I forced a smile and said, "You're not welcome?"
The fat man, seeing that I hesitated to speak, asked, "Four things?"
I'm finding it hard to bring it up now. No matter how good the relationship is between friends, asking someone for money is still an awkward thing, and if it's not handled well, you'll feel uncomfortable whenever you see them in the future.
My unbridled behavior with Fatty isn't because I'm some kind of king or prince, but because we're true friends. And strictly speaking, the kind of friends with no vested interests. Fatty entrusted me with all the elite troops of Xianyang, which means he knows I have absolutely no interest in his throne. Let alone bestowing upon me the titles of Prince of Qi or Prince of Wei, even making me an emperor emeritus would be a joke between us. But when it comes to a real conflict of interest, I find it difficult to speak up. Whether it's taboo or not isn't the most important thing, after all, our relationship is there. The main reason is that I just overheard them discussing state affairs and remembered that Fatty is currently fighting a 1v6 war and is short on funds. Asking him for money would be putting him in a difficult position.
It's like knowing a friend who works in real estate. He has money, but when housing prices plummet and the financial crisis hits, he's in a real bind.
Seeing that I hadn't said anything for a while, the fat guy patted me and said, "What's wrong? Are you embarrassed? Are you short of money?"
I chuckled and said, "Pretty much... Shishi and Baozi have been captured, and I'd like to borrow a couple of soldiers from you to tide me over."
The fat man rested his chin on his hand, thinking blankly for a long time. I stood up and said awkwardly, "If you want to make things difficult, then forget it. I know that Brother Ying, you're currently..."
The fat man suddenly turned to Li Si and asked, "How many people can be mobilized from the whole country right now?"
Li Si frowned and pondered for a while before saying, "Our forces are stretched thin across the entire front, and we probably only have less than 50,000 reserve troops in the country."
My heart sank immediately.
The fat man resolutely said, "Transfer them from the front lines. They need to be able to fight tough battles. 200,000."
Li Si said, "The matter of unifying the six kingdoms..."
Qin Shi Huang said, "Let's pause for a moment."
I said, touched, "Brother Ying, is this appropriate? Or should I think of another way?"
Fatty Ying smiled and said, "Even if it weren't for you, Sisi (Shishi) still calls me 'Big Brother.' Besides, how could our Qin's Grand Marshal not save us?"
Li Si said, "Then I will go and draft an edict to order Wang Ben to lead the army back."
I took out the military map, pointed to the marked area in Qin, and said, "Have him get to this place within three days, wait for my command, and then go to the Song Dynasty to assemble."
Li Si remembered the place name and went to carry it out.
I took Qin Shi Huang's hand and said, "Brother Ying, let's not say anything more."
The fat man smiled and said, "Don't be in such a hurry. If it's not enough, I'll make Wang Jian fade into obscurity too."
I quickly said, "No, it wouldn't be good to delay our important business."
Fatty Ying said, "But there's one thing. I'll help you fight, and I'll lend you 250,000 men. It doesn't matter if they all die, but they can only obey your orders."
I know that Qin Shi Huang did this from a certain imperial perspective. Lending someone a weapon is tantamount to giving them a handle to use against you, so it has to be someone he trusts the most.
I said, "I understand. They won't kill them all; we're just going to make a show of it."
Qin Shi Huang nodded in satisfaction. I said, "Then I'll be going. I need to hurry to the next place."
The fat man said, "Go and see where Big Guy is playing."
I hesitated and said, "Then he shouldn't go. If he lends me the man, he'll be surrounded by Bangzi like a bunch of bastards again."
"Should we go again? The matter between Shishi and Baozi is everyone's business. They didn't even say hello. They'll be blamed later."
I thought about it and agreed, nodding and saying, "Then I'll be going."
A dozen minutes later, I arrived at the place where we had eaten last time. Xiang Yu's army was taking a short rest here, so they didn't move at Hongmen.
Upon hearing that "General Xiao" had arrived, Xiang Yu and Er Sha came out to greet him. After exchanging a few playful punches and jabs, Xiang Yu asked, "Why did you come so suddenly? Haven't you been up to anything lately? Did you manage to take care of Li Yuanba and the others?"
I laughed and said, "Don't even mention it, that's just the OP version of the private server, it only took two hits to defeat Lu Bu."
Xiang Yu laughed awkwardly, "Hehehe..." He was probably convinced in his heart.
Ersha asked me, "Where are the steamed buns?"
I sighed deeply and recounted my ordeal, omitting the details as much as possible. I knew exactly when to embellish and when to let things slide; Xiang Yu's temper was something I absolutely couldn't afford to provoke further.
I said, "Well, I've come all over to borrow troops, and I just happened to pass by and come to see you."
Unexpectedly, Xiang Yu said directly, "Then take 300,000 from me."
I exclaimed in surprise, "Don't joke around! If I take 300,000 with me, will you have anything left?"
Xiang Yu laughed and said, "You also deserve credit for this—do you remember Zhang Han?"
I nodded: "So you beat that guy with 100,000 with 30,000?"
“Yes, that’s him. Before, after he lost a battle, I buried his 200,000 Qin soldiers alive. But this time I didn’t do it, so consider this as your investment in me. You take these 200,000 men with you, and I’ll give you another 100,000 Chu soldiers as your year-end bonus.”
I was shocked and surprised to hear this. I never expected this to happen. Big Guy must have been a real scoundrel before. But at least it was a pleasant surprise. I rubbed my hands together and said, "That's 550,000." Then my expression changed, and I sighed regretfully.
Xiang Yu asked, "What's wrong?"
I sighed with deep emotion, "You know, Bai Qi buried 400,000 Zhao soldiers alive back then. If only they could have survived..." I took out a map and found that there was indeed a troop transport route in the era of Xiang Yu at the end of the Qin Dynasty. I pointed it out to Xiang Yu and told him to wait for my news in three days.
Xiang Yu patted Ersha on the shoulder and said, "Kezi, you've never led troops before, have you? These 300,000 men are yours to take care of. Once you get there, listen to Xiaoqiang's instructions." Ersha seemed to be having a rather boring time with Xiang Yu, and when he heard about this good opportunity, he happily said, "Great!"
Xiang Yu then said to me, "When I'm free, I'll go there myself. I want to see who dares to bully my great-granddaughter!"
I turned and got into the driveway: "Let's talk again when we have time. I'm off to my next job now."
On the train, I pondered for a while and came to a conclusion: while the departure of these two groups was a pleasant surprise—they raised 550,000 men in less than half an hour—problems also arose. Fatty, Xiang Yu, and I are my closest buddies; they risked everything to gather this much for me, but it's still far from the target of 8 million. Whether others will go to such lengths to help me is uncertain. Furthermore, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming can no longer lend 100,000 or 200,000; it has to be at least 300,000! That will be quite challenging.
Beyond Xiang Yu, there were originally the Three Kingdoms and Northern Dynasties, Guan Yu and Hua Mulan, but Guan Yu and his group are still in the early stages of their development, living in basements and eating instant noodles, so it's not good to trouble them. Hua Mulan is just a vanguard officer leading about 5,000 men, and those men aren't even hers. If she knew about this, she'd definitely help, but if she lent me all the men, she'd be accused of embezzling public funds… a crime I can't let Hua Mulan be in a difficult position…