Guan Jing was stunned, staring at Liu Bei, motionless. Liu Bei frowned and turned around and wanted to leave.

Guan Jing suddenly reacted and stepped forward, stopped Liu Bei, and grabbed Liu Bei's sleeve. "Mr. Fu, Jing thought it was inappropriate."

Liu Bei's face suddenly changed color and he broke free from Guan Jing. "Yuan, you have never seen Sun Ce before, and you don't know his nature. He led elite cavalry to attack the central army in all his battles. If he planned to plan for Youzhou, I would be his target. Once he got on his ship, could he still come back alive?"

"Mr. Fu, are you afraid of him?"

Liu Bei was also stunned and looked at Guan Jing in disbelief. It was the first time he had been with Guan Jing for so long that he saw Guan Jing so direct and not at all. His face turned red and white, and red again. "Yuan An, what do you mean?"

"Mr., the brave one wins when they meet on a narrow road. If they are afraid before they fight, how can they win?"

"Who... who said I'm afraid of him?" Liu Bei was also anxious and shouted at the top of his voice: "Why should I be afraid of him? This is Youzhou, not Central Plains, I am the master, he is a guest, I..." After shouting twice, he felt that he was overreacting, which made people look a little afraid of Sun Ce, and he quickly lowered his voice. "I...I'm worried that Yuan Tan would take advantage of the situation."

"If the Lord of the House is worried about Yuan Tan, then he should welcome Sun Ce even more. When Sun Ce arrives here, if you don't welcome him in person, it will be inconsistent with the feelings and reason. It will only make people feel that the Lord of the House is incompatible with Sun Ce and is isolated and helpless. In this way, Gongsun Xu and Taishi Ci are not helping, but opponents. In this way, Yuan Tan will take advantage of the situation."

Liu Bei blinked and hesitated. He felt that Guan Jing was right, but he really didn't want to face Sun Ce. After leaving Yuzhou for so many years, he always felt that Sun Ce had a prejudice against him and wanted to find an opportunity to take his life. At the beginning, in Xiao Huang, if it weren't for Jian Yong's hard advice, Sun Ce would never have saved him. Now Sun Ce was determined to take Youzhou and go to see him at this time. What if Sun Ce cut his head with a knife? But if he didn't go, Sun Ce was angry and asked Gongsun Xu and Taishi Ci to stab him in the back, which was indeed enough for him to bear. Even if Sun Ce didn't care, let Yuan Tan and Zhang Ze see that he and Sun Ce were in harmony, and would not miss this opportunity. In short, if he didn't go, the consequences would be very serious.

Seeing Liu Bei hesitating, Guan Jing said again: "When the Lord of the Fu was in the Central Plains, he was once the former official of Sun Ce. When you returned to Youzhou and trained troops in Yuyang, you also received many support from Sun Ce. Even the sword hanging around the waist of the Fujun was given by Sun Ce. Now that he was ordered to inspect this, the Lord of the Fujun avoided him and asked him to come to Anji to see you. This is contrary to morality. Although Jing is ignorant, he will not take it. Besides..." Guan Jing paused and said: "If the Lord of the Fujun does not welcome him, will he let Guan Yu go to welcome him?"

Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat, gritted his teeth, and patted his forehead hard. "I'll think about it again."

Guan Jing bowed and bowed. "Mr., you should stop and suffer the chaos. Quanzhou is right by the sea, and Guan Yu will receive the news soon."

Liu Bei was confused and waved his hands repeatedly. "I understand, I understand."

Guan Jing retreated. Liu Bei paced back and forth in the hall, hesitating. He really didn't want to see Sun Ce, but he had to go. Not to mention morality, it was very inappropriate to let Guan Yu meet Sun Ce alone. Guan Yu took the lead in his word. When Sun Ce came, he would definitely go to see him. Moreover, he always did his own thing and would not consider the impact of doing so. Sun Ce was accustomed to using sweet words and bewitching people's hearts. If Guan Yu was poisoned by him, he would not know how much trouble he would cause.

After thinking about it, Liu Bei sent someone to call Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei to tell him about his dilemma and hoped that they would help him with this idea. Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei thought they should go, but they should make some preparations to prevent them from becoming angry. Zhang Fei stayed behind An Ci to prevent Yuan Tan from having any abnormal movements.

After discussing, they decided that the first thing they had to do was to send a letter to Guan Yu and ask him to take precautions, especially not to meet Sun Ce alone. Then they gathered three thousand elite cavalry and led by Zhao Yun himself to escort Liu Bei, which was to ensure Liu Bei's safety and serve as a guard of honor, expressing their importance to Sun Ce.

When Sun Ce learned that Liu Bei was leading three thousand elite cavalry to welcome him, he burst into laughter.

"I'm so flattered." He said to Guan Jing, who came to contact him first.

Guan Jing smiled and said, "The Lord of the House is grateful to the Lord and the Lord. When he learned that the Lord and the Lord were ordered to inspect the eight states, he was overjoyed. The people of Youzhou have suffered for a long time in the war. If the Lord and the Lord can pacify Youzhou and let the people of Youzhou pay more attention to the court's kindness, it is true that Youzhou is the blessing of the court."

Sun Ce smiled but said nothing. Guan Jing pulled him to the court everywhere, so he naturally wanted to remind him who was the real opponent and not focus on Liu Bei. Although this person was not outstanding, he was also a few sensible people under Liu Bei. In history, he died for Gongsun Zan and was considered a person with a bottom line. Such people should stay with Liu Bei so that Liu Bei could hold on for a while. Gongsun Xu did not need such people. There are too many military strategists who can choose from, and he has already arranged it.

"The chief of the clerk is from Youzhou and has served as the chief of the clerk of Gongsun Bogui for many years. I believe he has some understanding of the situation in Youzhou. Can you give me some advice?"

"I dare not, if you ask, Jing Zhi speaks everything, and you will say everything."

"You just said that you should pacify Youzhou, so let's start with this." Sun Ce poured two cups of tea and reached out to invite him. "I heard from Mi Zizhong that you are a rare person among Youzhou people who like to drink tea. I have prepared some, so please try it."

"Then I'll be disrespectful." Guan Jing took the teacup and felt very relieved. He and Mi Zhu only met once. Mi Zhu actually remembered that he liked to drink tea, and Sun Ce specially prepared tea to treat him. No matter how many polite ingredients there were, the etiquette was always satisfactory. He drank two sips of tea, nodded repeatedly, praised a few words before returning to the topic.

"If you give a shallow example, the Central Plains are chest and abdomen, soft and delicate, with the most fertile land, which can feed more people, and Youzhou is skin and bones, with wind and sun, rough as rocks, with the coldest wind and the most stoic people. Since ancient times, Yanzhao has been known as Yanshan Mountain and Taihang, blocking the Hu people on the grassland, and then the Central Plains have stability. If Youzhou falls, Hu horses cross Yanshan Mountain, enter Jizhou, and drink horses from the Yellow River, then the Central Plains will be tragic, the fertile fields are deserted, and peace will be unsuccessful."

Sun Ce did not argue. Guan Jing's words made sense, but he was not only talking about the general trend of the world, but also reminding Youzhou that the danger of falling into Yuan Tan's hands was even more serious than that in Liu Bei's hands. After all, it was Yuan Tan, not Liu Bei, who had a good relationship with the Hu people on the grassland.

"But Youzhou is bitter and cold, with limited arable land, unable to support itself, and he always fights with the Hu people. He served as governors and countless prefects died in official business. Martyrs followed one after another. Almost every family in Youzhou had people who died for the country and died in border areas. The losses were great, and farming would inevitably be affected. The Central Plains were stable, and the taxes of Qingxu and the two states of Qingxu were also able to supplement them. Ant thieves rose up everywhere, Qingzhou was deserted and Xuzhou was half aborted. Youzhou was like a warrior who had no food. Although he had a passion, he could not support it for too long. The king and marquis were ordered to patrol the border, stabilize the eight states, and save the people from water and fire. This is indeed the wisdom of Your Majesty and the great blessing of Youzhou."

Sun Ce laughed silently. "What the Chief Secretary said is indeed reasonable, but he just answers the question that is not."

Guan Jing bowed awkwardly. "I'll ask for advice from you."

"Youzhou is the gateway to the northern border, and there is no loss in a moment. It is reasonable to cut taxes from the Central Plains to supplement them. However, this tax is used to guard the border, not to reward the Hu people, do you think?"

Guan Jing nodded in agreement. "What the Lord and Hou said was very serious. Gongsun Bogui and Liu Envoy were dissatisfied because of the disagreement of the concept of expedition and pacification."

"Gongsun Bogui is determined to kill the thief, but there are not many people from Youzhou who support him. Xian Yufu, Tian Chou and others support Liu Yu. What's the reason? It seems to be inconsistent with what you said."

"This..." Guan Jing glanced at Gongsun Xu behind Sun Ce, and wanted to speak but stopped. Obviously, he did not agree with some of Gongsun Zan's actions, but it was not convenient to speak too straightforwardly in front of Gongsun Xu.

"Gongsun Bogui died in battle, and Liu Xuande accepted his old subordinates. What I want to ask is what attitude he has towards the Hu people? Should he follow Liu Yu's old tricks, endure giving in, cut off his flesh and feed the wolf, or should he continue Gongsun Bogui's unfinished career and fight the Hu people to the end?"

Guan Jing pondered and refused to answer. This was a pit. If Liu Bei learned from Liu Yu and took the path of comfort, Sun Ce would obviously not admit it. But if Liu Bei learned from Gongsun Zan and continued to fight against the Hu people, this might not work. Gongsun Zan is the example in front of him. Liu Bei could not move forward even though he knew it wouldn't work.

"Junhou, I'm sorry, fighting with the Hu people is different from the Central Plains. With Gongsun Bogui's bravery and hard work, let alone the Liufujun has not yet established a firm foothold? He is willing but unable to do so. Because of this, the help of the Junhou is indispensable..."

"Is Liu Xuande even worse than Gongsun Du?" Sun Ce interrupted Guan Jing and then asked again: "He can't even defend his hometown. How can I believe that he will defend Youzhou? How do I know that the food I have worked hard will not fall into the hands of others?"

Guan Jing was speechless.

"Please ask the Chief Secretary to bring a message. If he is willing, he doesn't have to bring three thousand cavalry to welcome me. I don't care. Three thousand cavalry is nothing. When I was in Guandu, I faced Yuan Shao's 10,000 cavalry and defeated him. I hope he can bring a plan to recover Zhuo County, so that I can believe that he has the ability to take charge of the country. If he doesn't, then I will do it myself." He picked up the teacup and did not hide the contempt in his eyes. "No matter how much food Qingxu has, he will not raise waste."

Guan Jing's face was red and his ears were red, as if he was sitting on needles and needles.

"There is one more thing for the long-term."

"Please give me instructions."

"Please say hello to Yide on my behalf and let him take care of the Snake Spear, so that it will not rust, and it will be used in the future."

Guan Jing's eyes flashed slightly. "Is there any more?"

Sun Ce understood what he meant. "There is also Zhao Zilong. Although he has not met him, he has been admiring him for a long time. I hope he will have a chance to fight side by side with him soon."

Guan Jing looked at Sun Ce without saying anything. Sun Ce smiled slightly and looked cunning. "I won't bother you anymore. First, he doesn't like you scholars, and second, I have a few private words to face him, which is not worth telling outsiders."

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Chapter completed!