Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

These words caused the lords who had previously supported Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu to pause.

However, seeing that the one who made the proposal was Gongsun Zan, representing Liu Yu, and had a prestigious reputation as the "White Horse General," the various lords, both large and small, did not dare to directly scold or refute him.

Gongsun Zan scanned the crowd and said,

"This alliance was initiated by Liu Bo'an. Before I led my troops here, Liu Bo'an also said that Liu Bei, also known as Liu Xuande, is a member of the Han imperial family, renowned for his benevolence, and has quelled the Yellow Turban Rebellion, excelling in warfare, making him the perfect candidate for the leader of the alliance."

Instantly, Yuan Shao, who had thought he had victory within his grasp, had his face darken almost immediately.

Before Yuan Shao could speak, Yuan Yi directly said,

"I have heard of Liu Xuande's name, but the position of leader requires the ability to command the heroes, to make them willingly submit, and to coordinate the forces of all sides to attack the traitor Dong Zhuo, not just excellence in warfare or empty benevolence."

"In this regard, Liu Xuande is still slightly inferior to Yuan Benchu."

Faced with Yuan Yi's statement, many people in the tent subconsciously looked towards Liu Bei, wanting to see how he would react.

If it were an ordinary person, they would be excited and apprehensive about being nominated as the leader.

However, at this moment, Liu Bei, the center of the storm, still lowered his eyes slightly, stood with his hands folded, displaying an air of composure that impressed many lords who had not had much contact with him before.

The next moment, Tao Qian, who had been acting as a peacemaker and had not spoken, stood up and said,

"In my opinion, Xuande as the leader is also a good choice."

"Having a member of the Han imperial family as the leader will make it easier for the Governor of Jing Province and the Governor of Yi Province, who are also members of the Han imperial family, to accept, and it can also inform the world that this alliance of heroes is not for selfish reasons, but to eliminate the traitor of the country and return power to the Han Dynasty."

Tao Qian's voice was as slow as ever, but his words undoubtedly contained sharp knives, implying that the lords present who were supporting the two Yuans as leaders might be harboring selfish motives, wanting to become the second Dong Zhuo?

Moreover, Tao Qian's words also implicitly pointed out that the Governor of Yi Province and the Governor of Jing Province, who were also participating in the alliance and attacking from other directions, were also members of the Han imperial family.

These words alone caused many lords who had originally supported the two Yuans to retreat.

Previously, Liu Zhang and Liu Qi, who had only come as mascots in the competition for the position of leader, had also remained silent.

However, as the situation developed to this point, Liu Zhang and Liu Qi naturally had to express their positions.

Perhaps Liu Zhang and Liu Qi might not genuinely support Liu Bei as the leader, but as members of the Han imperial family, they could not send a message to the outside world that there was internal discord among the Han imperial family.

Therefore, as Liu Zhang and Liu Qi successively spoke out in support of Liu Bei as the leader, the general trend in the tent reversed almost instantly.

The governors of Xu Province, Jing Province, Yi Province, and You Province all supported Liu Bei, which carried great weight and even had a tendency to be decisive.

Sun Jian, who also had no good feelings towards the two Yuans, seeing that Liu Bei becoming the leader seemed to be the general trend, immediately stated,

"Although Yuan Benchu and Yuan Gonglu are good, they are ultimately just sons of noble families who do not understand military affairs, with only empty reputations. How can they be the leader? Liu Xuande should be the leader."

Sun Jian's words undoubtedly made Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who were about to have their peaches stolen by others, resent him at the same time.

Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, Liu Zhang, and Liu Qi each represented a province governor, who Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were not necessarily suitable to fall out with at the moment, but Sun Jian was only a small Changsha Prefect, which immediately attracted the hatred of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Faced with the gazes cast by Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, Sun Jian's heart tightened slightly, and then a look of disdain appeared on his face.

Others were afraid of the two Yuans, but Sun Jian, whose personality was extremely strong, had never been afraid.

Moreover, Sun Jian was on good terms with Liu Bei, and his eldest son was also a disciple of Li Ji. Their private relationship was close, and Sun Jian would inevitably only support Liu Bei for both emotional and rational reasons.

As things developed to this point, except for Pang De, the Commandant who represented the Governor of Xiliang, Ma Teng, the rest of the lords had already expressed their positions.

However, the influence of Ma Teng, the Governor of Xiliang, was not great. No matter who Pang De spoke out in support of, it would be difficult to have a decisive impact on the overall situation at the moment.

Pang De had always been silent and drinking in his seat, without expressing any intention of siding with any party. On the contrary, the two young men, who looked fourteen or fifteen years old, sitting behind Pang De, had been curiously looking at the lords in the seat.

One of the young men was constantly staring at Li Ji, while the other was constantly looking at Zhao Yun.

This made Li Ji, who had been watching the situation, notice the young man's gaze and also looked at him.

With a face like jade and eyes like bright stars...

Although his age still seemed immature, he already had some handsome and heroic feeling.

"Ma Chao?"

Li Ji secretly guessed the identity of this young man, who was suspected to be Ma Chao, nodded to him, and then looked back at the situation in the seat, which had been decided.

Even if Yuan Shao was unwilling, Liu Bei had received the support of so many influential lords, and also had the name of a member of the Han imperial family and benevolence.

As long as anyone with discerning eyes could see that Liu Bei was indeed more suitable to be the leader of the alliance than Yuan Shao at the moment, which was also within Li Ji's expectations.

At the moment, other than surrendering, Yuan Shao's continued insistence would only appear unsightly and embarrassing, adding to the laughter.

'Therefore, Yuan Benchu can only speak out to recommend our lord as the leader...'

Just as Li Ji was thinking this, and Yuan Shao, after careful consideration, was about to get up to break the deadlock and maintain his demeanor.

Suddenly, a Commandant rushed in from outside the central army tent, then knelt down in the direction of Yuan Shao and cried bitterly.

"Lord, Dong Zhuo sent someone to deliver a cart of heads..."

Immediately, everyone in the tent felt a sense of foreboding and looked at the Commandant.

Yuan Shao stood up abruptly, his face changed slightly, and he asked urgently,

"Who are the heads in the cart?"

The Commandant, who was from the Yuan family, lay on the ground and replied, crying bitterly. "There are a total of fifty-three heads, including Grand Tutor Yuan Kui and Grand Coachman Yuan Ji."

Suddenly, Yuan Shao's body visibly swayed. If Xu You hadn't supported him in time, he would have fallen directly to the ground.

"Ah! This is so painful!!!"

Immediately, Yuan Shao howled to the sky, crying incessantly, saying,

"Of my family residing in Luoyang, a total of fifty-three people, including my uncle and my eldest brother, have all been slaughtered by the traitor Dong Zhuo!!"

Xu You and Guo Tu, after reacting, also cried out with sorrowful expressions.

"Lord, please restrain your grief, Lord..."

Yuan Shu, who was sitting opposite Yuan Shao, reacted obviously a beat slower and only cried out after a long time.

However, in Li Ji's view, Yuan Shu was more like laughing than crying.

Li Ji also knew something about the internal relations of the Yuan family.

Although Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu both claimed to be direct descendants of the Yuan family, the true eldest son of their generation was Yuan Ji.

Therefore, Li Ji couldn't help but suspect that Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were more ecstatic than sad in their hearts.

With Yuan Ji's death, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu truly had the opportunity to completely inherit the Yuan family.

As for Yuan Kui, he was only an uncle to Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, not their biological father.

However, Yuan Shao obviously knew what it meant to sacrifice blood relatives to the heavens for boundless power.

After crying bitterly in the tent, he led a group of lords barefoot towards the main gate of the Suanzao camp, then knelt directly in front of the cart of Yuan family heads and kowtowed three times loudly, causing blood to flow from his forehead.

Then, Yuan Shao pointed his sword to the sky and swore loudly in front of everyone,

"I, Yuan Benchu, will never coexist with the traitor Dong Zhuo. If I cannot personally kill Dong Zhuo in this life to avenge my uncle and eldest brother, may I be shot to death by ten thousand arrows!"

Immediately, Yuan Shao bowed to the lords and said,

"Please help me avenge this deep blood feud. Shao will repay your kindness even if it means wearing a ring and tying grass!"

For a time, under Yuan Shao's actions, which were wrapped in loyalty, filial piety, and righteousness, naturally no one would directly refuse. Instead, many lords were moved by Yuan Shao's filial piety and courage.

As for Yuan Shu, whose acting and reaction were obviously inferior to Yuan Shao, even belatedly imitated Yuan Shao's actions, vowing to never coexist with Dong Zhuo.

It was a pity that everyone would only remember Yuan Shao, who was the first to make such a move.

Yuan Shu's imitation instead formed the impression that Yuan Shao was now the representative of the Yuan family.

Li Ji, seeing all this, sighed secretly. He never expected that Yuan Shao, in a situation where the overall situation was almost settled, would actually borrow the death of his relatives to reverse the situation and regain the righteousness of the superior leader.

The Han Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety!

Now, Yuan Shao directly sacrificed fifty-three blood relatives of his clan, vowed to avenge them, and pleaded for the help of the heroes.

In such a situation, even Gongsun Zan could no longer say anything about letting Liu Bei be the leader and helping Yuan Shao avenge his revenge.

Therefore, after the lords comforted Yuan Shao and asked him to restrain his grief, Wang Kuang spoke again, asking Yuan Shao to be the leader, to attack the national traitor Dong Zhuo, to avenge the country and family.

The other lords could only acquiesce and express their support.

Yuan Shao pretended to decline for a while, then opened his mouth with red eyes and tears,

"Shao knows that his qualifications and abilities are not enough to lead the heroes. He originally wanted to recommend Liu Xuande, a member of the Han imperial family, as the leader, while he himself would be a small pawn at the front, bravely taking the lead in attacking Dong Zhuo!"

"However, the traitor Dong Zhuo killed fifty-three members of the Yuan family. If Shao does not avenge this revenge, how can he be a human being? In addition, the heroes have repeatedly recommended me, so I will temporarily be the leader. Please help me to cut off Dong Zhuo's head as soon as possible!"

"Here, Shao and you will swear an oath of blood alliance, with heaven and earth as our witness. We will immediately march west!"

Subsequently, the lords stepped forward one by one and, according to the ceremony, swore an oath of allegiance by smearing their mouths with blood, honoring Yuan Shao as their alliance leader.

In addition to this, to demonstrate impartiality and appease the other lords, Yuan Shao appointed Liu Bei and Yuan Shu as deputy alliance leaders, and also ordered Yuan Shu to oversee the supply of provisions.

Finally, the dignified Yuan Shao, with his hand on his sword, surveyed the lords and asked in a loud voice.

"Besides this, this alliance leader has decided to immediately lead the army westward. I need a vanguard to go ahead and directly challenge Hulao Pass. Who is willing to go?" (End of this chapter)