Because Sun Ce only gave Li Shu three thousand men to guard Lujiang, since most of Lujiang's population, especially the wealthiest families, had moved to Wu County, Lujiang was practically a ghost town.
However, Li Shu still cared a lot about the territory of Lujiang City.
Since Li Shu had become the governor of a city, he still wanted to improve the situation there and give himself a stable rear.
That's why he assassinated Yan Xiang, the governor of Yangzhou.
Having neither military achievements nor accomplishments, and with many people around Sun Ce criticizing him, Li Shu still harbored many grievances.
However, Li Shu dared not provoke Sun Ce due to his domineering and powerful nature, and could only suffer in silence.
Until Li Shu received Sun Ce's letter.
He was tasked with setting up defenses in Lujiang City to intercept Cao Pi and Zhang Liao.
Li Shu initially had no idea that he was determined to stop Cao Pi and Zhang Liao.
Cao Pi thought that once he escaped from Wu Commandery, he would be able to ride swiftly and return safely to Xuchang while Jiangdong was unguarded. He never expected that Li Shu would appear halfway and trap him and Zhang Liao in a pit, binding them.
Li Shu has already bound Cao Pi and Zhang Liao, and we await further developments.
Later, it is said that Sun Ce would personally lead his troops to come.
This is the most secret message Jiangdong has given us.
If it weren't for someone giving bad advice at that time, Li Shu might have just tied up Cao Pi and waited for Sun Ce to arrive.
Then Li Shu ignored both sides and continued to live a mundane life as the Prefect of Lujiang.
But there are always people like this who come up with two bad ideas in front of the prefect. After all, they are happy with their ideas for a moment, no matter how much trouble they cause. They feel good at the time, they get benefits, they may get promoted or they may get rich.
Even if it's a bad idea, when disaster strikes, the person who came up with the idea will run away faster than anyone else, and the only one who will suffer is their boss.
Li Shu received an idea from someone, but the key point was that the person he was going to capture this time was Cao Pi.
"Cao Pi is Cao Cao's second son. Cao Pi's eldest son is dead, and now this legitimate second son is highly valued. Are we really going to tie him up and kill him? Prefect, think about it carefully. What if someone with malicious intentions kills Cao Pi when no one is looking, and then pins all the blame on you, Prefect? Will Sun Ce protect you then? What if Cao Cao blames you?"
Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou to avenge his father and directly seized Tao Qian's territory. This story is still fresh in everyone's memory.
Because of this saying, Li Shu was also tempted.
Li Shu rushed over to see Cao Pi.
With just one glance, Cao Pi successfully persuaded Li Shu to turn against him.
"If you let me go, I will not only grant you the position of Prefect of Lujiang, but I will also recommend you to His Majesty to be the Governor of Yangzhou, a promotion of three ranks."
Cao Pi promised not to pursue Li Shu's crime of assassinating Yan Xiang, the former governor of Yangzhou.
Li Shu did not doubt the credibility of this guarantee.
Li Shu followed Sun Ce, but only for money and status, and he needed Sun Ce's trust. He still had to wait for Sun Ce to consult the court, which was controlled by Cao Cao, and then indirectly approach Cao Cao.
It would be better to directly pledge allegiance to Cao Pi.
Seeing that Li Shu had already softened his stance.
Cao Pi stated his request: Li Shu must provide a pledge of loyalty.
"If you want to gain Cao Cao's trust, you must first take Sun Ce's head!"
Cao Pi was originally a prisoner, bound hand and foot by Li Shu, but he appeared confident and composed.
Seeing that Li Shu remained silent.
Cao Pi even directly interrogated him:
"What reason does Prefect Li have for binding Zhang Liao and me here? I have a pass personally granted by His Majesty. If binding me is to rob and steal money, how is Prefect Li any different from a bandit? Prefect Li's actions are an unjustified detention of General Zhang Liao and me here. I will not pursue Prefect Li's crimes, but does Prefect Li intend to harm Cao Pi?"
Cao Pi's direct attack made Li Su's heart pound.
After Cao Pi pressed him with a few questions, Li Shu had no choice but to release Cao Pi and Zhang Liao under the cover of night.
When Sun Ce arrived in Lujiang with his troops to resupply...
Li Shu only told Sun Ce that he had already tied up Cao Pi and Zhang Liao, but unfortunately there were Cao Cao's spies in Lujiang City who secretly released the two.
The spy who secretly released the person has been arrested and is being severely tortured.
Sun Ce did not delve into the reasons behind it.
For Sun Ce, whether Cao Pi was there or not made little difference whether he fled or not. Cao Pi and Zhang Liao had fled, which gave him the perfect opportunity to lead his troops to Xuchang.
Because Cao Cao had already led his troops to attack the Wuhuan.
The Yuan brothers, Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi, and Yuan Shang, were all incompetent and weak. After being attacked by Cao Cao, they scattered and fled. In the end, they had no choice but to seek refuge in the territory of the Wuhuan people. Cao Cao simply pressed his advantage and pursued them.
Cao Cao probably thought that with Cao Pi and Cao Zhi in Jiangdong, he could have no worries.
This is exactly the kind of effect Sun Ce wanted—to achieve something without anyone noticing.
Cao Pi was still fleeing in a panic and in a sorry state.
Cao Zhi indulged in good food and drink in Jiangdong.
This was Sun Ce's opportunity.
Sun Ce led his troops to Lujiang City, but publicly he only said that he was there to inspect and survey the city's defenses.
In reality, it's just about staying here for one night to allow the soldiers to rest briefly.
Li Shu took the opportunity to invite Sun Ce to stay for a few more days to inspect the security of Lujiang City and the surrounding defenses.
Sun Ce initially wanted to refuse, but he couldn't help but be tempted.
His journey north was tantamount to officially declaring war on Cao Cao. Lujiang City was the first pass Cao Cao encountered on his southward march across the Yangtze River, and its position was crucial to the entire Jiangdong region.
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