Three Kingdoms: The rebellion was eavesdropped by Cao Cao

Chapter 912 Liu Bei's Self-Brainwashing

After Zhang Fei had a heart-to-heart talk with Liu Bei late at night, Liu Bei called Li Yan to discuss matters in the hall the next day!
After Li Yan was summoned by Liu Bei, he basically guessed what was going on!
Soon he entered the palace and met Liu Bei!
"Your Majesty Li Yan pays homage to His Majesty!"

Liu Bei put down the official document in his hand, sat on the chair with a dull look, then sighed and said:

"Zhengfang, sit down!"

Li Yan hurriedly bowed, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Then he found a place to sit down, and Liu Bei continued to ask:

"Zhengfang, in the blink of an eye, I am already over [-] years old. I don't know if I will see the day when the big man will be liberated, and I don't know when I will take revenge in Jingzhou!"

Li Yan smiled lightly and cupped his hands:
"Your Majesty needn't be so worried, but I feel that His Majesty is in the prime of his life, full of ambitions, thousands of good generals under his command, and nearly a million armies on land and water. Just look at the world today, who else dares to contend with His Majesty?"

"Who dares?"

Liu Bei laughed at himself, shook his head and said:

"Sun Quan of Soochow and Cao Pi of Xuchang are my great enemies. To tell you the truth, even the little Hanzhong Cao Su on our head has only 10,000+ troops, and I dare not make him an enemy. Even if you have an army of millions, what can you do? Alas!"

Li Yan was stunned after hearing this, and then smiled wryly, "Your Majesty, you don't have to belittle yourself so much, let alone Sun Quan and Cao Pi. Freaks, you can't be the same!"

When saying these words, Li Yan was extremely helpless.

He has been in power in Sichuan and Sichuan for so many years, and he has never seen a force of 10,000+ people who can scare a lord with a million troops into such a state.

Although he never believed that Cao Su was as miraculous as in the legend, but there were so many rumors that he had no choice but to believe it!
Especially this time in the battle of Hanzhong, which was a sure thing to win, but it happened to be messed up by Cao Su alone!
It can be said that the final result of the Battle of Hanzhong was developed according to the development trend that Cao Su wanted, and no one else could intervene!

Hearing this, Liu Bei sighed, "You're right. Cao Su is a freak, so it's really different, but..."

He hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject and said:

"Zhengfang, in fact, the prime minister has been persuading me to attack Wu. I know what he is worried about. What he is worried about is that the army will be used for thousands of miles, and the mountains and rivers will block it, and it will be difficult to supply food and military equipment!"

Hearing this, Li Yan seemed to have understood, "Your Majesty might as well just say it, the old minister will definitely do his best!"

Seeing that he was so spiritual, Liu Bei no longer concealed it, "I feel that compared with Cao Wei and Cao Su, Soochow is the weakest. If you want to achieve a great cause, you must first destroy Soochow and take down Jingzhou. In the future, when you attack Cao Wei , it will not be so difficult!"

"The soldiers of our three armies have just gone through the battle of Hanzhong. Although they did not win a big victory, they still ruthlessly crushed the morale of Cao's soldiers, and almost drove Cao Cao into a desperate situation. The army is in full swing, and most of Sun Quan's generals are old and weak. , and his cavalry battle armor is no match for our army, if I attack south with the Thunder Army at this time, I can definitely defeat Soochow before Cao Wei sends troops!"

"Furthermore, Cao Pi is newly established, his foundation is not stable, and he has not experienced a big battle. If I attack Wu, he will at most just bluff, sit and watch success or failure, and dare not act rashly. Moreover, the faster I use troops, the more he will Don't dare to take risks easily, Fangzheng, you know the art of war, let me tell you, is my idea right or not?"

Li Yan listened to Liu Bei rambling a lot, with an inexplicable gleam in his eyes, but he didn't speak for a long time!

Seeing this, Liu Bei urged:
"My love, what do you think?"

Li Yan quickly shook his head, smiled and said:
"Your Majesty has insight into the overall situation and foresight, and I admire you very much!"

Seeing that he didn't object, Liu Bei was overjoyed immediately, but soon his face became worried again, "After thinking about it, it's still a matter of food, payment and armaments. Last time I asked you to discuss this matter with Huang Quan and the others. What's your opinion?"

After hearing this, Li Yan said:
"I discussed with Grand Tutor Xu Jingyou, General Huang Quan for a long time, and came to the conclusion that if all counties and counties can implement four or six taxes, and one out of three Ding, then after this autumn, 150 million shi of new grain and grass can be added. About 25 soldiers are brave!"

"really?"

Liu Bei's eyes widened slightly, and he looked at Li Yan in disbelief!

"It's absolutely true!" Li Yan smiled and cupped his hands.

Liu Bei then stood up, took Li Yan's hand and said excitedly:

"Zhengfang, with your words, I will have nothing to worry about, and I will be relieved!"

However, Li Yan said:
"But Your Majesty, the Prime Minister seems to have always disapproved of this policy, because this will put a lot of burden on the people in Sichuan!"

Hearing this, the excitement on Liu Bei's face slowly dissipated. After hesitating for a long time, he said:
"Extreme times, we can only use extraordinary means! I will grant you a hand order, authorize you, and order you and Huang Quan to levy an additional 150 million shi for military rations and 25 soldiers within a year!"

"I obey the order! If there is a mistake, I will be willing to deal with it by military law!"

Liu Bei patted him with a smile, "Zhengfang, I haven't been this happy for a long time, come, let's have a drink!"

Li Yan was overjoyed!

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

……

the other side!
After Zhuge Liang learned that Liu Bei had ordered the attack on Soochow, he almost fainted in the mansion!
"Confused! Confused!"

He didn't dare to say bluntly that Liu Bei was confused, so he could only lament in the mansion.

Ma Di came in from the outside at this time, seeing Zhuge Liang's appearance, he quickly persuaded:

"Sir, you must take care of your health, and don't rush to your heart!"

Zhuge Liang's face turned pale with anger, "How can your majesty agree with Li Yan and Huang Quan to collect taxes from the people four or six times, and take one out of every three Dings? In this way, how will the people in central Shu survive? ..."

He didn't continue talking, but obviously his risk on this matter has reached a completely uncontrollable level!

Ma Su hurriedly asked:

"Sir, why don't you advise His Majesty?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head helplessly, "I have already persuaded His Majesty twice, but the edict to raise taxes and soldiers proves that His Majesty's determination to attack Wu has been made, so what's the point of my persuasion? Again and again!"

"Sir, even so, His Majesty may not lose, right?"

Ma Di said at this time, "After all, the military strength of Soochow Wu is still too weak compared to ours. If Your Majesty wins the battle quickly and our food supply is in place, once we win a big victory, it will be a unified trend!"

"That said!"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said, "But this game, the gamble is too big!"

"Sir, you are too cautious!" Ma Di smiled and comforted.

"Youchang, have you ever thought about the situation at Cao Wei's side?"

(End of this chapter)