The Jishui River is surging and the mountains and rivers are picturesque. It's early summer, and the scenery of the Central Plains is just right.
In the wilderness, orioles are flying and grass grows, birds are singing and flowers are fragrant. The mountains and forests are full of green color, and the rich vitality is blowing towards your face. This is the most comfortable season of the year, when even the pickiest tourists will feel lingering and no longer bothered by the flies and dogs of the world.
Of course, there are always exceptions.
Wearing a plain robe, Liu Bei stood on the shore of Heze Lake, looking far into the distance. He looked no different from a tourist on an outing. But if you look closely, you can easily see the deep melancholy between his eyebrows.
"When is it?"
Standing behind Liu Bei, Yuan Huan, dressed as an aide, looked up at the sky and replied softly: "It's too late. My lord, there is no need to worry. The longer Xianhe stays in the camp, the greater his chances of success. He We set off as soon as the hour passed, and we talked with General Guan for at least an hour or two, so I should"
After Yuan Shu was annexed by Sun Ce, the civil servants and generals under his command were naturally scattered. The one that gained the most from it was Jiangdong. In addition to the large land in Huainan and the various garrison defenders, it also recruited Zhang Xun, Chen Ji and their 30,000 soldiers.
In addition, Cao Cao also recruited another elite Huainan army by instigating Liu Xun's rebellion.
If things end here, these two people will undoubtedly have the greatest benefits, but neither of them is very lucky.
Liu Xun's army was targeted by Lu Bu and Wei Yan long before they arrived at their destination. A surprise attack at the foot of Xiangyi City nearly wiped out the entire army. Liu Ye and Liu Xun only escaped with their lives. Cao Cao's recruitment In the end, the operation came to nothing.
Jiangdong was not much stronger. Sun Quan and Huang Gai could not stop the combination of Zhang Jia and Pang Tong. They lost consecutive battles. The biggest loss was the Huainan Army. By the time Zhou Yu arrived to rescue him, nearly half of his 30,000-strong army had been lost due to casualties and the rout, and the gains were suddenly reduced.
The person with the highest actual income should be Liu Bei.
Before Sun Ce took action, Liu Bei was just doing secret work under Yuan Shu. In later generations, he was doing dirty work. Except for his old buddy Jian Yong, he was basically alone.
But in the changes in Huainan, he showed his true character of a heroic man who could change everything. When Yuan Shu's big tree fell, Sun Ce was eager to go north, and Sun Quan was busy dealing with Zhang Jia's offensive situation, he secretly lobbied in series and successfully defeated Yuan Shu. A large amount of political capital has been captured from the inheritance.
Yuan Huan is one of his achievements. Yuan Huan was born in a noble family in Yuzhou and was quite famous in the local area. By recruiting this person under his command, Liu Bei once again gained a certain reputation among the powerful men in Yuzhou. There may still be some distance between him and his full recovery, but compared to a few months ago, he was definitely There have been earth-shaking changes.
In addition to Yuan Huan, he also recruited two military generals, Lejiu and Li Feng, plus the general Liao Hua who he recruited during his exile. Liu Bei suddenly went from a desolate dog to a prince with over 10,000 troops.
Of course Liu Bei will not be satisfied with this.
This great war sweeping the world has certainly provided an opportunity to turn around, but with the strength they have gathered now, let alone fighting for supremacy in the world, it is impossible to separate one party from another. Of the tens of thousands who participated in the war, which side did not have a hundred thousand soldiers and a thousand good generals? With his current strength, any collision with any party would be like an egg hitting a stone.
If you want to gain a foothold, you must let the war continue until a new balance is reached. It was in order to achieve this goal that Liu Bei gave up continuing to expand or consolidate his power in Huainan, and instead quietly led a group of close relatives to go north to plot a big plan.
What he had to do, and what he could do, was to mobilize the two major generals in the past - Guan Ping, who led the army to garrison in Dingtao, and the Gaotang garrison general Chen Dao.
Today is the day when Jian Yong secretly meets with Guan Ping.
Liu Bei cannot be regarded as a person without a city, but at this moment, his heart is still full of anxiety and uneasiness. If we can instigate rebellion against Guan Ping, the balance of victory will undoubtedly tilt heavily.
"It's difficult." Liu Bei shook his head and sighed.
He didn¡¯t expect so, but how could things be so easy? He and Guan Ping were actually separated by one layer. Even if he came forward in person, it would be difficult to convince the other party.
What¡¯s more, with Qingzhou¡¯s military system, it would be difficult for Guan Ping to directly lead his army in rebellion. Wang Yu's military and political governance were very special. Even ordinary soldiers had the ability to distinguish right from wrong, let alone those low-level officers.
Even if a general is in charge of a single party, if he wants to issue an order that is obviously unreasonable, he must explain the reason in detail to the generals and majors in the army. If the explanation is not clear, he may be taken down on the spot.
However, as long as the general can be instigated, even if he does not directly defect, he can stillIt played a considerable role, but Liu Bei was really not sure whether he could instigate rebellion against Guan Ping. Jian Yong has not returned for a long time. He would rather believe that he has been captured by Guan Ping and sent to Puyang as a sign of his true intentions.
What Yuan Huan said just now was just to comfort Liu Bei. Even he himself didn't believe it. A long chat for an hour or two? What can we talk about? Can¡¯t reminisce about the past?
While he was speechless, Liao Hua on the other side suddenly raised his hand and shouted: "Look, someone is coming!"
Liu Bei raised his head in excitement, and when he looked intently, he saw a wisp of smoke approaching from far away, approaching rapidly along the official road on the north bank of Jishui River. He couldn't help but feel panicked.
Fortunately, Liao Hua quickly communicated with the lookout, and then shouted again: "Master, don't panic, there are not many people coming, only four or five riders, and there is no trace of the large group of people in the distance. It should be Mr. Xianhe." Back! Yes, the leader is none other than Mr. Xianhe!"
"Huh!" Liu Bei let out a long breath, and his heart finally fell back into his stomach.
"Congratulations, lord!" Yuan Huan reacted faster, with a smile on his face, and congratulated him: "Since Brother Xianhe has returned, we can see General Guan's friendly attitude. Even if we don't reach an agreement this time, things are still promising!"
"It's not that easy. Let's first listen to what Xianhe says." Liu Bei's face remained calm, but in fact he was getting excited in his heart. As Yuan Huan said, at this time, the fact that the envoy can come back unscathed is enough to explain a certain problem.
Forced to suppress the excitement in his heart, Liu Bei led Yuan Huan and Liao Hua to greet them quickly.
"See my lord." Jian Yong dismounted and paid homage. Liu Bei supported him and observed Jian Yong's expression. Jian Yong's face looked terrible, and it was obvious that something was not going well.
"Xianhe, are you okay?" Suppressing the worries in his heart, Liu Bei tried his best to put on a caring look on his face. If you want to be a benevolent master, you must first prioritize the safety of your subordinates at all times, at least on the surface.
"Thank you for your concern, my lord. I am deeply grateful. I feel ashamed." Jian Yong's face was full of shame.
"Did he be rejected by General Guan?" Yuan Huan rushed to say: "That's okay. For such a big thing, maybe it can be done with just a few words? From my point of view, although General Guan refused on the surface, he was not completely disappointed. If you are tempted, as long as the lord perseveres and shows sincerity, the chance of success is still very high."
"Oh?" Jian Yong was surprised, and Liu Bei was also a little surprised. They all looked at Yuan Huan and asked, "What do you think Yao Qing said?"
"This is wartime. General Guan met with Xianhe in private. To put it lightly, it was to meet old friends. To put it seriously, it was liaison with the enemy!" Yuan Huan pinched a long beard on his chin with two fingers, hehe. He smiled and said: "General Guan is a subordinated general. To be reused in this way, he must not be informal. Please think about it, my lord, does he not know the reason behind this and not know how to avoid suspicion?"
"It makes sense." Jian Yong and Liao Hua both nodded in approval, and the shame on the former's face also faded a lot.
Liu Bei's expression was still heavy. He just nodded noncommittally and asked Jian Yong, "Xianhe, you have been gone for so long, what did you talk about with Tanzhi?"
"It's nothing, I'm mainly just catching up on old times" Jian Yong hesitated for a moment before answering. It wasn't anything else. He just felt that today's meeting was not a good summary. After thinking for a while, he continued: "In my opinion, he was making insinuations both inside and outside of his words, as if he was trying to spy on our military's intelligence. It's more like asking about the whereabouts of the second general"
"Sure enough" Liu Bei's voice was low, with a hint of sneer on his face. The smile was very cold, so different from usual that it made Jian Yong and others feel a little scared.
After pondering for a moment, Liu Bei suddenly waved his hand and ordered decisively: "Let's go, the Qingzhou Army in Dingtao can only be solved by begging the generals."
"Lord," Yuan Huan asked anxiously, "General Guan is spying on our army's military situation, perhaps to judge the situation. Asking the second general shows that he has deep feelings and righteousness Is this okay?" Discuss something?"
Liu Bei and his two fictitious brothers have been separated for a long time. In the past two years, despite Liu Bei's covert inspections, he could not find the whereabouts of these two people. If not, Liu Bei might not take huge risks and go north this time.
He has occupied several counties in Huainan and has more than 10,000 troops, but he has no generals who are good at training and fighting. If Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were still there, he could take advantage of Jiangdong Army and Cao Cao's fierce battle with Wang Yu to train elite troops in Huainan, expand their strength, and look for opportunities to take advantage.
But he can't do it now. Without an elite army at hand, whether Wang Yu was defeated or Jiangdong Army was defeated, he would not have the strength to take advantage of the situation. In troubled times, fists are big? is fundamental.
When Guan Ping asked Guan Yu, it was obvious that his allegiance was to the latter. If the latter was here, it might be much easier to persuade him to surrender. But having said that, although Guan Yu can't be found for the time being, we can still work hard. Giving up after hearing one sentence seems a bit too rash, right?
Yuan Huan felt unable to understand.
Liu Bei stopped and said with a wry smile: "Yao Qing, you only saw one, not the other." He frankly asked about the second brother's news. Although Xianhe did not answer directly, the more this happened, the more it proved that the second brother Not in the army. Besides, he didn't embarrass Xianhe, and he wasn't necessarily hesitant. If he was really shaken, why not simply Alas, in short, it won't work here!"
Jian Yong and Liao Hua both seemed to understand but did not dare to ask questions. On the contrary, Yuan Huan was born in a family and was quite knowledgeable in political tactics. After thinking about it for a while, he understood Liu Bei's unfulfilled intentions.
On the surface, Guan Ping does not make things difficult for Jian Yong, which means leaving a way out. But thinking more deeply, if Guan Ping really wanted to rebel, he should have taken Jian Yong back to win the trust of Jia Xu and his colleagues in the army, and then sent the message to Liu Bei through Jian Yong's entourage.
Jian Yong seems to be very important under Liu Bei and is a confidant, but in fact he is just an errand boy. Whether it was Xu You in the past or Yuan Huan himself now, he was entrusted with important responsibilities as soon as he joined Liu Bei's command, and his status far surpassed that of Jian Yong.
Dingtao is a war zone, and the Qingzhou Army has many informants in this area. Jian Yongben was not a dedicated scout. No matter how secretive his actions were, it was difficult to guarantee that no news would leak out. According to Liu Bei, Guan Ping is a cautious person. If he was really rebellious, would he not have thought of this?
Rather than letting Jian Yong go back and forth and encountering suspicion, how could Guan Ping, who was familiar with Liu Bei's army's personnel structure, not think of Jian Yong's value?
To put it bluntly, Liu Bei sent Jian Yong out just to ask for directions. Guan Ping happily went to the appointment, and then talked about old times with Jian Yong for a long time, and finally refused sternly, which meant that he was open-minded and not afraid of suspicion. Maybe after he goes back, he will write a letter about the conversation and report it to Jia Xu, the governor of the entire army.
Of course, the truth behind this cannot be explained to Jian Yong, the person involved.
Yuan Huan also sighed in his heart, feeling that he had finally followed the right person this time. Liu Bei was indeed a rare hero in the world. It's just that my luck is a bit bad and I haven't had the opportunity to show it. Otherwise, there may not be only three strong powers in the world: Wang, Cao and Sun vying for supremacy.
Of course, success depends on God, and planning depends on people. If God does not provide for it at the right time, it may not be possible to rely on human power to make up for it. Now, the plan is just getting started, and success or failure is far from being determined.
No matter they figured it out or were ignorant, everyone followed Liu Bei closely. This was the master they recognized. No matter what the future was, they must always be loyal to the end.
The next target is Gaotang!
¡¡
That night.
Puyang City.
"Master, there is a letter from Puyang, Jian Yong made an appointment with Tanzhi, and Liu Bei is indeed here!" Diao Chan hurried into the meeting hall with the latest military information.
"Hey, we're in trouble now." Jia Xu's round face was elongated, and his expression was very ugly, like a bitter gourd.
Diao Chan was already anxious, but when she saw Jia Xu's lazy look, she became even more angry. She stamped her feet and said coquettishly: "Master, please stop complaining. My husband has entrusted the affairs to you before leaving." , you have to make an idea."
"How can this idea be made casually?" Jia Xu spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "It seems very simple, just change the generals, but Cao Cao and Sun Ce divided their troops into the east and west. How do you know that their Where is the target? If Sun Ce and Xia Houyuan join forces, Wen Yuan and Han Sheng may not be able to stop them. It would be too dangerous to change generals at this time!"
For more than a month after Wang Yu left, Cao Cao kept his troops stationary. It seemed that the troops left behind were very relaxed, but only by actually sitting in Jia Xu's position can you truly experience the feeling of fear.
An unsheathed sword is more terrifying than a sword that has been slashed out, because you don¡¯t know from what angle and with what force the sword will strike, and whether there will be any new changes during the strike.
This is the so-called ignorance. Because we are not sure, we are very scared.
Although the current front is divided into several parts, the area of ??Yanzhou is not large, only three to five hundred miles from east to west. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses from three sides are crowded in such an area, and any point on the defense line is likely to suffer the strongest attack.
This is the shortcoming of the defensive side. There is no initiative. If the enemy makes a slight move, the side must respond accordingly, otherwise it will be easy to be caught.
If Cao Cao and Sun Ce launch an offensive, it will be easier to deal with it. Anyway, Wang Yu left behind an established defensive strategy before leaving. At worst, he will trade space for time.??, just fight and retreat.
According to Wang Yu¡¯s instructions, if necessary, the remaining troops can even cede all of Dongjun to Cao Cao, and then build a new line of defense based on the dangers of the river to the west and the dangerous roads of Mount Tai to the east.
It is very easy for the Qingzhou Army to defend the Yellow River because of the advantage of the navy. In the past two years, Cao Cao has been rushing to narrow the gap with Qingzhou. He has made achievements in various fields, but the Navy has made no progress. The naval army has little use and consumes a lot of money. For Cao Cao, who is financially strapped, his priority is definitely at the bottom.
Wang Yu has always emphasized that to ensure that Zhang Liao and Huang Zhong are both on the eastern front, he means to be prepared to retreat to Mount Tai as a last resort.
During the period when Jia Xu was in Puyang, the work of fortifying the walls and clearing the fields was going on. Anyway, the people of Yanzhou who were affected by the war could not farm with peace of mind, so there were still many people who responded.
But the problems caused by Liu Bei are very difficult. The positions of Guan Ping and Chen Dao are too important. Whether they change generals or stay in office, there are considerable risks.
Although Jia Xu saw the problem, he did not dare to make a hasty decision. It was too late to wait for Wang Yu's news, and he was anxious for a while.
Flying pigeons are not a panacea, and the security is too poor. After the technology gradually became popular, intercepting and killing homing pigeons became the latest task of the scouts. These capable warriors are everywhere. Whenever they see pigeons, they will blow the signal. If they find that they do not belong to their own side, they will take action directly.
"It's okay to just convey the message. If it's intercepted, it's intercepted. Anyway, if you put a few more, you can always reach the destination. However, certain types of letterhead must be transported in a safer way.
From Bingzhou to Dongjun, the journey is more than a thousand miles, and it has to go through many difficulties and obstacles. It takes at least ten days and a half on the road. It takes even longer to send messages back and forth, and there is no way to control it remotely.
"It will still take two days for Liu Bei to go north to Gaotang. It may be too late to rush there now. But what will happen to Yanzhou after I leave? Will it shrink in advance? And there is another question, why did Liu Bei contact Tanzhi first? ? Previously we just speculated that he might have an idea for Uncle Zhi. If he does this, wouldn't it reveal his purpose? "
Jia Xu was talking to himself, troubled.
Diao Chan watched quietly from the side and did not interrupt hastily so as not to disturb the talented master's thoughts. She believed that the master would find a proper way to deal with it. This was not due to her own judgment, but because the other person was the person her husband trusted the most. My husband's vision of people is unparalleled in the world, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
As expected, Jia Xu quickly calmed down, held up the tea cup, and smiled: "Maybe he wasn't sure, so he used one trick to scare the snake away? Liu Xuande is indeed a hero, and his scheming is indeed powerful. However, even if you are as evil as a ghost, you still want to drink our foot-washing water, so I will give you a trick"
"Report" Before he finished speaking, a burst of noisy footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall. When Jia Xu and Diao Chan hurriedly turned their heads to look, a personal guard hurried in, looking out of breath. He said in a loud voice: "Military advisor, something bad has happened. General LuGeneral Lu suddenly left Lihu and led his army to the west!"
"What?" Jia Xu was shocked. The tea cup in his hand dropped and smashed into pieces on the ground paved with blue bricks! (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)