After the savage fighting outside Jizhou City, Cui Yanla’s Qingzhou army was surrounded and crushed; Cui Yanla was killed, and his generals conferred and chose to surrender.

The very first thing Yu Chaozong, Luo Geng, and Liu Li did after the Qingzhou army’s surrender was to order their men to seize everything they could — soldiers and supplies alike. Whatever was of use, regardless of what it was, they grabbed it first and sorted it out later. Whether surrendered soldiers or equipment and arms, if it could be of use, it was taken.

The result was that the scramble grew so fierce that the three factions came into conflict with each other again. The clashes were not large-scale, but there were casualties on both sides. Had it not been stopped in time, the three factions would likely have plunged straight into another major engagement.

An hour later, on the same open ground east of the city — only now there were three people at the table instead of four.

Whether by design or by coincidence, each man had returned to roughly the same position he had occupied before. The empty seat where Cui Yanla had sat took on a darkly ironic quality — as though it had been left there deliberately for his ghost.

Luo Geng glanced at the vacant seat and murmured to himself: “I said it: if you couldn’t talk it through civilly, then the three of us would talk it through without you.”

He looked at the other two. “So — can the three of us talk it through civilly now?”

Yu Chaozong nodded. “I am still willing to defer to the General’s judgment in all matters of allocation and command. Whether it comes to seniority and standing, or to ability in the field, the General is my superior in every respect…”

He had not finished speaking before Liu Li cut him off.

“Chief Yu’s words come out beautifully. But your actions were quite ruthless — your people struck first, and killed and wounded no small number of my soldiers over a bit of grain and fodder…”

Liu Li interrupted Yu Chaozong. Then Luo Geng interrupted Liu Li.

“Lord Liu, now is not the time for that. Or have you forgotten — the most contentious one just lately was Cui Yanla…”

Liu Li’s brow furrowed.

He seemed to not quite understand why Luo Geng appeared more inclined to side with Yu Chaozong.

Before long, though, he grasped it. Among the three factions now, his was the weakest. His troop count was smaller than Yu Chaozong’s. His forces could not match Luo Geng’s in combat power.

Luo Geng’s numbers were smaller than his, true — but this was virtually Luo Geng’s home ground. He had the advantage of terrain.

And beyond that, Luo Geng’s heavy armored cavalry was a battle-formation killing force. Liu Li’s Yuzhou army was predominantly infantry — light infantry at that, with almost no means of countering heavy cavalry.

“General, you speak.”

Liu Li made a gesture of deference.

Luo Geng looked at Yu Chaozong. “Since you said just now that you’d defer to my allocation, then I’ll be direct.”

He paused a moment, read Yu Chaozong’s expression, and continued: “Chief Yu — are you willing to continue cooperating on the same terms as before?”

Yu Chaozong nodded. “What I said at the four-way meeting still stands. I can forgo Jizhou. But when the city falls, I want half the surrendered Jizhou soldiers.”

Luo Geng said: “Then it’s settled.”

He looked at Liu Li. “Lord Liu — does what you said before still hold?”

Liu Li thought it over. Not long ago, Luo Geng had reached out to him in secret to propose a joint strike against Cui Yanla’s Qingzhou forces — and he had agreed. What he had not anticipated was that Luo Geng had also brought Yu Chaozong into it.

Cui Yanla had been too brash and showy, and so Luo Geng had chosen him as the first target — giving the flamboyant man a grave, and giving those who remained a sobering demonstration.

Liu Li thought: if he himself were too brash right now, the next man Luo Geng would move against was him.

And from where things now stood, without quite noticing how it had happened, Liu Li’s Yuzhou forces had taken the very position that the Qingzhou army had once occupied.

Now it was the Yanshan Camp and the Youzhou forces that had him sandwiched between them. Luo Geng might very well incite Yu Chaozong to join him in a united strike.

At this thought, Liu Li immediately nodded. “I naturally stand by what I said. Though I do want to add one condition.”

Luo Geng said: “Say whatever it is. This is a council — speak plainly. Openness serves everyone better than hedging.”

Liu Li said: “General, you said earlier that you don’t want Jizhou, but you want half the grain in Jizhou’s granaries, as well as the prefectures and counties from Jizhou northeast to Youzhou.”

Luo Geng nodded. “That’s right.”

Liu Li said: “If Chief Yu is willing to give up Jizhou, and I am willing to give up Jizhou, then Jizhou is the General’s. So — could the half portion of grain stores that the General wanted earlier be allocated to me instead?”

Luo Geng considered for a moment, then shook his head. “No.”

Liu Li started. A look of displeasure crossed his face.

Luo Geng smiled. “What interests me is the grain stores. So I am sticking to what I said — half the grain stores. But I want to add to that: half the surrendered Jizhou soldiers as well.”

He smiled at Liu Li. “Jizhou is yours.”

Liu Li’s expression shifted and changed, because he did not believe it — just yesterday, on this very ground, Luo Geng had said those same words to Cui Yanla.

The exact wording had been the same: *Jizhou is yours.*

And because of those words, Cui Yanla was gone.

And so, hearing this now, Liu Li’s guard shot up at once. He narrowed his eyes and looked at Luo Geng. After a moment, he smiled and said: “General, I am also a man of my word. Since I said I didn’t want Jizhou, then I genuinely don’t want it.”

Luo Geng said with great sincerity: “What if I insisted on giving it to you?”

Liu Li’s expression grew even more troubled. He turned it over for a while, then said to Luo Geng: “If the General means to be rid of me the same way as Cui Yanla, you may as well say so outright. We can settle it on the battlefield.”

Luo Geng laughed out loud. “Lord Liu, you overthink. If I wanted to be rid of you, I’d move right now — those hundred guards of yours would not keep you alive.”

After he finished laughing, he said: “I genuinely don’t want Jizhou. I simply want to settle in at Youzhou. If you don’t want it, then Jizhou would have to go to Chief Yu.”

Yu Chaozong appeared quite unconcerned with all of this. At hearing his name, he waved his hands repeatedly. “I certainly don’t want it.”

Luo Geng said: “You don’t want it, I don’t want it, and he doesn’t want it either. In that case, perhaps we should all pack up and go home.”

He looked at Liu Li. “Whether you take Jizhou or Chief Yu takes Jizhou, we need to agree on one condition beforehand.”

Luo Geng rose from his seat and began to pace. “Now that Cui Yanla is gone, there’s a lot less noise, and talking among the three of us is a good deal easier. So I’ll say whatever comes to mind.”

“Whoever takes Jizhou — the other two factions are not to enter the city after it falls. Whatever they are owed shall be sent out by the faction that entered. This is a safeguard against treachery.”

Yu Chaozong asked: “What if the side that entered the city decides not to honor the agreement?”

Luo Geng said lightly: “Simple enough. Once the city falls, first open all the gates that were sealed. If the faction inside the city fails to fulfill the agreement, the factions outside can storm in.”

Liu Li said: “But what if the forces outside have some trick prepared? That doesn’t seem entirely fair to the side inside the city.”

Luo Geng smiled. “The forces that don’t enter the city wait outside with only ten thousand men each, to receive the promised goods. If the goods come out, those ten thousand men take everything and leave. If nothing comes out, then there’s nothing to do but keep fighting.”

Yu Chaozong said: “In that case — what if I took Jizhou? Once I hold it, I will naturally send out whatever both of you are owed — and more. Not only will I send what was agreed, I will add to it. If I take Jizhou City and the two of you withdraw your forces, I am willing to hand over all the surrendered soldiers from the Qingzhou army that came to my share — all forty thousand of them — to both of you. The captured supplies as well — I’ll send all of those to you too.”

Luo Geng said with a look of mild disdain: “What’s this, Chief Yu — you want Jizhou again?”

Liu Li stood up. “General just now said Jizhou was mine. You agreed to that. And I can agree in turn: if Jizhou falls to me, I will give both of you everything from my share of the Qingzhou army — all of it. And beyond that, whatever silver is in Jizhou’s treasury — however much there is — I will put forward half of it as well.”

Luo Geng laughed openly. “The speed at which you both change your minds is quite something. You want it, he wants it. In that case…”

He looked at both of them, and said, one word at a time: “What if I’ve decided I want it now?”

Both Yu Chaozong and Liu Li let their eyes flicker at once, turning toward Luo Geng in the same instant. In that moment, the thought running through both their minds was almost certainly the same.

Luo Geng said: “I’m only joking. What I said stands — I don’t want it. But now you both want it. So what’s to be done?”

“Simple!”

Liu Li said loudly: “Since the General doesn’t want Jizhou, it would be unfair for him to go on bearing the cost of attacking it. There’s no need for the General to take on that burden. Let the Chief and I divide the assignments ourselves.”

He looked at Yu Chaozong. “I attack the east gate and south gate; you attack the north gate and west gate. If you breach the city first, Jizhou is yours. If I breach it first, Jizhou is mine.”

Yu Chaozong jumped to his feet at once. “Then it’s agreed. General, will you be our witness?”

Luo Geng nodded. “Very well. I’ll be your witness. Whoever takes the city first, Jizhou is theirs.”

He walked to his horse, then added a parting remark: “I’ll give the order for my forces to pull back — clear the west gate for you.”

Once mounted, he said one thing more: “My main army will withdraw to the southwest, and set up camp about thirty li from Jizhou. The camp I had at the west gate, I’m giving it to you. But I want the Qingzhou army’s camp — I’ll take the materials from there when they’re dismantled and rebuild about thirty li to the southwest.”

Liu Li and Yu Chaozong exchanged a glance, then both nodded.

Liu Li said: “In that case, Chief Yu can have the General’s west gate camp. My old camp on the east side was taken by Cui Yanla — I’m taking it back now.”

So it was arranged: Yu Chaozong would take Luo Geng’s camp and establish his base near the north gate; Luo Geng would dismantle the south gate camp and pull back thirty li; Liu Li would reclaim his original position on the east side and rebuild on the south.

Taking Jizhou City would not be the work of a day or two. What they needed now was to construct a great quantity of siege equipment — a process that would likely take no less than ten days to half a month, and might stretch to a month or more.

“General, I’ll walk with you.”

Liu Li glanced at Yu Chaozong, apparently concerned about leaving him and Luo Geng to walk off together. He quickly fell in beside Luo Geng.

The two of them walked away side by side. Yu Chaozong watched them go, and could not quite suppress a faint curl at the corners of his mouth, his expression carrying a shade of quiet contempt.

Luo Geng rode forward a stretch, then lowered his voice and said to Liu Li: “In my west gate encampment, I have hidden away lamp oil and gunpowder. Once the camp catches fire, it goes up fast. After Yu Chaozong’s troops move into the west gate camp…”

Liu Li’s eyes lit up.

Luo Geng smiled. “I deliberately seemed to favor his side back there, only to put him off his guard. In the end, this man is nothing but a bandit leader. Surely you and I need not bow and make concessions to a bandit leader?”

Liu Li laughed. “The General’s planning is far-sighted. Once Yu Chaozong’s forces are distributed into the west gate camp, I will wait on the General’s command.”

Luo Geng said: “No need to rush. Let him have a go at Jizhou. After Jizhou falls…”

He gave Liu Li a smile. The rest of the sentence went unspoken.

Liu Li understood perfectly.