities, and the authorities will definitely send someone to chase and kill us. What do you think?"

  Guan Hai and Liao Hua nodded in unison, repeatedly saying that it made sense. In their hearts, they thought: after all, these book-smart people think things through thoroughly.

  "Alright then! It's getting late, and Zi Huan is still injured. Let's rest first and talk about how to deal with the Jiang family tomorrow." Guan Hai said considerately.

  "It's daytime!" Li Chong glanced at the dark sky and cursed, now it was probably around six o'clock. As a modern person who had experienced the glamour of city nightlife, Li Chong couldn't sleep well, this was truly a long and sleepless night.