Can I get to the other side?

Alliances are more than just words.

How to form an alliance, what agreements need to be abided by after the alliance, and who is the leader of both parties, these are all things that need to be discussed in advance.

Especially this time after the alliance, the two sides will fight against the emperor's army, so they need to be more cautious and make detailed plans.

"Listen to me slowly."

After hearing this, Cao Cao knew that he had won the game just now. He couldn't help but smile on his face and began to formally discuss his next plan with Zhou Yu.

"Qingzhou and Xuzhou are adjacent to our Yanzhou and Yuzhou respectively, and together with Jizhou, they form an encirclement."

"If the emperor sends his troops south, these two states will be the first to be attacked. With my own strength, there is no way I can resist the emperor's army."

Zhou Yu raised his eyebrows and said, "Could it be that Yanzhou Mu wants us to send troops to help you defend Yanzhou and Yuzhou? This is absolutely impossible."

With their little family fortune in Jiangdong, they have been able to support themselves until now only because of the geographical advantage. If they send all their troops to Yanzhou and Yuzhou to fight, it won't take long for them to be wiped out.

He would never agree.

Cao Cao shook his head and said: "Where is Gong Jin? How could I make such an excessive request? I'm just telling you about the situation."

"I am unable to defend Yanzhou and Yuzhou at the same time, so I plan to abandon Yanzhou directly and use it as a buffer place to concentrate troops and horses to defend Yuzhou."

"Although Xuzhou is occupied by Lu Bu, the army is currently empty. As long as you join forces with me, we will be able to capture Xuzhou, and then we will divide Xuzhou equally."

"Once Xuzhou is captured, a line of defense can be formed to resist the emperor's army."

Yanzhou must give up.

Because Yanzhou and Jizhou are too close, and next to Qingzhou and Xuzhou, they are surrounded. The cost of defense is too high and unnecessary.

Therefore, his plan was to abandon Yanzhou directly, capture Xuzhou adjacent to Yuzhou, rely on Jiangdong, and join forces with Sun Quan to resist the emperor's army.

"Attack Xuzhou..."

After Zhou Yu heard this, he felt a little moved in his heart.

If we send troops to attack Xuzhou now, the possibility of success is very high, and Xuzhou is adjacent to Danyang County and its geographical location is also very suitable.

But just as he was thinking about it, Sun Quan suddenly said: "We can join forces to attack Xuzhou, but after we capture Xuzhou, Xuzhou will be ours."

"Of course we will not take Xuzhou in vain. We will be responsible for Xuzhou's defense line at that time, and we will cooperate with Yuzhou Watch to resist the emperor's army."

"What?"

Zhou Yu was shocked when he heard this. He thought it was enough to divide Xuzhou equally, but he didn't expect that Sun Quan would actually ask for the whole of Xuzhou!

Where is such negotiation?

As expected, after Sun Quan said these words, Cao Cao's face instantly turned ugly, and he said coldly: "My good nephew has a huge appetite, and he is not afraid of filling his stomach!"

Sun Quan said without changing his expression: "I have a good appetite as long as I have a small appetite. I can eat no matter how much food I have. I don't have to worry about Yanzhou Mu."

"Anyway, Yanzhou Mu wants to use Yuzhou and Xuzhou as a line of defense against the emperor's army. In that case, what if Xuzhou is handed over to me to guard?"

"Yanzhou Mu, don't be too stingy."

Cao Cao felt the veins in his forehead throbbing.

mean?

Who can be so generous as to give up the land of a state at just a moment's notice? Moreover, they jointly sent troops to conquer Xuzhou. After the battle, he couldn't get any benefits at all!

"It is absolutely impossible to give up Xuzhou!"

Cao Cao sneered, with a threat in his eyes, "If my nephew insists on insisting, then I will have to give up the alliance and go to the emperor."

"I want to see how my wise nephew can use the Yangtze River to resist the emperor's iron hoof conquest!"

He once again threw out this killer weapon.

He had a way out, but Sun Quan didn't.

This is his advantage!

When Sun Quan heard this, he became angry and said impassionedly: "Vote to the emperor, vote to the emperor! If you want to vote, just do it! A man was born between heaven and earth, how can he be controlled by you?!"

"I, Jiangdong, have reached such a situation. In the end, I will just be defeated by the emperor, so there is nothing to fear!"

The courage he showed at this time was astonishing.

It is said that those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. Anyway, the Sun family has no escape route and is destined to be the enemy of the emperor. He simply gave up and was not afraid of Cao Cao's threat!

"presumptuous!"

Cao Cao was immediately furious and shouted: "Do you really think I dare not kill you and use your heads to claim credit from the emperor!"

After the words fell, Zhou Yu's expression changed.

"good!"

But before he could speak, Sun Quan also stood up, exposed his neck to Cao Cao, and said fiercely: "Come on, come on! Here is my great head! Quickly kill Yanzhou Mu to claim credit from the emperor!"

"I was prepared to die before I came here. There are no people in my Sun family who are afraid of death!"

Outside the pavilion, Xu Chu and Sun He both drew their swords and looked at each other with fierce eyes. The atmosphere was extremely tense.

The maids next to him were trembling with fear.

Cao Cao's expression was gloomy and uncertain. He looked at the dumbfounded Sun Quan, murderous intent rising and falling in his eyes, but in the end he was forced to suppress it.

Naturally, he could take this opportunity to kill Zhou Yu and Sun Quan, but once these two people died, the Jiangdong nobles would definitely surrender to the emperor collectively, not Cao Mengde.

As a result, he had no other option but to surrender.

"What a young hero."

The gloom on Cao Cao's face suddenly disappeared, as if the clouds were clearing and the sun appeared, he smiled again, and praised Sun Quan: "Having a son should be like Sun Zhongmou!"

Sun Quan snorted coldly and did not respond.

Cao Cao sat down again and said, "Since my nephew insists, Xuzhou will be given to you, but you need to take Xuzhou by yourselves. I will not send troops."

"Besides, the alliance should be based on me. If you can't agree to this, then the alliance will not be formed."

Cao Cao chose to take a step back and give up Xuzhou.

But he also had his own conditions.

It would definitely not work to ask him to help Xuzhou for free.

"No problem!"

Zhou Yu also came back to his senses at this time. He didn't expect Cao Cao to actually agree to give up Xuzhou. He was overjoyed and answered directly for Sun Quan.

Because he knew that this was Cao Cao's last bottom line. If he continued to fight, if Cao Cao really chose to give up the alliance, it would definitely not be the result he wanted to see.

Xu Chu and Sun He snorted coldly and put away their knives.

Cao Cao called the maid to refill the wine, and ignored Sun Quan. Instead, he smiled at Zhou Yu and said, "Everyone says that Gongjin's talent and strategy are unique in the world, so I have a question now. I want to ask Gongjin. I wonder if Gongjin can solve my doubts?"

The alliance was settled, and Zhou Yu felt relieved. He smiled and said, "Yanzhou Mu is too flattering... If I knew, I would tell you everything."

"That's good."

Cao Cao nodded happily, took the wine bottle and drank it, and then said seriously, "The world is in chaos and heroes are emerging. I wonder how many people can be called heroes in Gongjin's eyes?"

Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "I have lived in Jiangdong for a long time, and there are really unknown heroes in the world."

Cao Cao smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. Although I haven't seen him, I have heard of his name. Gongjin just needs to tell you what he thinks."

Cao Cao insisted again and again, and Zhou Yu couldn't help but answer.

After a little thought, he said: "There is a man named Bajun, who is powerful in the world - can Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou be considered a hero?"

Cao Cao shook his head and said: "I attacked Lu Bu, showing that I was not a bandit. In the battle of Yangzhou, he did not save Yuan Shu. He is a self-defending thief. He should be considered later. He is not a hero. I will capture him sooner or later."

Zhou Yu said again: "There is a man who is full of blood and is the most brave in the world. He is known as the world's number one general. Is Lu Fengxian a hero?"

"Lu Bu?" Cao Cao sneered and said disdainfully: "Lu Bu is a slave of three surnames. He has some martial arts skills. He is just a reckless man, not a hero."

Zhou Yu thought about it and said again. Du said: "Liu Jiyu of Yizhou, can he be a hero?"

Cao Cao was even more disdainful: "Although Liu Zhang is a member of the royal family, he is so weak that he can't even pacify Zhang Lu, how can he be a hero!"

Zhou Yu continued: "Liangzhou Ma Chao, who dominates Liangzhou and Sizhou, is feared by foreign races, and his cavalry is the best in the world, can he be a hero?"

"No, no!" Cao Cao shook his head, "Ma Chao, who borrowed his father's name, is brave but not wise, and is definitely not a hero."

After mentioning four heroes who dominated one side in succession and being denied by Cao Cao, Zhou Yu couldn't think of anyone else for a while, so he could only shake his head.

"Besides this, I really don't know."

Cao Cao held the wine jar, looked at Zhou Yu with burning eyes, and said in a deep voice: "In my opinion, the heroes of the world today are only the emperor, Gongjin and Cao!"

Zhou Yu's hand trembled, and the wine spilled.

Looked up at Cao Cao with a look of astonishment.

And Sun Quan's eyes beside him also changed for a while, glanced at Zhou Yu, and frowned slightly.

"Hahaha, just kidding, just kidding."

Cao Cao laughed loudly, raised his hand to drink up the wine in the cup, stood up and said: "The alliance is settled, I will withdraw the troops after I go back, and Gongjin should also send troops to attack Xuzhou as soon as possible."

"Goodbye."

After that, Cao Cao stood up and walked out of the pavilion, took the maid to get on the carriage, and Xu Chu drove away along the path.

After he left, Zhou Yu came back to his senses and bowed to Sun Quan and said: "This is Cao Cao's plan to alienate, my lord, don't believe it easily!"

What Cao Cao said just now was undoubtedly a heart-breaking remark. It was simply treasonous to compare himself with him and the emperor!

The key is that he is not the master, but a subordinate.

This is obviously flattering him!

Seeing Zhou Yu's nervous look, Sun Quan's eyes flashed with strangeness, but he smiled and said, "General, you are worrying too much. How could I believe what Cao the thief said? Please get up quickly."

He personally helped Zhou Yu up.

Seeing that Sun Quan's expression did not seem fake, Zhou Yu was slightly relieved, and his fear of Cao Cao in his heart deepened.

What a sinister and cunning villain!

Sun Quan passed on the matter and said, "General, although we have an alliance with Cao Cao, I am still a little worried."

"Cao Cao has a way out, but we don't. We must also find a way out. We can't put all our hopes on Cao Cao."

Zhou Yu was uneasy at this time, and subconsciously asked, "What good plan does the lord have?"

Sun Quan's eyes were sharp, and he said bluntly, "I want to write a letter to Liu Biao and secretly form an alliance with him. If Cao Cao plans to surrender to the emperor in the future, we will join Liu Biao to destroy Cao Cao!"

"Secretly form an alliance with Liu Biao?" Zhou Yu was shocked, "This... Isn't this the behavior of rats?"

Sun Quan shook his head and said, "Those who achieve great things don't care about trivial matters. Cao Cao is cunning, and we have to guard against it. How can it be the behavior of rats?"

"Well, it's getting late, let's go back and discuss this matter carefully." Zhou Yu heard this, even if he didn't approve of this kind of rat behavior, he had to nod his head.

……

Hejian County Governor's Mansion, Study

Liu Xie was reading the war damage report when Gao Lan came in to report: "Your Majesty, the head of the Hejian Dong family wants to see you."

Hejian Dong family?

Liu Xie's mind moved and he immediately realized that this was Dong Cheng's family.

Ever since Dong Ji was welcomed into the palace as the Queen Mother by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the already famous Dong family had transformed into a prominent family in Hejian County.

After Dong Chengshen's death, the Dong family did not see any action, let alone show their loyalty to him.

Not long after Yuan Shaogang was captured, the patriarch of the Dong family ran over.

It is indeed the style of a wealthy family to act according to the prevailing circumstances.

Liu Xie put down the memorial and said, "Let him come in."

"promise!"

Gao Lan stepped back and soon brought in a middle-aged scribe who was over forty years old.

The middle-aged scribe held the three-party seal ribbon in his hand. When he saw Liu Xie, he fell to the ground and shouted:

"Dong Zhong, the head of the Dong family, please see your majesty, my emperor will live forever!"

Liu Xie looked down at Dong Zhong who was kneeling on the ground, but could not retrieve his information in his mind.

Seeing that Liu Xie was still silent, Dong Zhong became more panicked and cautiously added:

"Your Majesty, my father Dong Chong."

When Liu Xie heard this, he suddenly realized.

It turned out that he was the nephew of Empress Dowager Dong and the brother of Dong Cheng and Dong Zhong.

"Since he is the nephew of the emperor's grandmother, he can live as a normal person."

Dong Zhong felt like he was being pardoned and quickly stood up to thank him.

Now that the emperor has mentioned Empress Dowager Dong, everything is easy to talk about.

Liu Xie looked at the seal and ribbon on Dong Zhong's hand and said, "Why do you want to see me, and what do you hold in your hand?"

Dong Zhong quickly held up the seal ribbon with both hands and said: "Your Majesty, the grassroots people have come to present the city to Your Majesty. The grassroots people united with the big families in Hejian and killed the magistrates of Wusui, Houjing and Gonggao counties. This is the seal ribbon of the three counties. ”

"Dedicate the city?"

Liu Xie was overjoyed. The victory of Wusui, Houjing, and Gonggao counties meant that Hejian County was completely recovered and the entire Jizhou region returned to Han territory.

But soon, his brows frowned slightly.

It is a good thing and a bad thing for a wealthy family to dedicate the city.

Hejian County has jurisdiction over the four counties of Lecheng, Wusui, Houjing and Gonggao, with Lecheng County as its administrative seat.

Not long after his successful capture, the Dong family was able to offer up the other three cities, just like Cui Yan had previously captured the entire Qinghe County without spending a single soldier.

What this meant was simply self-evident and made Liu Xie shudder.

But what makes him feel deeply powerless is that his great cause has not yet been accomplished, and he can only rely on these aristocratic families.

"His Majesty……"

Unable to wait for Liu Xie's praise and reward, Dong Zhong felt uneasy.

Liu Xie suppressed the emotions in his heart, with a hint of sadness on his face, waved his hands, and said with emotion:

"It's okay, I just think of General Chariot and Cavalry."

"When I was able to reach Yecheng safely, General Chariot and Cavalry made great efforts. Unfortunately, he died while escorting the puppet emperor to Yecheng."

Dong Zhong was shocked when he heard that Liu Xie not only did not regard Dong Cheng as a rebellious minister, but also recognized Dong Chengtian's great contribution, and then became elated.

"Dong Cheng, why are you hiding such a great contribution from me! Our Dong family is about to rise again!"

Dong Zhong seemed to see that the wealth was about to fall on the Dong family's head. He suppressed the rising corners of his mouth, showed a sentimental expression with difficulty, and said loudly and impassionedly:

"Your Majesty, please don't be sad. My brother died for your Majesty and deserved his death. As long as I can share your Majesty's worries, my Dong family will have no regrets even if they die nine times!"

Liu Xie saw Dong Zhong looking loyal and patriotic, and began to show off his acting skills with him.

"I was raised by the Empress Dowager. Since you are the Empress Dowager's nephew, according to your seniority, I should call you uncle."

Dong Zhong almost howled with excitement in his heart, but on the surface he said with sincerity and fear: "The common people are scared!"

Liu Xie added: "The Dong family has done a good job in presenting the city. When the work in Hejian is completed, we will return to Yecheng to discuss the merits and reward them."

Dong Zhong fell to the ground again: "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Liu Xie exchanged pleasantries with Dong Zhong, he sent him away.

The moment Dong Zhong turned around and left, Liu Xie's eyes that were originally smiling suddenly became sharp.

"Aristocratic family!"

"I worked hard and spent everything I had to capture Lecheng County with difficulty. The Dong family, a not very prominent family, was able to unite with the local clans and capture the three counties in Hejian without spending a single soldier."

"If I touch their interests in the future, wouldn't even Yecheng and the imperial palace be safe?"

After a long time, Liu Xie's expression gradually softened. Before the world was settled, the aristocratic family was not his enemy.

Looking at the seals of the three counties beside him, his mood improved slightly, and he murmured: "I wanted to give Yang Biao and Fu Wan the credit for substituting the emperor. But after all, they knew that this was not their fault, and there are still risks."

"To put this credit on Dong Cheng now, there is no proof! As long as the Dong family spreads it casually, the world will know how I escaped to Yecheng."

"The only flaw in my identity is Emperor Xian of Han."

"After pacifying the north, we must set out to the Central Plains to destroy Cao Cao's thieves, capture the puppet emperor, and kick off the unification of the world."

After thinking for a while, Liu Xie shouted to Gao Lan outside: "Bring Yuan Shao in."

Gao Lan took the order and left, and brought Yuan Shao in within less than a cup of tea.

Liu Xie looked at Yuan Shao, whose hands were bound, and said, "Benchu, what do you think? Are you willing to recruit Guo Yuan and Gao Gan for me?"

Yuan Shao raised his head, snorted coldly, and said, "Don't even think about it!"

Liu Xie sighed in his heart.

He had actually expected this result. In history, Yuan Shao would be angry to death even if he lost the Battle of Guandu. What's more, now that he has lost Jizhou and Qingzhou, it is normal for Yuan Shao to choose not to surrender due to his pride.

"I should have known from the beginning that if you did not surrender, the entire Yuan family would be labeled as rebellious officials and traitors."

Liu Xie's tone was serious, with a naked threat in his words.

Yuan Shao looked at Liu Xie with disdain, "I, the fourth and third prince of the Yuan family, have been running for many years, and my disciples and former officials have spread all over the world. How dare you risk the world's disdain and punish my nine clans!"

Liu Xie stood up suddenly, glared at Yuan Shao with a very ugly face, and shouted: "Don't you think I dare not?"

When Yuan Shao saw this, there was a sarcastic look on his face, "You're just fierce and cruel. If you really dare to kill my nine tribes, I will respect you."

The Yuan family has many intertwined roots. If the nine clans of the Yuan family are killed, the scholarly community will definitely be in an uproar.

He didn't believe that Liu Xie had the guts!

Looking at the confident Yuan Shao, Liu Xie's eyes became colder.

"Benchu, you will regret it."