Liu Bei had already prepared his words: "My brother Gongsun Zan is running out of food supplies, so he sent me to Jingzhou and Yizhou to borrow grain, which is why I passed through Luoyang."
Xiahou Yuan had no doubts and said, "It seems that Gongsun Zan's days are numbered. Why don't you abandon him and seek a better future?"
Liu Bei immediately retorted angrily, "My brother has treated me well for many years, how can I abandon him?"
At this moment, a young man stepped out from the crowd. His face was somewhat pale, but his eyes were bright and piercing. He sneered at Liu Bei's words.
"Hehe, I, the Taoist, call Liu Xuande the righteous and benevolent ruler, what a virtuous man he is, now he is spouting nonsense. Meeting him is not as good as hearing about him, I am truly disappointed."
When Guan Yu and Zhang Fei saw the young man speaking so arrogantly, they were about to step forward to argue with him, but Liu Bei stopped them.
"May I ask who this gentleman is?"
The young man bowed slightly and said with an air of nonchalance, "Guo Jia, courtesy name Fengxiao, is just an unknown nobody who only holds a position under the Prime Minister."
Guo Jia stared intently at Liu Bei, seemingly plotting something.
"I wonder if Mr. Guo has any basis for his claim that I am talking nonsense?"
Guo Jia smiled faintly and said, "Youzhou is embroiled in war and is far from Yizhou and Jingzhou. Not to mention whether you can obtain supplies, even if you do, transporting them back will likely be fraught with difficulties."
Liu Bei secretly groaned, never expecting this young man to have such a meticulous mind.
Guo Jia continued, "It's summer now, the rainy season. Even if you have the ability to transport the grain back, it will have already spoiled and become inedible. Moreover, even if you drive straight through Jingzhou, it will take more than a month to transport the grain back to Youzhou. I'm afraid you can wait, but Gongsun Zan can't."
"Gongsun Zan has been able to dominate the north for many years and is well-versed in military strategy. He is certainly not a fool. Now that he is busy dealing with Yuan Shao, why would he let the three of you top generals go out?"
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