Chapter 14: Yuan the Great, Yuan the Highway!

  "Meng De, you're not looking very glorious now." Cao Cao was accompanying Yuan Shao to meet the various lords when a sour voice suddenly came from the crowd. Upon hearing this, Cao Cao knew without guessing that it was the infamous Second Master of Luoyang, Yuan Shu.

  Damn it! Fucking idiot! Li Yu cursed in his heart, looking dignified and handsome, but actually a useless pretty boy - a big fool. Who else could do something as stupid as declaring himself emperor? Li Yu reminded Cao Cao to let him be a mediator, specifically to guard against this idiot.

  Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shu's jealous face and said lightly: "What Cao did was for the well-being of the common people, not to gain any fame. If I could kill the rebel Dong Zhuo, I would rather give up this fame and my life!"

  "Hmph, people's hearts are separated by a layer of skin, who knows what you were really thinking at the time." Yuan Shu coldly snorted.

  "That's enough, Meng De! Whatever he was thinking at the time, he at least did what we wanted to do but couldn't. What's most important now is for everyone to discuss together how to attack Dong Zhuo, rather than talking about these useless things here."

  Yuan Shao could no longer bear it, his younger brother had been arrogant and domineering since childhood, relying on being the legitimate heir of the Yuan family's four generations of three dukes, looking down on heroes all over the world.

  Now, for the sake of a fleeting reputation, he dares to openly provoke Cao Cao, the initiator of this alliance. If in the future he encounters even greater benefits, won't he also offend his own brother?

  "All right, all right, let's talk about this alliance now." Tao Qian, the old good man among the lords, began to mediate.

  King Kung, the governor of Hebei Prefecture, was the first to shout: "We have come here in the name of justice and must elect a leader. If everyone follows orders, we can defeat Dong Zhuo; otherwise, how can we resist Dong Zhuo's tens of thousands of Western Liang troops?"

  As soon as King Kuang's voice fell, Ji Ling, the chief general of Yuan Shu's account, held a three-pointed two-bladed knife and shouted: "Do we still need to recommend what? My master is a descendant of the four generations of the three public names, and more than half of the officials in the world are old officials of the Yuan family. If my master cannot take this position as the alliance leader, who else can sit?"

  On the other side, Xiahou Dun behind Cao Cao saw Ji Ling being so presumptuous, and Ji Ling's lord Yuan Shu had just humiliated his own elder brother again. Xiahou Dun gripped his 58-kilogram spear tightly, ready to go forward and stab Ji Ling to death.

  But just as Xiahou Dun was about to rush out and prepare to raise his spear, Li Yu, who was standing beside him with a distant look in his eyes, suddenly pulled him back and scolded: "Fool! Are you sick? Don't you see the location? Do you want to harm our lord?"

  "Hmm!", Xiahou Dun thought for a moment and stopped in his tracks, annoyed. Li Yu saw that he was unhappy and whispered to him: "Don't worry, Yuan Shao is so foolish, he will bring disaster upon himself one day, sooner or later we will destroy him!"

  "Are you trying to usurp the position of the alliance leader, Cao Mengde?" Although Li Yu blocked Xiahou Dun, Yuan Shu still saw it and couldn't help but ask.

  Cao Cao turned his head and took a look, immediately knowing what was going on. He gave Xiahou Dun a white eye, then turned around again, shook his head at Yuan Shu and said:

  "Cao has self-awareness, and it is impossible for Cao's weak military power to take the position of alliance leader. However, I do not contend for this position of alliance leader, but that does not mean that no one can sit in this position except you, Yuan Shu! As for the four generations of three dukes of the Yuan family, everyone knows that the master of the Yuan family has long been passed to my brother Yuan Benchu. Therefore, I Cao Cao now recommend Yuan Shao, the governor of Bohai, as our alliance leader. What do you all think?"

  "You! You...." Although Yuan Shu knew that Yuan Shao was the head of the Yuan family in this generation, he had already taken the lead in setting up the Yuan family's signboard. In general, people would not dare to mention this fact at the risk of offending Yuan Shu, who was the legitimate son of the Yuan family.

  But Yuan Shu did not expect that Cao Cao, this eunuch, would actually not take him seriously at all, how could the proud and arrogant Yuan Shu bear it?

  However, it was too late, Cao Cao took the lead in recommending Yuan Shao first, and all the other lords unanimously recommended Yuan Shao as the alliance leader.

  Yuan Shu now has only two choices: one, resolutely refuse to recognize Yuan Shao's position as the alliance leader and go solo with his own army.

  Two, submit to Yuan Shao as the head of the Yuan family and become a vassal lord who may be taken care of by Yuan Shao.

  What will Yuan Shu choose in the end? Of course, our Yuan Shu still chose the second option with great reluctance...

  Li Yu was also secretly scolding in his heart: Yuan Datou is a coward!

  In February of 190, the weather was unbearably cold. If it were later generations with air conditioning and heating, they wouldn't even need to wear cotton-padded clothes and would still be hot. But now Li Yu had already cursed this terrible weather ten thousand times. Cao Laoban and those big shots were having a dinner party! Li Yu didn't want to go, so he stayed in the central military tent.

  The Han Dynasty tent was similar to the Mongolian yurt, with a large beam in the middle and several supports on both sides, finally covered with a layer of cloth, which is the tent.

  "Ah-choo!" Li Yu covered himself with a quilt and warmed his body by the brazier.

  "Master, dinner is ready!", Le Jin walked in with a steaming plate of food.

  Le Jin: A man from Yangping Wei State, famous for his bravery and ferocity.

  "Ah! General Wen Qian, come in and warm up by the fire, this weather is terrible!" Li Yu called out. Li Yu was quite familiar with him, and Le Jin also showed great respect to Li Yu, so he didn't even need to bring food to serve this master.

  Li Yu ate while Le Jin looked on; Li Yu sat while Le Jin stood.

  "Huh? General Yue is sitting, why are you standing?" It took a while before Li Yu raised his head and discovered this awkward scene, asking in puzzlement.

  "Ah!" Le Jin was stunned for a moment before sitting down. After a long while, Le Jin spoke up: "Sir, this time the allied forces have brought in over 50 million troops, more than twice as many as Dong Zhuo's Western Liang army. There are also countless suits of armor and grain, and over a thousand capable generals. Is there really no chance of victory at all?"

  Li Yu chewed on his steamed bun, rolled his eyes and said, "Do I need to tell you that I know where history is going?"

  "General Yue, warfare is a profound subject. You are considering it from a military perspective, and in that case, eliminating Dong Zhuo wouldn't be a problem! However, this won't do!"

  "I, on the other hand, have considered this from multiple angles. Firstly, the alliance is not united and is mutually restrictive, making it difficult to achieve great things. Secondly, even if Dong Zhuo can't defeat him, he won't run away with his tail between his legs, will he? Don't forget that the Emperor is in his hands, and if this battle becomes urgent and he takes the Emperor hostage, what will you do then? Isn't it better to view this war as a gathering of heroes, where one day this empire will fall into the hands of one of them?"

  "What! Hey!" Le Jin sighed: "Is the great Han Dynasty of four hundred years really going to perish? There is no way to serve the country!"

  "Nonsense, do you think there's still a way out?" Li Yu said disdainfully: "In chaotic times, heroes have always emerged, and now is the time to build achievements. People like us, stuck in a peaceful and prosperous era, without identity or connections, where can we go to serve our country? If we don't starve to death, it's already good enough! Now that an opportunity has come, you're still acting like this! What we can do now is find someone who can achieve great things and assist them. Sweep across the eight wildernesses and six harmonies, create a bright and clear world! Isn't this a way to serve our country?"

  "It's just like taking sides, if you take the right side, you'll be prosperous and wealthy in the future, but if you don't, you'll end up with your head chopped off, dying on the spot! What about serving the country? Ha! Is there even a country left? Look at the state of the Han Dynasty now, I almost starved to death during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Don't mention this kind of thing again, just focus on getting along with the boss, he has a great 'financial future'!"

  "Thank you for your advice, sir!" Le Jin's face changed countless times before he suddenly brightened up and gave Li Yu a bow.

  "Hmm? Shh!" Li Yu raised a finger, pointing outside. He made a gesture for Le Jin to quietly open the tent behind him and go around. If what they were saying was overheard and spread, it would be disastrous.

  "Dangdangdi, dangdangdidi...!" Li Yu hummed the famous "Scallion Song" as he covered Le You's approach.

  But unexpectedly, someone outside reached in and lifted the door curtain to enter. "Master!" Li Yu said in surprise, then saw Le Jin entering from the front again. "Master!" Le Jin made a courtesy, "Master, did you hear that?"

  "Hmm!" Cao Cao sat down dejectedly beside Li Yu, picked up a steamed bun and started eating with his head down. The atmosphere was depressing to the extreme, Le Jin was already somewhat nervous, while Li Yu was nonchalant, eating together with Cao Cao.

  "Ah! ——" Cao Cao slammed the steamed bun on the table, breathing hastily and said: "Huaide you're right, these people won't achieve great things!"