Chapter 40

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"Lord Xuande, don't you think your troops are a bit few?" Chen Xi said with a smile, "The most elite troops in the world today, I believe everyone has a clear idea. Instead of relying on others, we should strengthen ourselves."

"Our roots are shallow, and to have so many troops is already a blessing from heaven. Zichuan, are you referring to the elite cavalry of Liang?" Liu Bei's eyes flashed with a glint of intelligence.

"Yes, this is the gift I have prepared. Since we are leaving here, we might as well take them with us. If Zijian can demonstrate the leadership of the first mighty general of Liang, I estimate that recruiting about ten thousand elite cavalry of Liang should not be a problem." Chen Xi said with a smile, then gestured to Hua Xiong, "It's up to you from now on. After all, you have spent a long time in Liang. If you have enough prestige, the road ahead will be much smoother."

"Before Lu Bu, I was the first general of Liang. After Lu Bu came, I remained so. He is a god of war, an invincible god of war." Hua Xiong said with a bitter smile, indicating that if he relied on his reputation among the elite cavalry of Liang, there would be no problem. "But, does Zichuan have such confidence to capture so many elite cavalry of Liang? After all, they are the most elite troops in the world."

"It's nothing. We just need to take them over. The one leading the elite cavalry of Liang at the rear must be Lu Bu. Now, Lu Bu is probably about to defeat Cao Cao, and this is the time when he is most suspicious. When he sees us, he will immediately think of the words in my letter and turn around to leave. The rest is up to you." Chen Xi said with a calm expression.

Seeing everyone's confusion, Chen Xi slowly explained, "The letter I gave to Lu Bu did not recruit him. I wrote it as a person from Bing who has received Lu Bu's favor, giving him some hints. I mentioned that Li Ru would make him dig up the imperial tombs, the harm this would cause him, and that Luoyang would be burned down. Then, I told him to ambush the allied forces at the rear."

"Uh, Zichuan, aren't you giving Lu Bu advice?" Liu Bei said, somewhat puzzled.

"No, it's just to gain Lu Bu's trust and help him understand the situation better. Ambushing the allied forces is something Li Ru would have instructed anyway. However, I gave a hint that Li Ru would only instruct him to ambush but not how many times to pursue, and that the first pursuit might be a bait. If he pursues deeply, he might be ambushed and even trapped himself." Chen Xi said casually.

"Zichuan, if you do this, aren't you afraid Lu Bu will deliberately set up a second ambush?" Zhao Yun asked, frowning.

"Lu Bu doesn't have the time, and he won't put himself in danger. All the previous words are true. Lu Bu will definitely take the last hint seriously, especially when Generals Guan, Zhang, and Zhao are present, who can decisively kill him. He will turn around and leave without hesitation. As for his Liang troops, he won't care at all. As long as they are not from Bing, he doesn't care. I have confirmed this with General Hua." Chen Xi smiled and explained to Zhao Yun, finding this very familiar.

"That's true." Hua Xiong said with a bitter smile, "Except for the troops from Bing, Lu Bu never cares about the lives of the Liang troops. This is why the wolf cavalry of Bing and the iron cavalry of Liang still don't get along."

"Zichuan is indeed a great talent!" Liu Bei said, his eyes shining as he looked at Chen Xi.

"Maybe not." Chen Xi spread his hands helplessly, "In the future, the relationship between Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, and Li Ru won't be as good. He will always suspect that Li Ru and Dong Zhuo want to get rid of him. This thorn will remain in his heart until one of them falls. Of course, I don't think Dong Zhuo has the ambition he once had, and Li Ru probably won't be willing to help a leader without ambition."

"Very ruthless!" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei said in unison.

"There's nothing ruthless about it. I didn't kill anyone, and I didn't make them kill anyone. Everything I said is true, with no lies." Chen Xi rolled his eyes and began to argue, "And you can see that I didn't sow discord. As a fellow townsman, it's only right to consider the well-being of my fellow townsman. If Lu Bu really trusted Li Ru, this wouldn't happen."

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun were speechless, but they couldn't deny that Chen Xi was right. The entire letter was filled with pure goodwill, but it would be the greatest malice for Lu Bu to see it.

"Alright, let's not talk about it. We should go and take over our troops. This is the foundation for our future. Try not to kill if you can." Chen Xi smiled and reassured them. This was something he was very familiar with. Sometimes, the appearance of goodwill in the wrong place is the greatest malice!

Guan, Zhang, and Zhao returned to their camps to lead their troops, ready for a big battle. From Chen Xi's words, they already knew that the ten thousand elite cavalry of Liang was a sure thing. Chen Xi didn't plan to command the troops, so they would likely be divided among the four of them. Although the majority would go to Liu Bei, the rest would be divided among them, with each getting at least a thousand!

"Lord Xuande, can you tell me your aspirations?" Chen Xi asked solemnly after shooing Hua Xiong aside, but a smile couldn't be hidden from his eyes. He didn't mind Liu Bei's answer; he needed a reliable lord, not one with great ambitions and ruthlessness.

What Chen Xi wanted was stability. This was a chaotic era, and any ambition needed to be protected to be realized, whether it was restoring the Han dynasty, reviving China, or re-establishing a martial spirit. All of these required Chen Xi to be alive to achieve.

With eighteen hundred years of knowledge and experience, Chen Xi had far more than anyone in this era. Intelligence might have inherent differences, but wisdom comes from accumulated experience.

Chen Xi clearly knew that his intelligence might not match these great ministers of history, but his vision, knowledge, and wisdom far surpassed them.

To put it simply, Chen Xi knew what policies would be beneficial at this time and what long-term drawbacks they would have. He didn't even need to patch up loopholes, and he could predict the impact hundreds of years in the future, even suggesting what policies to change. Could Zhuge Liang know how the Tang and Song dynasties would be? What a joke!

So, to put it bluntly, as long as Chen Xi grasped the major directions of politics and economics, had a few capable subordinates, and had a lord who would let him act freely, under the same conditions, he had confidence that he could outperform the famous ministers of the Three Kingdoms in the short term. This wasn't about intelligence but about knowledge and experience.

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