New Trickster

  Zhao Dahi's proposal at that time sparked everyone's endless thoughts.

  Since it's an alliance, there should be a unified policy, otherwise it would just be a loose sand and nothing can be accomplished. However, now there is a problem that has arisen.

  Let's not talk about other rods for now, and only say that Tian Shou is the one who proposed this matter. He should be the leader of the alliance by right, but he didn't get involved in the mud, and his strength and status are also high. To lead the strong with weakness is a major taboo of the alliance.

  At the same time, there is another worry that if a strong leader becomes the alliance head, they will have the intention of annexing the weak. Although each faction has its own difficulties, they are all independent and free to come and go as they please, and it's hard for them to become someone else's subordinate. If you try to control me, won't that be chaotic? This is also something that must be guarded against. Dividing spoils is the same way - everyone wants to get more, but after entering the city, the strong will suppress the weak, or perhaps even resort to arson and robbery, eating alone, and that would truly be a helpless situation.

  The hall suddenly fell silent.

  Lü Shi couldn't help but smile wryly, and with a quick kick of his foot, he secretly kicked Guo Tianxing. It wasn't that Lü Shi wanted to join in on the fun, but time was pressing, and Zhang Laoshi was still suffering in the water dungeon. Where did they have the time to waste here? At the same time, from Guo Tianxing's respectful attitude towards Bu Nian, he knew that deep down, he truly respected and feared Bu Nian.

  It's just that once you're deeply respectful and fearful of someone, you can't escape their shadow at any time or place, even if you rise to a high position in the future. You'll still be timid and unable to exert yourself freely in front of them. It's better to be magnanimous and let go of past grievances, so that you can repay the kindness of those who have helped you along the way. This kind of exchange is also a gain amidst difficulties.

  Guo Tianxing was deep in thought when he suddenly felt his foot being kicked by Lü Shi. He slightly turned his head and saw that Lü Shi's eyes were fixed on the mud, and at once understood what Lü Shi was thinking. Alas, he gave up on that unrealistic idea and stood up saying: "Although this alliance meeting was initiated by my master, but Nianzhu Laoqian is the rightful leader of the alliance. I, Guo Tianxing, will pay respects to the leader." With that, he bowed down.

  He was taken aback for a moment, but he was overjoyed in his heart at the time.

  Emotions are no longer sticky or taboo, seeing the chaos of the world in recent years, natural disasters and man-made disasters, following the old rules of changing dynasties, earth-shattering events may happen in these few years. Not wanting to be left behind, thinking of gaining some benefits in the future, making a name for oneself, the first step is to gain people's admiration, then comes real power (later at Gao Yingxiang's gathering, this non-sticky person appeared, but after all, still a small figure, don't know when disappeared in the battle, drowned in the ambitious rebel army).

  If this time out of the mountain is to become the alliance master, no matter which stick will be in the future, there will be a gust of wind blowing grass and thinking about the actual alliance master of this place. At the same time, although there was no intention of swallowing up the people and horses of these several mountain strongholds at that time, such despicable things were not worth doing for the time being, but one day as the alliance master, it would be the permanent alliance master of these several mountain strongholds in disguise, and then use some means to become the largest force in this northern Shaanxi region. How can this position of alliance master not make people drool with envy?

  But indeed as mentioned above, it was someone else who initiated this matter, and he couldn't bear to fight for the position of alliance leader with his old face, but his strength was there, letting a young whippersnapper point east and west was really unbearable, so he lowered his head and didn't speak, waiting for everyone to talk.

  At a loss for words, Zhou Tianxing was considerate and recommended himself as the leader of the alliance. Overjoyed in his heart, he smiled and said with false modesty: "Zhou Tianxing, being the initiator and also strong and young, should be the leader of this alliance."

  "Elderly predecessors are highly respected and more capable, elderly predecessors should not decline." Tianxing hurriedly showed humility.

  So the two of them, one with a sincere concession and the other with a pretended refusal, finally became the leader under the support of the other two, without any further ado. The real alliance will be formed on an auspicious day, and the ceremony will be discussed later. Now let's solve the second problem.

  The second issue is the deployment of troops during the expedition.

  This is important, it concerns the sincerity of the alliance master, and this is also the most concerned issue for everyone in this meeting.

  The leader of the alliance was originally a senior among them, and he was also strong and powerful. If he really had ulterior motives, it would harm his subordinates. Not to mention in real battles, he would favor himself, directing others to charge forward while keeping his own troops safe, which would weaken the strength of other factions and preserve his own power. When the other three families were exhausted from attacking the city and the government army's strength was depleted, he would take advantage of the situation and make a decisive move, sending his trusted and brave generals to capture the ripe peach.

  In this way, the first to break through the city will naturally be the one who doesn't get stuck in the mud. Others can only exert themselves in vain and suffer losses. Once the city is broken, when it comes to dividing up the spoils, it's also a matter of rewarding those with great merit, which would lead to other families suffering heavy losses. With only one family having overwhelming power, there will be cases of bullying the weak by the strong. This road sign can only serve as a scapegoat for others.

  Being a leader of a mountain stronghold isn't just an empty title, although I'm rough around the edges, I also have some cleverness to me, or else I wouldn't have made it this far.

  Lü Shi looked at everyone's calculations and couldn't help but shake his head secretly. Originally, he had asked Tianxing to send troops to rescue Zhang's family and the villagers, not only thinking of a clever plan but also wanting to give this righteous stick some benefits. Although it was someone else's property, relying on Tianxing would have been impossible to obtain, but who would have thought that before the matter even left the house, it had already become a loud rumor throughout the city? Now, unfortunately, these three families came to intervene, and things often became one person struggling to do, once many people participated, each side hindered each other, which instead made things worse. It's like one horse pulling a cart, which can move forward, but four horses pulling a cart, without a good driver, it becomes difficult to move an inch.

  At this time, Da Du stood up and said: "Everyone should not quarrel, as the alliance leader, I must set an example. At the same time, my mountain stronghold has the most people. I think so, at the beginning of each battle, the main force will be 2,000 troops from my own mountain stronghold, while other mountain strongholds will each send 500 troops, mixed together and unified under my command. Then, we'll select 200 tall, strong and brave men, equipped with the longbow of the Overlord of the Heavenly Star, as a crushing force. What do you think?"

  As soon as this was said, everyone's spirits were shaken. Of course, there was no objection to such an arrangement, because the alliance leader had sent 2,000 troops, which was four times that of each of the other factions. What could anyone say about such a generous and responsible person? So everyone nodded in agreement.

  Even bystander Zhao Dahai admired the non-stick mud, looking at it, still an old predecessor, with a sense of responsibility and righteousness, this alliance leader is not bad.

  Only Lü Shi secretly disapproved in his heart, what a cunning old fox, he easily reduced the strength of other allies and even gained praise for being righteous.

  In fact, this allocation system is a category of systems science. Nowadays people really can't see the twists and turns in between, but Lü Shì comes from later generations and sees through it at a glance.

  Everyone, please think about it. Not sticking to the mud is sending out 2,000 troops, but that's only one-seventh of his entire mountain stronghold's manpower. However, for a small stick like Over-the-Sky Star, they have to send out half or even their entire army. After several battles, even if the casualties are average, Over-the-Sky Star's stick will truly become a commander with no troops left. On the other hand, Not Sticking to the Mud still has 2,000 troops available for use. As for those elite archer teams gathered from various routes, as long as they give Not Sticking to the Mud time, either by buying them off or showing them kindness, or getting rid of them, that would be several hundred crack troops given to Not Sticking to the Mud by everyone. What's even more pitiful is that they also lost several hundred archers for nothing.

  But Lü Shi knew that he didn't need to expose this now, and he was just a bystander, only wanting to facilitate everyone to send troops as soon as possible, capture the county city, rescue Zhang Jia brothers and Zhang Jiazhuang disciples, then pat his butt and take the willing brothers with him to rush to Jiangnan, where he would use his knowledge superior to that of the ancients to make a fortune, accumulate strength, and avoid this era of war.

  There is no need to unjustifiably hurt the master who doesn't stick to the mud.

  Now that the personnel arrangement is satisfactory and everyone is pleased, they immediately discuss the next issue.

  The third issue is dividing spoils, euphemistically referred to as distributing war trophies.

  At first, the two mountain stronghold leaders were not interested in the alliance leader and knew they didn't have any thoughts of their own, so they didn't participate in the competition. But now that it involves personal interests, they all start to fight for it. The four individuals don't want to let the debate rest, each speaking eloquently, but actually wanting to get a bigger share from this time.

  Zhao Dahi and Lü Shisu were outsiders, originally one was an official and the other a layman, with no real power behind them, they could only watch as the four of them quarreled.

  Zhao Dahi hugged his arms and watched, his expression was like watching a big show, the wonderful place nodded in praise, the failing place looked down on him, just short of finding drums to help.

  Lü Shidao didn't have the leisure to do so, the Zhang family's old and young were waiting for him, how could he waste time here? At that moment, his calm face already had a look of impatience.

  Guo Tianxing suddenly turned his head to see Lv Shi's anxious expression, feeling embarrassed at the same time. He remembered why Lv Shi had come and quickly knocked on the table to stop everyone from arguing, saying: "Everyone, please listen to me. This matter is actually simple and doesn't need us to argue endlessly here. Just listen to one person's words and everything will be fine." The other three people immediately stopped talking and asked in doubt: "Guo Tianxing, who can solve this problem?"

  "My husband is a man with a heart full of wisdom, this small matter can be easily handled. It's better to listen to my husband's opinion, he will definitely give everyone a fair judgment."

  Everyone's eyes turned to Lü Shi together.

  Lü Shì was in a hurry, but didn't expect that with just one sentence from Xiāng Lǐng, her husband pulled her inside.

  Lü Shì was bewildered, very bewildered. How could a great play be going well, yet suddenly pull in the audience as extras? Not just extras, but still the main characters on horseback.

  It's not necessary to know the relationship between Lü Shi and Guo Tianxing, but when he came in, Guo Tianxing was very respectful to Lü Shi, calling him "Mr." repeatedly. It seems that Lü Shi is indeed Guo Tianxing's military advisor. He stood up and bowed his hands, saying: "Sir, you are a great talent, not someone like me can compare with. Since you already have a plan in mind, please give me some advice on what to do?"

  Lü Shì had no choice but to stand up and return the courtesy, saying: "Since the master of the Tianxing clan has specified that I speak, I will come up with a plan. Let's discuss it."