The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

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234 Shocking news of internal and external troubles

Like other prefectures, the prefecture of Shanyang County and the prefecture of Yanzhou are both in the north of Changyi City, and the two prefectures are not far apart.

At this time it was night, although the city was already under curfew, and the borders of the prefecture were heavily guarded, but Zhou Qi had an emergency military report to report, and Yuan Yi, the county governor, went to the prefecture with him, so there was no encounter on the road. What was there to stop them, and soon under the guards of some personal guards, the two went to the gate of the prefecture.

When the two of them entered the mansion and sat by the side of the hall, they found that the lights were bright, but Liu Dai, like Yuan Yi, had not rested yet, but unlike Yuan Yi, he was not studying. Instead, he is discussing state affairs with several vassals.

When he entered the room, Yuan Yi took a look and recognized several people in the room.

The main seat is Liu Dai.

Below Liu Dai, the first seat on the right is Wang Yu, who is engaged in Biejia of Benzhou, and the first seated on the left is Wanqian, who is engaged in the rule of Benzhou.

In addition to the three, there were two more, who were sitting at the start of Wang Yu and Wan Qian.

Sitting under Wang Yu was Bao Xin, minister of Jibei, and sitting under Wan Qian was Zhang Guan, the governor of Benzhou.

Wang Yu, Wan Qian, and Zhang Guan are all famous scholars in this state, all of them are from a high-class aristocratic family, especially Zhang Guan, from the Zhang family in Shanyang. Thrifty Zhang Yuan Festival.

Although Zhang Jian is as famous as Liu Biao, his age is far older than Liu Biao. He is nearly thirty years older than Liu Biao. This year, he is nearly eighty years old. During the disaster of the party, he fled abroad. In the first year of Zhongping, the party After the ban was lifted, he returned to his hometown. Since then, although he has successively obtained He Jin, San Gong, and even the imperial court, he has not resigned and has been staying at home. Although he is nearly eighty years old, his health is not bad.

Speaking of which, the elites of Zhang Jian's generation, such as Chen Fan, Chen Yu, etc., were either killed by eunuchs or died of illness. He is almost the only fruit left. Therefore, since he returned to his hometown, although he has not been able to. He was requisitioned and lived in seclusion. Especially in recent years, the world has been in chaos. Second, as he is getting older, he has rarely come out. However, his reputation in Yanzhou is still very high. It is precisely because of this. Therefore, shortly after Liu Dai came to Yanzhou as the prefect, he appointed his grandson Zhang Guan as the governor of the state.

Zhou Qi bowed down and saluted, and because Liu Dai took the opportunity to discuss Dong, he was now considered to have taken control of the military and political power in the state, but in name he was not the state shepherd, but was still only the governor of six hundred stone, and he This "military and political power that has been in charge of the state", in a strict sense, still needs to be discounted, and also because Yuan Yi has a noble birth and different identities, and has Yuan Shao as a big backer behind him, so Yuan Yi did not act. The next worship ceremony is just a bow.

The eight counties in Yanzhou, for now, all the county governors of the eight counties respect Liu Dai as the main, but this "respect Liu Dai as the main" has a premise, that is: Yuan Shao supports Liu Dai.

To put it in detail: in Shanyang County, the county governor Yuan Yi is Yuan Shao's brother-in-law; in Taishan County, the county governor Ying Shao is Yuan Shao's same county. There are many marriages; in Chenliu County, the governor Zhang Miao and Yuan Shao have an inseparable relationship. As early as the Dangsang period, the two became "running friends" because of their congenial ambitions; Dongjun, the governor was originally a bridge, and also had a relationship with Yuan Shao. It's a lot, the feudal lords were able to rise up to beg Dong and the allied army to beg Dong, so they elected Yuan Shao as the leader of the alliance. This was all due to the power of Qiao Mao. Later, he was killed by Liu Dai. At that time, he was unable to resist the attacks of the Black Mountains, Yellow Turbans and other soldiers and horses, and was deprived of the prefect by Yuan Shao. He was replaced by Cao Cao. Needless to say, Cao Cao was also Yuan Shao's henchman. Then there was Bao Xin, the minister of Jibei, who was sitting in front of him. Bao Xin's Prime Minister of Jibei was recommended by Cao Cao last year. Although he did not think much of Yuan Shao's ability, his relationship with Shenfu Cao Cao and Cao Cao was very unusual. Yanzhou has only eight prefectures and states, Shanyang , Taishan, Chenliu, Dongjun, and Jibei, at least five commanderies and states are all related to Yuan Shao, which shows that Yuan Shao's influence on Yanzhou is profound and wide.

Therefore, it is said: Although the eight counties of Yanzhou respect Liu Dai as the main force, the premise is Yuan Shao.

It was for this reason that Yuan Shao dared to put his family members in Liu Dai's place, and for this reason, when Gongsun Zan, who was in high military power, forced Liu Dai to hand over Yuan Shao's family members, although Liu Dai was careful in private. After thinking about it, I felt that in the upcoming battle between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, I was afraid that Gongsun Zan would have a better chance of winning, but he was still hesitant and did not dare to succumb to him rashly.

The officer on duty at the head of the city said, "If the people in my state can work together as one," and so on, this is true, but the second half of what he said is wrong. The biggest crisis facing Liu Dai in Yanzhou is definitely not "" The only reason is that Li Gan of the Cheng clan, Li Shuo of Shanyang, and others gathered in the crowd to take advantage of the chaos." It was Yuan Yi and the other governors who obeyed Liu Dai in name, but in fact they were incompatible in appearance.

Liu Dai was very respectful to Yuan Yi, got up and returned a half-salutation, and invited him and Zhou Qi to the table.

Yuan Yi and the two sat down at the table.

Yuan Yi looked at the people in the hall, and then observed Liu Dai's expression, and said, "I don't know what the public is discussing? Yi and the others rashly asked for an opinion, is there any interruption?"

Liu Dai hesitated, and Bao Xin replied, "I have nothing to do with Gongsun Bogui."

Yuan Yi said in his heart, "It's as expected!"

Yuan Yi and Bao Xin are both county governors in the central state. Compared with Bao Xin, the county governor of a foreign county, Yuan Yi is also the county governor of Shanyang County, but Liu Dai only called Bao Xin when discussing matters at night. Yuan Yi, there is only one possibility: that is what he wants to discuss is the matter between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan.

Yuan Yi said, "Oh? What? Did Gongsun Bogui send an envoy to force it again?"

Wang Yu replied, "That's not true. It's just that Fan Zonggong came to see Uncle Fang again this afternoon, and his words were quite rude."

Now, it is not only Liu Dai who is optimistic about Gongsun Zan, but also Yuan Yi. He has always been worried that when Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao go to war, he is afraid that Yuan Shao will not be the opponent of Gongsun Zan. So at this moment, Yanzhou's attitude is very important. Liu Dai sent troops to support Yuan Shao, but he couldn't let him send troops to help Gongsun Zan, at least let him remain neutral.

Therefore, after knowing that Liu Dai was discussing this matter before he came, Yuan Yi temporarily put aside the purpose of coming to see Liu Dai, and instead followed the words of Bao Xin and Wang Yu, and asked Liu Dai: "Gongsun Bogui is suffering. Forcing each other is too much. I wonder if Fang Bo has a plan?"

Liu Dai was silent.

Wan Qian said, "Even though Duke Yuan is the most important person in the world, but Gongsun Bogui's army is strong, it is indeed a dilemma for our state at the moment."

Yuan Yi was displeased, and said, "Gongsun Bogui is self-reliant on military merit, arrogant and domineering, and his relatives, Tu Xianshi, are not in harmony with Liu Youzhou. Although the army is strong now, it is only prosperous for a while, how can it be compared with the beginning? Now, I will There are Yellow Turbans in the north of the state, Montenegro in the west, Xun Zhenzhi and Sun Wentai in the east and south, which can be described as tigers and wolves on all sides. The Yellow Turbans and the Montenegro are nothing but Xun and Sun Shi. Chase Tao Gongzu, already occupy Xuzhou, Sun Wentai attacked Chen and Liang with strength, attacked Chen and Liang, and the state of Chen was already in danger..., Fang Bo, please think about it, after Sun Wentai took down Chen and Liang, in case he continued to go north and attack me Yanzhou, or Xun Zhenzhi and him join forces to advance the army and take our state together, at that time, is it Gongsun Bogui who is far away in Youzhou, or can Benchu, who is close at hand, immediately send troops to help me?"

Liu Dai replied, "It is the beginning."

Yuan Yi said: "At this moment, it's time for Uncle Fang to ask for help in Ben Chu! But I don't realize that Uncle Fang is still hesitating between Ben Chu and Gongsun Bogui!"

Liu Dai was puzzled and asked, "Is it time to ask for help? Boye, what do you mean by this?" Yuan Yi motioned to Zhou Qi and asked him to report the military situation. Zhou Qi got up and said, "Today, the Yellow Turbans from the Kingdom of Lu and the soldiers from Xuzhou have entered our county one after another. There are few soldiers in my county, so I can't stop them, so I can only let them go west."

Liu Dai was shocked.

Bao Xin stood up suddenly and said, "What? Xun Zhenzhi's troops entered our state border?"

Liu Dai was puzzled and asked, "Is it time to ask for help? Boye, what do you mean by this?" Yuan Yi motioned to Zhou Qi and asked him to report the military situation. Zhou Qi got up and said, "Today, the Yellow Turbans from the Kingdom of Lu and the soldiers from Xuzhou have entered our county one after another. There are few soldiers in my county, so I can't stop them, so I can only let them go west."

Liu Dai was shocked.

Bao Xin stood up suddenly and said, "What? Xun Zhenzhi's troops entered our state border?"

235 The enemy is expected to succeed

Wang Yu, Wan Qian, and Zhang Guan also lost their color.

Zhang Guan blurted out and asked, "How could the soldiers from Xuzhou join the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu to enter our state border? Could it be...?" He wanted to say, "Could it be that Xun Zhenzhi actually joined forces with the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu"? Before he finished speaking, he felt that it was impossible.

Wang Yu's reaction was quick, and he first guessed why Xun Jun entered Yanzhou with the Yellow Turbans of Lu, and said, "A few days ago, I heard that Xun Zhenzhi, at the request of Sun Wentai, sent troops into Lu to fight for Yuzhou. The Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu have won several consecutive battles. This time the soldiers from Xuzhou entered our state territory, is it because they wanted to chase and destroy the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu?" Zhou Qi asked, "After the soldiers from Xuzhou entered the country, can they send envoys to meet the magistrate of Guixian County and inform them of their intentions? "

Zhou Qi said, "No."

Wang Yu asked again, "Have you stayed in your county?"

Zhou Qi replied, "No. After the Xuzhou soldiers entered the country, they headed westward and never stopped on the road. ... But the Xuzhou soldiers entered the territory after the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu. The Yellow Turbans of the country collapsed in a panic, and they failed to form a team, and it looked like they had just lost the battle."

Wang Yu nodded and said, "So, the soldiers from Xuzhou entered our state territory this time to chase and wipe out the Yellow Turbans from the State of Lu." After speaking, he became annoyed, "Xun Zhenzhi did not destroy the Yellow Turbans from the State of Lu. Ludi, but banished his generation into our state, is this trying to beggar-thy-neighbor?"

Bao Xin said loudly, "Even if it's to chase down the Yellow Turbans of the Lu Kingdom, 'beggar-thy-neighbor', it must not come unannounced!"

Wan Qian, Yuan Yi and others all agreed.

Wan Qian said: "The story of the Han family: Two thousand stones are not allowed to leave the country without permission. The county governor is still like this, what about Yizhou? The soldiers of Xuzhou chased the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu into our state, and they didn't tell me, not only beggar-thy-neighbor, but also It’s the same invasion.” Leaving the table and bowing down, he said to Liu Dai, “Please, Uncle Fang, immediately dispatch his troops and rush to Nanpingyang, first, to destroy the defeated Yellow Turban troops, and secondly, to stop the Xuzhou troops from continuing westward!”

Zhou Qi said: "Xuzhou soldiers are probably no longer in my Nanpingyang realm...even, they are probably no longer in Shanyang County."

Wan Qian asked, "How do you say this?"

Zhou Qi replied: "As you all know, Bi County is long in the north and south, and narrow in the east and west. It is less than forty li wide from where it borders Zu County of Lu State to the west where it borders Rencheng State, just as Xia Shicai said. After the Xuzhou soldiers entered the border of Bi County, they kept chasing the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu and kept going westward. From noon to the present, I am afraid that they had left the western border of Bi County early, and they should have entered the territory of Renchengguo."

Among the people present, in terms of quick response, Bao Xin may not be the first, but in terms of military experience and insight, including his familiarity and understanding of Xun Zhen, Bao Xin is a leader.

He heard Zhou Qi say this, his expression changed, he took a deep breath, and instead of the righteous indignation of Shicai, he changed to a solemn look and said to Liu Dai: "Uncle Fang, Xuzhou soldiers have entered our state this time. , I'm afraid it's not just as simple as chasing and destroying the Yellow Turbans of Lu State!"

Liu Dai said, "What's your opinion?"

"I met Xun Zhenzhi in Luoyang in the early years. Although this person is advancing and retreating, his appearance is elegant, but he is a hero with a lofty and unpredictable meaning. ... With his usual 'advance and retreat' style, I It is expected that he will not 'unannounced', and he has done so today, which can only mean that he sent Xuzhou soldiers into our territory this time, not to chase and destroy the Yellow Turbans of Lu State, but must be 'Don't be mean'."

"What do you mean by 'no deep meaning'?"

Bao Xin turned to Yuan Yi and said, "Just now, Duke Yuan said, 'At this moment, it is time for Uncle Fang to ask for help in the beginning'. Uncle Fang, I am afraid that Xun Zhenzhi will bring Xuzhou troops into me this time. The environment, the comers are not good!"

What Yuan Yi said just now, to be honest, he was just trying to scare Liu Dai, and he said it to prompt Liu Dai to choose between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao to support Yuan Shao, but he didn't care. It's really about to become a reality.

Although Wang Yu, Wan Qian, Zhang Guan, and Yuan Yi were annoyed that the soldiers of Xuzhou "didn't come forward", they all found it unbelievable for Bao Xin's opinion.

Wang Yu said, "It shouldn't be so, right?... How long did Xun Zhenzhi take Xuzhou? I heard that there were quite a few scholars, powerful clans in Xuzhou, and Yanhao from the coast who were not convinced by him. It’s not stable yet, so how can you take care of me in Yanzhou?”

Wan Qian didn't believe it either, and said, "Yes, not only is his state not yet stable, and although he doesn't have much contact with Uncle Fang, he is quite close to Yuan Benchu, so how could he have a strong enemy outside Gongsun Bogui? Take my intention of Yanzhou?"

As mentioned above, no matter whether Liu Dai is swaying between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao, among the eight counties and states in Yanzhou, at least five counties and states have close relations with Yuan Shao. At the same time, Xun Zhen, who is Yuan Shao's "close friend", does not seem to have stabbed Yuan Shao in the back.

Bao Xin made friends with Xun Zhen in Luoyang back then, because both of them were heroic and they hated Dong Zhuo, so although they met for the first time, they knew each other immediately, and the friendship was still very good. At that time, Bao Xin also advised Xun Zhen to To be able to leave the capital with him, so that we can jointly raise troops in the local area to ask Dong.

The friendship of that day was returned to the same day. First, Bao Xin is now Liu Dai's vassal, and he has to plan for "his master". Second, when it comes to the relationship between friends, compared with Xun Zhen, he has a relationship with Dong, who is also in Yanzhou. The relationship between Cao Cao, the prefect of the county, is also closer, and between Xun Zhen and Cao Cao, he also admires Cao Cao's ability even more. Questioned by Wang Yu and others, Bao Xin insisted on his own opinion and asked Liu Dai for troops.

He said: "Xun Zhenzhi, a hero, all heroes are very reasonable and can be inferred. Fang Bo, Xingan, please borrow 3,000 soldiers from the prefecture to join forces with Xinben County soldiers, leave the city overnight, and go to Rencheng immediately. The Xuzhou soldiers blocked it on the east bank of Sishui!"

Liu Dai hesitated.

Bao Xin said anxiously: "No matter why the soldiers from Xuzhou came to our state, what is their intention, we must take precautions early! In case I guess wrong the intention of the soldiers from Xuzhou, it is naturally the best, but In case I guessed it right? If because of the lack of preparation in our prefecture, Xuzhou soldiers were forced to cross Sishui and enter the west bank, not to mention other things, at least Rencheng, Dongping, Jibei, and even Shanyang. It’s going to be in danger!” After a pause, he said again, “Uncle Fang, don’t forget that Changyi is only a hundred miles away from Rencheng County!” He said again, “Furthermore, the relationship between Duke Li of Dongping and Xun Zhen is the same. People in the county, Xun Zhenzhi was highly praised by Duke Li when he was in Yingchuan, and I also heard that Li Xuan, the son of Duke Li, is now serving in Xun Zhenzhi's prefecture!"

"Dongping Prime Minister Li Gong" is Li Zan, the son of Li Ying.

Dongping State is to the north of Rencheng State, the two countries border, and further north of Rencheng State is Bao Xin's jurisdiction, Jibei State, because the Yellow Turbans have been rampant in Jibei State in recent months, so Bao Xin came to the prefecture some time ago. , to discuss with Liu Dai how to pacify the Yellow Turbans in Jibei, and because of this, he caught up with the entry of Xuzhou soldiers.

From Lu State or Xuzhou to Yanzhou, Sishui is the first natural danger. Once Xuzhou soldiers cross this water, the distant prefectures will not talk about it, only Rencheng and the surrounding areas of Dongping, Jibei and Shanyang. This county is indeed going to be in danger as Bao Xin said.

If Li Zan, the prime minister of Dongping Kingdom, really betrayed Liu Dai and turned to Xun Zhen as Bao Xin was worried, then the three prefectures of Rencheng, Jibei and Shanyang would be even more in danger. Dangerous.

Among Bao Xin's remarks, what made Liu Dai break into a cold sweat the most was, "Don't forget that Changyi is only a hundred miles away from Rencheng County." He finally made a decision and said: "Just Yiqingyan!" He called Zhang Guan, the chief clerk, and ordered him to take out the seal of the governor, write down the document for the deployment of troops, and then took out the tiger talisman for the deployment of troops, handed it over to Bao Xin, and ordered him to mobilize troops and horses to the barracks outside the city. Go to Renchengguo.

Bao Xin can be said to be decisive. He is also very fast in deploying troops, assembling, and leaving the camp. The distance between Changyi and Rencheng County is not far, but he is more than half a day behind Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai. Before he could enter the territory of Renchengguo, news came that the soldiers from Xuzhou who entered the country crossed Sishui last night, and deceived him to open the city gate of Rencheng County under the name of "Shanyang County Soldiers". Has entered the city.

236 Bao Yuncheng’s Mechanism Change

When Bao Xin heard the news, he sent an order to stop the advance and stationed on the spot.

Some of the officers in the entourage asked: "The general has borrowed troops from Fang Bo to leave Changyi overnight and head north to the city because he was worried that the soldiers from Xuzhou might be able to cross the Sishui in the west. As expected, the soldiers from Xuzhou have already crossed Sishui. He has already entered Rencheng County, and at this time, just as he was promoting the army to advance rapidly, and taking advantage of the opportunity of Xuzhou’s unstable foothold, he expelled him in one fell swoop, so why did the general restrain the army?”

Bao Xin looked at it and saw that the speaker was a captain of the state army.

When they were discussing Dong Dong, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao once jointly elected Bao Xin as a general to break the captive. He was the official title of "Jibei Prime Minister", and called him "General".

Bao Xin said: "Xu Junqing is the general under Xun Zhen's account, and Xi Zhi is the mastermind of Xun Zhen's crony. We have led the troops of Xuzhou into Rencheng County, and we will rush the army to gallop, and it will be too late when we reach the city! From what I expect, it will be extremely difficult to drive them out of Rencheng.”

After leaving Changyi County, on the way north of the army, Bao Xin sent fast cavalry to inquire about the news. Not long ago, he received a report from one of the scouts and learned that the main general who brought Xuzhou troops into Yanzhou territory was Xu Zhong. , Military division is Xi Zhicai.

The captain had a different opinion and said: "I heard the military newspaper just now that the Xuzhou soldiers deceived the Rencheng county gate in the name of 'Shanyang County soldiers'. From the following point of view, since they are 'deceived' The city gate, then it can be seen that the troops stationed in Rencheng County must be unscathed....Even if they are damaged, they must not be many. Today, the generals of Tongzhou and Jibei County have a total of more than 4,000 soldiers, and Kang is not far in front. Father, Father Kang and the two counties of Rencheng also have more than 1,000 troops. With this nearly 6,000 elite soldiers, we can attack the tired teachers who have been fighting for a long time and who have come from afar. At the same time, the geographical advantage and the people are all within me. It is Xuzhou soldiers who have already entered Rencheng, why should our army be so worried?"

Bao Xin shook his head and said: "For now, Xuzhou soldiers have been fighting for a long time and come from afar, but when our troops arrive outside Rencheng County, this 'tired division' will not be Xuzhou soldiers, but our troops. Ah!"

Xuzhou soldiers have been fighting for a long time and have come a long way. Now they have entered Rencheng County, which means that they can now rest and recuperate. In this way, when Bao Xin leads his troops to Rencheng County, it will happen to be them. The roles changed between the two. Bao Xin's team became a "tired division" after traveling for more than a hundred miles without stopping, while the Xuzhou soldiers became "waiting for work".

Seeing this captain and wanting to say more, Bao Xin added: "As for the 'place, people and people' you said, yes, if our unit can arrive in Rencheng County before the Xuzhou soldiers, then the 'place' is indeed in my hands. , But now, Xuzhou soldiers have entered Rencheng County, and the geographical advantage is no longer with me."

"How can the geographical advantage not be with me? The Xuzhou army is a guest army from afar. Even if it enters Rencheng County, the officials and soldiers in the county will not accept it. As long as our army reaches outside the city, it does not even need our army to launch an offensive. There may be chaos in the county."

"According to common sense, this is true, but the problem is that now there are not only Xuzhou soldiers, but also tens of thousands of Lu Kingdom Yellow Turbans."

When Bao Xin said this, the captain understood what Bao Xin meant.

He said with admiration: "The general sees clearly, it's far behind."

The Xuzhou soldiers entered the county seat of Rencheng County, but the Yellow Turbans of Lu Kingdom did not. They were all in the wild. When Rencheng County was in hand, Bao Xin could use Rencheng as a barrier and calmly block the Xuzhou soldiers. Rencheng County has been occupied by Xuzhou soldiers, so if Bao Xin is still in a hurry to rush to Rencheng County, the first thing he needs to face is not the Xuzhou soldiers, but the routed soldiers of the Yellow Turbans of the Lu Kingdom.

In fact, this is also the fundamental reason why Xi Zhicai urged Xu Zhong to cross Sishui, and immediately deceived Rencheng County after crossing Sishui.

Xi Zhicai wanted to use the defeat of the Yellow Turbans of Lu State to offset the geographical and human advantages of Yanzhou.

The captain asked, "So, what should our army do next?"

"There are only two strategies for today."

"Dare to hear it."

"Send people back to the prefecture immediately, and report to Uncle Fang, asking Uncle Fang to pass on Shanyang, Jiyin, Dongping, Dongjun and other counties and states around Rencheng, and order them to send their soldiers to prepare for the intrusion of the Yellow Turbans from the Kingdom of Lu. , one of these."

The captain understood that Bao Xin's so-called "preparing for the intrusion of the Yellow Turbans from the State of Lu" was in fact just a pretext. It was obvious that the fundamental intention of asking Liu Dai to transfer troops to prepare for the war was for the soldiers of Xuzhou.

The reason why Bao Xin used this pretext and did not make it clear, the captain of the school also generally understood.

The reason is very simple, can be summed up in eight words: strength is not as good as others, helpless.

For those who are not as powerful as others, this time Xuzhou soldiers came without notice and deceived Rencheng County. Of course, Xuzhou "justified a loss", but compared with the strength of the two states, Xuzhou is better than Yanzhou. You must know that although there are various problems within Xuzhou, the problems within Yanzhou are even greater. At the very least, there is no Yellow Turban rebellion in Xuzhou, which means that, at least in terms of military mobilization ability, Yanzhou is not as good as Xuzhou.

There is nothing to be done, since "power is not as good as people", then it is still a step too late to hurry up and hurry up. Now that Rencheng County has been occupied by Xuzhou troops and facts, in order to better solve this problem, it is not necessary. As a last resort, Yanzhou can only think of other ways. In other words, it can only try to solve the matter by means of "diplomatic" first. In this way, it is impossible to directly say the real intention of deploying the state soldiers of various counties. , otherwise, it is not diplomacy, but only war.

To sum up the above two points, this pretext can only be used for the time being.

The captain said, "Dare to ask the general, what is the second?"

"The second one is to ask Fang Bo to send an envoy to Tanxian County, and ask Xun Xuzhou in person, and ask him what he meant by returning Xuzhou troops to our territory!" Bao Xin paused, and then said, "Except In addition, our department should also send people to Rencheng County to ask Xu Junqing and Xi Zhicai why they didn't come and lied to open my Rencheng County gate."

The captain thought for a while and said, "That's the only way to go now!"

At the moment, the plan was decided. Bao Xin first sent people back to Changyi Prefecture, and then sent people to Rencheng County. At the same time, he ordered the troops to rest on the spot and wait for half a day before continuing north.

After all these things were arranged, Bao Xin avoided Yu Ren and wrote a handwritten letter. After sealing it, he summoned two close friends and handed it over to the two of them. Lord Cao, give him this secret letter of mine." After the two received the letter and agreed, he urged, "Remember, you must hand this secret letter to Lord Cao, and you must not Give way."

The two replied, "Please don't worry, General."

"You wait."

Watching the two of them ride their horses, Bao Xin looked up at the sky, it was already afternoon, and the troops had not had a good meal since they marched last night. The smoke was lit in the song.

He retracted his gaze and looked in the direction of Dongjun to the west, thinking in his heart: "This place is more than two hundred miles away from Dongjun. When Meng De receives my letter, it will have to be tomorrow night at the earliest. If there is any delay, we will arrive later. I hope he can come up with countermeasures in time to solve the matter.”

The year before last, Cao Cao was defeated. After going to Danyang to recruit troops, he did not return to Chenliu, but went to Yuan Shao. At that time, Bao Xin was with him.

At Yuan Shao's office, Bao Xin witnessed what Yuan Shao did in Jizhou, and was moved by it. Because he said something to Cao Cao last autumn, he said at that time: "Dong Zhuo's calamity to the court, the overthrow of the royal family, the hero of the world." The reason why the army is angry and the world responds is because of the righteousness. Now Yuan Shao, as the leader of the coalition army, does not want to attack the traitorous officials, but instead uses his power for his own personal gain. A Dong Zhuo. You and I have few soldiers and have no ability to stop him, but if you join forces with him, it is not your and my will. It is better to rule the south of the river and wait for it to change.

"The south of the big river", the big river, the Yellow River, the south of the big river, refers to Yanzhou.

The reason why Cao Cao did not return to Chenliu after defeating Dong's army and recruiting troops again, but turned to Yuan Shao, was mainly for four reasons.

The first reason is: he and Zhang Miao and other coalition generals stationed in Suanzao have different aspirations. Zhang Miao and others are self-respecting and do not try to make progress. history.

The second reason is: it is also because of "disagreement of aspirations" that after his defeat, Zhang Miao no longer provided him with support, so he had to go to Danyang, Yangzhou to recruit troops.

The third reason is: the Suanzao allied army is intriguing and fighting with each other. Cao Cao expected that the Suanzao allied army would eventually disintegrate, so he did not want to stay in this right and wrong place.

The fourth reason is that although Yuan Shao also "supports his troops and respects himself", he does not think about seeking Dong, but he is eager to seek Jizhou. However, in terms of strategic vision, Yuan Shao is actually stronger than Zhang Miao and others. Zhang Miao and others proposed a battle plan such as "to make Yuan Bohai lead the people from Hanoi to Mengjin, and the Suanzao generals to defend Chenggao, according to Aocang, Sailuyuan, Taigu, and completely control their risks..." and so on. No one was willing to listen, but Yuan Shao accepted his advice and ordered Wang Kuang, who was then the prefect of Hanoi, to send troops to Mengjin.

All in all, the fundamental reason why Cao Cao left Chenliu and joined Yuan Shao was precisely because his ambition to restore Luoyang could not be realized in Chenliu, so he had to change between Suanzao and Yuan Shao and chose "slightly stronger". "Yuan Shao, but Cao Cao also deeply understands Yuan Shao's "will not to serve as a subject", so he understands what Bao Xin said "I am afraid that Yuan Shao will become another Dong Zhuo", "If you join forces with him, it is not your will and mine." "And so on, he agrees very much, and he also agrees with Bao Xin's response that "it's not as good as the south of the river, waiting for it to change".

So Cao Cao asked Yuan Shao to allow him to station his troops at Dunqiu in Dongjun.

Not long afterward, a part of the Heishan army invaded Dongjun, and Cao Cao defeated it, and then, in Neihuang, defeated Yu Fuluo of the southern Xiongnu, and thus was promoted by Yuan Shao as the prefect of Dongjun, and then Cao Cao That is to say, Bao Xin is the prime minister of Jibei.

Dongjun and Jibei are both located in Yanzhou, one is in the west of the state, and the other is in the northeast of the state. Judging from Bao Xin's remarks last autumn, the intentions of Cao Cao and Bao Xin are obvious. It is the implementation of the predetermined plan of "not as good as the south of the river".

It can be said that although Liu Dai is still the main force in Yanzhou, in the hearts of Cao Cao and Bao Xin, they are patiently waiting for the "change". , join hands to fight for Yan, - Yanzhou has long been the foundation for the two of them to plan for a long time, but at this time, Xun Zhen suddenly stepped in, which Bao Xin did not expect.

Therefore, after finishing the two official matters of sending someone back to Changxi to see Liu Dai, and sending someone to Rencheng County to ask Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai about their return, Bao Xin wrote the secret letter again, sending him to Rencheng County. People immediately went to send it to Cao Cao.

237 Lv Zike's Head Start

Renchengguo, Rencheng County.

In the hall of the county hall, Zheng Sui, the prime minister of Rencheng, was shocked and angry, and slapped the table and cursed: "The Xun family of Yingyin has always been famous in the world. Hainei, although I have never been in contact with him, I have always respected him, but now he suddenly sent troops to enter our territory in the name of chasing and destroying the Yellow Turbans of the Lu Kingdom, and even used deceitful words to coax the gate of Rencheng County and drive him away. Go straight and enter my county seat! What does he want?"

The hall bowed down and bowed to two people, the governor of Rencheng and the chief clerk of Rencheng.

The two of them had just returned from Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai.

Zheng Sui cursed and asked the two of them, "Apart from what you just said, did Xu and Xi say anything else?"

The county chief replied: "General Xu just said: In order to avoid people's misunderstanding that they are 'beggar-thy-neighbor', they had to chase and destroy the Yellow Turbans of Lu State. ... Apart from that, there is nothing else to say."

"What to avoid people's misunderstanding!" Zheng Sui scolded the table again, "I'm afraid people will misunderstand 'beggar-thy-neighbor'? Well, I'll believe it for the time being! Then I'll ask you, they deceived them by calling me 'Shanyang County soldier' ​​and coaxing me to Rencheng. What about the county gate?"

The county magistrate replied, "The subordinates also asked them the same thing."

"How did they answer?"

"General Xu kept silent, and the theater captain smiled and replied to me, saying that he didn't know about it."

"I don't know about this? I don't know about this. The gate of Rencheng County is closed. How did their Xuzhou soldiers enter the city!"

"The subordinate also asked the same question, and the theater captain replied: When Xuzhou troops arrived outside the city, the Rencheng county gate was opened for it. He also thanked Duke Ming..."

"no need thank me?"

"He said that he thought it was Duke Ming who saw the yellow turban people outside the city and took care of the friendly army, so he took the initiative to open the city gate and invited them into the city, so he thanked Duke Ming."

Zheng Sui was so angry that he didn't speak for a long time, but it took a while for him to recover. He laughed in anger, and Gu said to a few servants sitting in the hall, "I'm over forty years this year, and the past forty years have really This is the first time I've seen such a brazen person! Instead, I opened the city gate to greet him?... Someone, someone! Go and call the military marquis who was on duty at the head of the city, and let him confront Xu and Xi! Let's see if they lied to my Rencheng County gate in the name of 'Shanyang County Soldier'!"

The person sitting at the top of the hall stood up and said, "Ming Gong, please calm down first."

Zheng Sui looked around and saw that it was Lu Qian, the commander of the county who was speaking.

Lu Qian's family is a big family in Rencheng. This man is quite intelligent and brave. Since Zheng Sui took office in Rencheng, he has borrowed a lot of his strength. Seeing that he was talking, he managed to restrain his anger and said, "My son. What do you say?"

Lu Qian said, "Xu and Xi are obviously cheating, even sending the military lord who was on duty in the city head to confront them face-to-face, I'm afraid it's useless."

"What's your best plan?"

"Liang Ce dare not say it. In my humble opinion, I have no choice but to wait for the prefecture to negotiate with Xu and Xi. But before that, I would like to meet Xu and Xi for Duke Ming. People, try to see if you can get them out of town."

"Oh? Would you like to give it a try? Okay, okay! How much do you need to lead? Whatever you say! All will be allowed to you."

"You don't need a horse or a horse, it's enough for a single person to ride alone."

There are thousands of Xuzhou soldiers who entered the city, and the county soldiers and county soldiers in Rencheng County, plus Lu Qian's family soldiers, there are only more than a thousand in total. It is difficult to drive out the Xuzhou soldiers. If this is the case, it is better not to bring one soldier and one soldier.

Zheng Sui also understood this truth. If it weren't for the fact that the troops in the city were not as good as those of Xuzhou, why would he be so angry and helpless? - In fact, even if the soldiers and horses in the city were not much different from those of Xuzhou, Zheng Sui would not dare to fight with Xuzhou soldiers now. If the Yellow Turbans of Lu State took the opportunity to attack the city during the battle with Xuzhou, it would be Zheng Sui who would be unlucky in the end. Because, after listening to Lu Qian's answer, he didn't say anything else, but just got up and said to Lu Qian: "Zi Ke! You are here, if I can drive the Xuzhou soldiers out of the city, I will go to the Shuzhou Mansion and ask for help. Bo pays for you!"

Lu Qian said: "Reward for merits and money is not what the gods want. The only hope is that it can relieve the troubles of Duke Ming and protect the people of Rencheng from being intruded by Xuzhou." At the door, people brought horses, but if they didn't bring soldiers, they only brought in a few soldiers, mounted their horses and urged them to go east of the city.

After Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai brought their troops into Rencheng County, they did not force Zheng Sui too much. Because the county temple and the prefectural government were all in the north of the city, Xu Zhong strictly prohibited soldiers from entering without authorization. The soldiers were stationed in the west of the city. Therefore, in the west of the city, Xu Zhong was not allowed to enter the city. He then occupied the east of the city. Then, he divided his troops to the south of the city and controlled the south of the city.

That is to say, in the current Rencheng County, the north and west of the city are in the hands of Zheng Sui, and the east and south of the city are in the hands of Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai. The guards in the east and south of the city, Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai, also took it from the soldiers of Rencheng without a **** attack on the grounds of "assisting the soldiers of Rencheng in defending against the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu".

Lv Qian brought a few soldiers to the east of the city. Looking closely along the way, he saw that there were soldiers of Xuzhou soldiers standing guard in every "li" in the east of the city, and there were also soldiers of Xuzhou soldiers standing guard outside the "city" in the east of the city. , On several commanding heights in the east of the city, there are also Xuzhou soldiers and soldiers, and on various roads and alleys, you can see Xuzhou soldiers patrolling from time to time.

Not long after they entered the east of the city, they ran into two or three patrols of Xuzhou soldiers one after another, but after being interrogated and after Xuzhou soldiers confirmed his identity, no one embarrassed him.

Not only that, but the officers in the patrol team showed him the way and told him where Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai were now.

Lu Qian said in his heart, "Although Xu Junqing and Xi Zhicai are brazen, but since I entered the east of the city, I haven't seen any incident of Xuzhou soldiers disturbing the people. Judging from their military discipline, they can be called strict."

Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai did not requisition the houses, but set up a few tents on the field near the city wall in the east of the city, erected military flags in front of the tents, and built a fence around the outside, which should be used as a tent. When Lu Qian arrived, both of them were there, discussing military affairs in the tent.

Hearing that the soldiers came to report that the commander of Rencheng Lu Qian asked to see him, Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai looked at each other, and Xi Zhicai said with a smile: "The county chief and the chief clerk are gone, and the commander of the county is here again. ... General, If you don't want to see him, I can invite him in alone."

Xu Zhong will unconditionally implement Xun Zhen's military orders, but when faced with questions and accusations from Rencheng, he will not confuse black and white, and he will not be "shameless". When questioned, he remained silent until the end. Because of this, Xi Zhi had such a sentence to say to him.

Xu Zhong nodded and said: "Although the Yellow Turbans of Lu State have already been defeated, and most of them are blocked on the east bank of Sishui River, there are not a few people who have crossed the river westward one after another. Siege."

It stands to reason that after the defeat of the Yellow Turbans in the Kingdom of Lu, there was no rush to escape, so how could they dare to attack Rencheng County after knowing that Xuzhou soldiers had already entered Rencheng County? But after all, there are tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans from the Kingdom of Lu outside the city. Whether there are any of them who are brave enough to take risks and who are good at "soldiers and surnames" is anyone's guess. Therefore, there is no harm in being cautious.

Xi Zhicai said with a smile: "The general, please go by yourself. When the commander of Pengcheng is sent away, I will send someone to ask the general to return to his account."

Xu Zhong said: "Okay." Then he left the tent, brought some personal soldiers, and went to the top of the city to inspect.

Xi Zhicai instructed outside the tent, "Please invite Captain Lu to come in."

Soon, Lu Qian came to the account.

Before he could see the salute twice, he frowned and scolded his sword: "Your army came without notice, entered our territory without permission, and entered my Rencheng County with deceitful words, seized half of my city, and I dared to ask: Does the army want to go to war with our Yanzhou hostility?"

238 Liu Jun is the military assistant to Xun Xun

Xi Zhicai laughed.

Lu Qian was stunned and asked, "Why is the captain laughing?"

When Lu Qian entered the tent, even though there was only one person in the tent, Xi Zhicai was in the army, and Xi Zhicai was not wearing a uniform, but wearing the uniform of a school captain, so Lu Qian knew that he was not Xu Zhong.

The two leaders of Xun's army were not Xu Zhong, so this person could only be Xi Zhicai. Therefore, Lu Qian called him "Xu Zhong".

Xi Zhicai smiled and said, "I laugh at the courage of the captain."

"how do I say this?"

"The commander is the commander, but he compares himself to Liu Yanzhou in his speech. Isn't that courageous?"

"Where can I compare myself to Liu Yanzhou?"

"The commander just said: 'Does your army want to fight against our Yanzhou'? Since the commander calls himself 'my Yanzhou', isn't this comparing himself to Liu Yanzhou?"

Lu Qian sneered and said, "I have heard for a long time that Marquis Xun has a number of men and masters under his tent, all of whom are talented and talented in the world, and the captain of the school is one of them. Looking at it now, he is famous, but it's actually hard to be a deputy! Gao Cai, pious has never seen it, and the commander's sharp tongue, pious has seen it!"

Xi Zhicai laughed again.

"Why is the lieutenant laughing?"

"I laugh at the Captain's short-sightedness."

"How am I short-sighted?"

"My ministry has entered your realm. For your land, it is a great deed. Instead of being thankful, the commander came over to ask the teacher for guilt. Isn't this 'short-sighted'?"

Lu Qian realized Zheng Sui's "extreme anger and smirk". After he just entered the account, his "cold eyebrows and scolding with his sword" was actually just a gesture, but now after listening to Xi Zhicai's words, he But he was really angry, and he laughed in anger, and said, "Your army doesn't tell me, and occupies half of my city, why? Instead, I have to thank your army for not being able to do it?"

"Captain, please calm down and listen to what I have to say."

"you say."

"In Yanbei, the Yellow Turbans are raging now, and Jibei and other counties and states cannot control them. Your county is about to suffer from them. Now that the Yellow Turbans of Lu State have entered your territory again, let me ask this question: must there be our army following the Yellow Turbans of Lu State. , How confident is the commander of Rencheng County, and even Renchengguo, that he will be able to defend it?"

Lu Qian was furious, and was about to reprimand and say, "If you hadn't driven the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu into our territory, where would the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu have come from within my territory?" Before he could say anything, Ting Xi Zhicai followed closely and said, "This is the first reason the captain should thank our army."

Lu Qian thought to himself, "The first reason? So, does he have a second reason? Well, let me first listen to what else he can come up with!" Suppressing his anger, he asked, "Then What's the second reason?"

"The second reason is not just that your county should thank our army, but Liu Yanzhou should thank our army!"

Lu Qian sneered and asked, "Dare to hear Gao Jian?"

"What is the current situation in Yanzhou, I must have a good idea of ​​​​with a single step."

Xi Zhicai paused, seeing that Lu Qian had no intention of answering, nor did he mind, and continued: "Liu Yanzhou is between Gongsun Bogui and Yuan Benchu, and he is in a dilemma. I don't know which way to go. Please ask your step, is there anything in this matter? ?"

Lu Qian still didn't answer him, and Xi Zhicai still didn't mind it, and continued: "Now that our army has entered your territory, it's just a trivial matter to protect Rencheng from the Yellow Turbans of Lu, and it can make Liu Yanzhou no longer need to It's a dilemma, but it's a big deal! Just ask your step, such a big matter that concerns the future of Yanzhou, our army has solved it for Liu Yanzhou, shouldn't Liu Yanzhou thank our army?"

Lu Qian's anger gradually subsided, and after thinking about it carefully, he roughly understood the meaning of the two points of Xi Zhicai's words, but it was difficult for him to think through it for a while, so he said: "What is the meaning of this captain, can you say a few more words? explain?"

Xi Zhicai smiled and said nothing.

Lu Qian put away his anger and asked again and again, sincerely asking for advice.

Only then did Xi Zhicai say: "I can't explain more to you what I mean in my words. You can go back to the prefecture with one step, and tell Prime Minister Zheng what I said, and ask Prime Minister Zheng to send someone to report it to Liu Yanzhou, and Liu Yanzhou will meet. Understand."

Lu Qian knew that Xi Zhicai refused to go further, because his status in Yanzhou was not high, so he no longer insisted on it, and changed the attitude of "pretending to be rude" when he first entered the account. Therefore, he treated Xi Zhicai with great courtesy, but he also bowed, and then he left the account and returned to the prefecture.

When Lu Qian left, Xi Zhi called the soldiers outside the tent to invite Xu Zhong to come back.

When the soldiers found Xu Zhong, Xu Zhong had just climbed to the top of the city and had not yet inspected much. Hearing that Xi Zhicai had already sent away the commander Rencheng who had come, Xu Zhong was slightly surprised and said to himself, "This is so much effort, but Zhicai is not. Did you send the person who came?"

He patrolled the top of the city for a while, went down to the top of the city, and returned to the tent. After listening to Xi Zhi finished sending Lu Qian, he sighed without realizing it: "Your ability to strategize is ten times better than mine, Your eloquence is a hundred times better than mine."

Xi Zhicai smiled and said, "Does the general also laugh at me for being a wise man?"

"How dare you dare."

Xi Zhicai laughed again: "My eloquence is a hundred times better than a general, and I'm not proud of myself."

Xu Zhong was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that Xi Zhicai was joking for him.

Xun Jun is up and down, no one knows, Xu Zhong is usually taciturn, and when there is no military affairs, he can even not say a word for a day. His few words are like what Xi Zhicai said, even if he is "a hundred times more eloquent than him", he is still "not arrogant".

Xu Zhong wasn't angry, he smiled slightly, but he was wearing a face towel, and Xi Zhi couldn't see this smile.

Xu Zhong pondered for a moment, then said to Xi Zhicai: "Although Rencheng sent officials to see you and me one after another, but until now, they have not seen any intention of deploying troops. It seems that my department is in Rencheng County, and it should be worry-free for the time being. ."

"That's right, Renchengguo is small, and there aren't many soldiers in the county, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I just don't know when the state soldiers from Yanzhou will arrive."

"I want to come to Yanzhou Prefecture and already know about the entry of our army, but now there are yellow turbans of Lu State outside Rencheng County, and it is expected that the state soldiers who come to Yanzhou will not be able to reach Rencheng County for a while... Even if they do, I dare to Assured, it will not dare to start a war without authorization."

Yanzhou has internal and external troubles, especially when Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao are facing each other. It is obvious to anyone with a discerning eye that Liu Dai has no confidence to go to war with Xun Zhen. This is why Xunzhen dares to send troops into Yanzhou. one reason.

"That's true." Xu Zhong looked outside the tent and said, "The lord should have left Tan County now, but he doesn't know when he will arrive in Rencheng."

"The most urgent task now is that you and I will firmly occupy this half of Rencheng County, waiting for the emperor."

Xu Zhong nodded, he remembered something, and said, "Calculating the distance, the letter from the lord to Dongping Li Xiang should have arrived in Dongping by now. ... But I don't know how Li Xiang will react?"

"Dongping Li Xiang", of course, refers to Li Zan, Li Zan. Even Bao Xin knew that Li Zan and Xun Zhen had a good relationship, so how could Xun Zhen forget him? Before sending Xu Zhong and others back to Yanzhou, Xunzhen wrote a letter to Li Zan and gave it to Xu Zhong, explaining that he would send this letter to Li Zan after he entered Yanzhou.

Xi Zhicai, Xu Zhong and Li Zan were all from the same county, but when Xu Zhong was in Yingchuan earlier, he was only a small town chivalrous man at first. Later, he followed Xun Zhen to get an official position, but he was also a military officer, and he was a scholar-official like Li Zan. There is no communication, so Xu Zhong is not familiar with Li Zan's character and person, let alone understand it, because he has the doubt of "I don't know how Li Xiang will react".

Xi Zhicai knew a little about Li Zan. If it was a trivial matter, he could guess Li Zan's reaction, but now it is a major event of "Xuzhou struggle for Yan", which is not only related to the future of the prefectures and county officials, but also in the prefecture and county. When the chief officials made their choices, it was also related to their own reputations. Although they had a good relationship with Xun Zhen, and their son was also cast under Xun Zhen’s account, in the end they were Liu Dai’s nominal “subject”. In such a situation, how would Li Zan react? For a while, Xi Zhicai couldn't judge.

239 Not serving in Jizhou, serving in Xuzhou

Dongping State is located between Rencheng and Jibei. Like most counties in Yanzhou, Dongping State does not have a large area under its jurisdiction. Although it has seven counties, it seems that there are many counties under its jurisdiction, but the area occupied by each county is small. It's not very big. In total, the entire Dongping country is about seventy or eighty miles in size.

Because the north borders the country of Jibei, which is ravaged by the Yellow Turbans, it is not very peaceful in today's Dongping country. Fortunately, Li Zan is not a person who can only "talk about high-level ideas and talk about boring things", and he is still a little talented In addition, he has always been on good terms with Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu. In recent years, he has received quite a few soldiers and financial assistance from Zhang Miao. Chenliu is no better than Dongping. It is said that it is also a first-class county with a rich population and a wealthy economy. In Yanzhou, Zhang Miao's strength is second only to Liu Dai. If he leaks a little bit, it is enough for Li Zan to improve the strength of this county. Therefore, However, for the time being, it can resist the invasion of the Yellow Turbans in Jibei and other places, and stabilize the situation in Dongping.

Li Zan is a man of insight. Although he can stabilize the situation temporarily, he knows that this is by no means a long-term solution.

If nothing else, just look at Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, who was known as a military strategy. He was beaten by the Jibei Yellow Turbans and had to leave the territory and go south. He went to the prefecture to find Liu Dai to discuss the countermeasures. It can be seen that the Jibei Yellow Turbans are powerful. If they are allowed to develop like this, it will be difficult to keep Dongping Kingdom if they get Zhang Miao's support again.

Just when he was worried about this, there was news that Xun Zhen sent troops into Lu to attack the Yellow Turbans in Lu. To be honest, after hearing this news, he felt relieved.

Dongping State borders Jibei in the north, and Lu State in the east. Both counties and states are in trouble with the Yellow Turbans. For Li Zan, he is the enemy on both sides. helped him.

Not long after that, news came that the Xun army had won a great victory and that the Yellow Turbans of Lu State had been defeated and entered Yanzhou territory.

When he heard the news, Li Zan became suspicious.

Because he was in the same county as Xun Zhen, they had known each other very early, and because he appreciated Xun Zhen very much, he had always paid more attention to Xun Zhen's deeds, and he was very clear about Xun Zhen's military capabilities. Military capability, he never believed that Xun Zhen could not wipe out the Yellow Turbans of Lu State in the territory of Lu State, but now Xun Zhen's troops not only failed to wipe out the Yellow Turbans of Lu State on the spot, but also ignored "the state is different". Without saying hello to Liu Dai, he committed suicide and entered Yanzhou territory. What is Xun Zhen trying to do? There must be a picture.

Not long after that, news of Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai entering Rencheng and occupying half of Rencheng County came again. Along with this news, a letter from Xun Zhen was sent.

After reading Xun Zhen's letter, Li Zan said in his heart, "If it's what I expected! In the name of Zhen, the pursuit of the Yellow Turbans is really like Xiang Zhuang dancing the sword."

Xun Zhen's letter maintained his usual concise style, with little content. In the first half, he greeted Li Zan as a junior in the county, and briefly introduced Li Xuan's recent situation in Xuzhou to Li Zan, and then, He turned to the topic and wrote in the second half of the letter: The emperor was covered in dust and moved to Xijing. The Guandong princes did not think of the Qin king, but they attacked and killed themselves. , this dilemma. Gongsun Bogui, an arrogant man, Yuan Benchu, who had long been self-reliant, thought that instead of letting the two of them get Yan, how could he take it by himself? With this as our military resources, we can join forces with Sun Yuzhou again, gather the strength of Xu, Yan, and Yuzhou, and then we can go westward to the deduction pass, and then decide life and death with Dong thief, in order to welcome the emperor and return the capital. What is the public will of this Zhen?

Li Zan was a sensible person, and Xun Zhen could not and did not need to lie to him, so in the second half of the letter, he told Li Zan directly and without concealment the purpose of his sending troops into Yan. : He just wanted to fight against Liu Dai for Yanzhou.

At the end of the letter, the character "What is the public will?" seems to be asking Li Zan's opinion on his purpose, but in fact it is asking Li Zan's attitude towards this, asking Li Zan: You support me in winning Yan still do not support me to win Yan?

After reading the letter, Li Zan raised his head, looked at the messenger who delivered the letter, and said, "Fengxiao, is there anything else Marquis Xun would like you to bring to me?"

It was Guo Jia who came to deliver the letter to Li Zan.

Li Zan was an elder from the same county, and his father Li Ying was the pride of Yingchuan scholars. Guo Jia was very respectful towards him and replied, "No."

Li Zan smiled, shook the letter in his hand, and said, "I think you already know the contents of this letter?"

"Although Jia has not read this letter from Your Majesty, I can guess one or two of its contents."

"Oh? Well, since that's the case, let's take a look. Do I agree with what Xunhou said in the letter?"

"Before the public seat, there is no place for Jia to put his beak."

"There is no one else in the room, only you and me. It's not easy to talk. You can rest assured. If you have anything to say, just say it."

"Nah Jia took the liberty to say it."

"Go ahead."

"Fang is in chaos today, and the heroes are rising together. The one who can calm the world must be the emperor of Jia. Jia believes that what the emperor said in the letter, the public can follow it."

"It's true that the world is already in chaos, and it's not wrong to have a group of heroes rising together. Maybe Xunhou is not the only one who can secure the world, right?" Li Zan said, "Yuan Benchu's fourth and third princes are famous all over the world, and they want to be the leader of Dong's alliance and what they want in the sea. Now that he dominates Jizhou, he respects virtuous and useful men, and although Gongsun Bogui is prosperous, in my opinion, he is definitely not his original opponent,... Yuan Benchu, can't he be safe in the world?"

"How can there be an alliance leader who does not fight? How can there be a hope at home and abroad who is at odds with his brothers? Yuan Benchu's reputation is high, but his grandfather Yu Yin, although he is based in Jizhou, is not enough to talk about. Jiazhi Yuan Benchu ​​and the public family are related by marriage, but the world matters. , it is also a public business, but you can't talk about it personally."

Li Zan said with a smile: "It's natural to not talk about the world's affairs. .

"There are also fierce ghosts on this road, extravagant and presumptuous, You Xun Yuan Benchu, how can you mention it!"

When Yuan Shu was the captain of Changshui, he was very extravagant, rode chariots and horses, and was domineering. Because he was called "Yuan Changshui, the tough ghost on the road" by the common people, such a reputation was indeed far inferior to Yuan Shao.

"Liu Jing ascended to the Han family's clan, rode into Jing alone, and took over six counties. This hero is also a man, can't he be safe in the world?"

"It is easy to secure the six prefectures, but it is difficult to secure the world. Although Liu Jingsheng is a little arrogant, he is not brilliant, so how can he be able to secure the world?"

"In the past, when we asked Dong, the generals did not enter, only Xun Hou, Sun Hou and Cao Dong County marched forward bravely, but now Sun Hou occupies Yuzhou, and the troops and horses are getting more and more prosperous. How is Sun Yuzhou?

Guo Jia laughed and asked back, "Does Duke Ming think that Sun Yuzhou will be able to secure the world?"

Li Zan said with a smile, "If Sun Yuzhou could have the clan of Xunhou, he might be able to secure the world."

"Isn't that right?" Guo Jia paused, put away his smile, and asked sternly, "I wonder if Duke Ming has made a decision?"

"You know that Yuan Benchu ​​is my family's foreign relative, but you also know why I don't allow my son to go to Jizhou, but instead allow him to go to Xuzhou?"

Guo Jia was overjoyed and said, "It must be because the Duke of Ming knows that the world is safe, and it must be my lord!"

"You can go back and reinstate Xunhou."

240 In troubled times, good birds are hard to choose wood

Regardless of his background, fame, age, or his current official position, Li Zan is far superior to Guo Jia, but because he appreciates the talents of the juniors in this county, Li Zan sent Guo Jia to the door of the room and waited for him to go away. , Li Zan turned back into the room, sat down and meditated.

He thought to himself, "Zhenzhi sent troops into Yan under the pretext of 'chasing and destroying the Yellow Turbans of Lu Kingdom'. He clearly wanted to take advantage of Gongsun Bogui and Yuan Benchu's struggle for Ji, and neither of them had time to take care of Yan. He also thought, "Although Gongsun Bogui and Yuan Benchu ​​have no time to take care of Yan, but Yanzhou is by no means a weak state, Liu Gongshan, after the clan, Zhang Mengzhuo, sits in a strong county, Ying Zhongyuan, both civil and military, Cao Mengde, Bao Yuncheng, all at one time. Jie, Zhenzhi is all the power of Xuzhou, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to rectify it."

Yes, Yanzhou is indeed a domestic and foreign trouble. It is a big state, but it can't even win against the Yellow Turbans in Jibei. It looks weak, but there is a reason for this "weakness". Because Zhang Miao, Yuan Yi and others had their own calculations, although they respected Liu Dai as the state head in name, they actually maintained their strength. Because of this, the Yellow Turbans in Jibei were flooded and raging.

Once there is an invasion by an external force, it can be expected that Zhang Miao, Ying Shao, Cao Cao, Bao Xin, including Yuan Yi will no longer be "separate", but will work together to "fight the foreign aggressors together". Yanzhou is more prosperous than Xuzhou, and its population is larger than Xuzhou. Zhang Miao and others are also not weak. Once they work together, Xunzhen will indeed be able to take Xuzhou as a single state, and it will be difficult to occupy all of Yan.

Xun Zhen also saw this very clearly, so he didn't think about attacking Quan Yan right now, as long as he could reach out to Ren Cheng, and if he could draw Li Zan over, of course it would be better.

Li Zan pondered for a long time, stood up, walked to the door, and looked into the courtyard.

Twilight is approaching, the courtyard is lush with flowers and plants, and there is a faint fragrance floating from time to time.

Li Zan sighed and said in his heart, "Good birds choose wood to perch on, but now the sea is chaotic, and good wood is really hard to find."

Li Zan has the legacy of his father Li Ying when it comes to being a clean and strict person. However, when it comes to the "Naixin royal family", the world has changed in the end. The royal family has been lingering late, and the heroes at home and abroad have already competed. For the sake of himself and his family, But he can no longer be like his father. He must find a way out in time for himself, for his descendants, and for his clan in a chaotic world, in order to keep things safe.

Yuan Shao was the best choice.

First, Yuan Shao had a high reputation. Second, Yuan Shao’s disciples were all over the country, and his political capital was strong. Third, Yuan Shao had already won Jizhou. Among the states in the world, Jizhou can be said to be the state with the most profound war potential and the best strategic position.

In terms of fame, political capital, and military strength, Yuan Shao is the leader among the heroes. From these superficial perspectives, it seems that Yuan Shao will be the one who will succeed in the future, but the fame of Li Zan's father Li Ying. , plus the relationship between him and Yuan Shao's in-laws, if he was cast under Yuan Shao's account, he would have to reuse it, not to mention his future wealth, at least enough to ensure the safety of the current clan.

However, after Yuan Shao won Jizhou, a political election in Jizhou disappointed him greatly.

This election is: slaughter the "place".

This dynasty established the country, relying on the power of the landlords, so since the ZTE, the local powers have always been very strong, and mergers have become common.

A few years ago, during the Yellow Turban uprising, Jizhou was the main battlefield. In order to protect themselves, the right surnames of the prefectures and counties in the prefecture built up forts and recruited soldiers. Although it was defeated, the situation of "the county is the king" has been formed. In this way, although Jizhou is rich, most of the people, money and grain have fallen into the hands of the tyrants and cannot be owned by the state capital. After enriching the military resources, he slaughtered the powerful in Jizhou. Anyone who did not obey his orders and refused to donate money and food would find an excuse for the crime, either imprisoning or killing, and even the Yi people. few.

Practically speaking, all the princes who want to make a difference and have the ability to make a difference are a thorn in the eyes of the tyrannical power in their respective territories, and more or less have done such things as eradicating the tyrannical power. , Xun Zhen also did this kind of thing in Xuzhou, and is still doing it now, such as eradicating Yanhao.

But because there are not strong enemies like Gongsun Zan in the north of Jizhou and the Heishan Army in the west, the surrounding area of ​​Xuzhou is relatively safe. Therefore, Xunzhen does not have the same sense of urgency as Yuan Shao. He has not yet started large-scale operations in Xuzhou. At the same time, his main targets at this stage are still "pure strong men", that is to say, he still pays respect to the "nobles". Although Yuan Shao also respected the scholars in Jizhou, he could In the "place" of slaughter, he even killed some scholars who were ignorant of current affairs.

Li Zan came from a noble family. Why did his father Li Ying fight the **** to the death? Among them, there are inherent reasons for the corruption and lawlessness of eunuchs, but there are also reasons for competing with eunuchs for power in order to ensure the interests of the scholar class. Yuan Shao slaughtered all over the world in Jizhou, and even some small and famous Jizhou scholars were killed by him. In Li Zan's opinion, Yuan Shao was destroying the foundation of himself. How could he not be disappointed by this?

It was not only Li Zan who was disappointed with Yuan Shao because of Yuan Shao's actions.

Li Zan had many friends in Jizhou, and I heard from their letters that the chief officials of many counties and local nobility in Jizhou have exchanged music with Gongsun Zan. Of course, these people who exchanged music with Gongsun Zan. Not all of them were caused by Yuan Shao's slaughter of the "local", and there were also those who were dissatisfied with Yuan Shao's use of dishonorable means to occupy Jizhou, or were afraid of Gongsun Zan's military strength, but in any case, Yuan Shao's slaughter of the "local" was indeed for him. Decreases a lot.

In addition, Li Zan and Yuan Shao are relatives by marriage, and they know Yuan Shao's character and ability very well. In today's troubled world, it is not enough to talk about peace in the world.

A servant in the courtyard noticed Li Zanli standing at the door, and came over and asked, "Does the head of the house have any orders?"

"No, I just came out to breathe."

The servant bowed respectfully, and stepped aside half-bent.

Being disturbed by this, Li Zan's thoughts were broken, and he stopped thinking about Yuan Shao.

After looking at the flowers and plants in the courtyard for a while, he returned to the room, sat down again, opened Xun Zhen's letter again, read it carefully, and thought to himself: "Zhenzhi is a virtuous corporal, skilled in warfare, tough in temperament, and time-sensitive. Change, right now, it seems that I tie my clan to him, so it should be safe." Then he thought, "Even so, I can't get too deep."

"Too deep" means not being able to join the family.

He made a decision: Xun Zhen wanted to come to fight, then he would give Dongping to Xun Zhen, and then he would retreat and go into seclusion. Enough, the rest of the disciples had better be secluded at home like him. In this way, if Xun Zhen can succeed in the future, their Li family can follow suit, and even if Xun Zhen does not succeed in the future, at least his Li family can have a way of retreat. , - Anyway, with their Li family's wealth and clan, as long as they don't get too deep in Xun Zhen's place, no matter who wins the world in the future, they will have the opportunity to become an official.

241 Who can comment on right and wrong

The country of Dongping is Wuyan County, which is located in the hinterland of Dongping. Guo Jia went out of Wuyan and returned to Rencheng County in the south.

It is about a hundred miles from Wuyan to Rencheng County, and the journey is not far. However, due to the unstable roads, there are many thieves, and because of the wars over the years, the roads have also been destroyed a lot. Therefore, Guo Jia and his party cannot do both day and night. The speed of the road was not fast. Shortly after leaving Wuyan, the night was approaching. They found a pavilion by the roadside, stayed overnight, and continued their journey the next morning.

In this way, Xiaoxing stayed overnight, and two days later, Renchengjie was visible from afar.

The closer you get to Rencheng, the more thieves there are on the road, either in groups of a hundred or ten, or in groups of three or five. Some have banners, and some don’t even have any decent weapons. From the flags and clothing, it can be seen that most of the thieves who have grown up are the fallen soldiers of the Yellow Turbans of the State of Lu. There is a large lake in the west of Renchengguo, which is the famous Onoze. The lake is so wide that it is almost similar to the jurisdiction of Rencheng. Shanyang County in the south of Renchengguo is the seat of the state government of Yanzhou, and it is the largest military force in Yanzhou. One of the strongest prefectures and states, these two directions are "no way forward". Therefore, the Yellow Turbans of Lu who were driven into Rencheng by Xun's army had no choice but to go north, or turn back to Lu and defect to Rencheng. The surviving Yellow Turbans in Lu County, or through Dongping, entered Jibei and reunited with the Yellow Turbans in Jibei.

When Xu Zhong sent Guo Jia to see Li Zan, he anticipated the dangers that might exist on the road, so he assigned him two fine rides. With these two cavalry and guards, he has encountered many thieves and yellow turbans along the way, but he has never been in danger.

After entering the border of Rencheng, Fanxian was the first to arrive.

Because no matter if the Yellow Turbans collapsed to Jibei via Dongping, or returned to Lu County to Lu County, they all had to pass through Fanxian County. Therefore, compared with the Lu Kingdom collapsed in Renchengguo, the area within Fanxian County became more and more difficult. Yellow scarves are everywhere.

Many villages and villages passed by Guo Jia and others were looted by the yellow turbans. The wheat in the fields was not yet ripe, and they were also cut away by the soldiers. The villagers who were killed by the soldiers were often seen along the road, and some corpses. There were women and children sitting next to them, either crying bitterly or with dull eyes.

It is really possible to use "sorrows everywhere" to describe the current boundary of Fan County.

Some of the entourage's elite cavalry couldn't bear it, sighed, and said, "In Lu Kingdom, we should kill all these Yellow Turban thieves!"

Guo Jia listened and remained silent.

Intellectually, he agreed with Xun Zhen's strategy of expelling the Yellow Turbans from the State of Lu to occupy the city of Ren.

However, this is also impossible.

Once a general success is achieved, all bones are withered, how about competing for the world? Guo Jia knew in his heart that when Xun Zhen made the decision to drive out the Yellow Turbans to occupy Rencheng, he would not have imagined that this would bring disaster to the people of Renchengguo, but what else could it be? Could it be because of the people of this county or a country that they stopped fighting for the world? Kindness does not control the army, and those who fight for the world must not be "kindness".

Xun Zhen is not the only one who is "unkind". How many of the lords of the states and counties in the world are "kind"?

Even the yellow scarves from the bottom. Under the influence of Xun Zhen, Guo Jia was not like those scholars who hated the Yellow Turbans because of the interests of his class. In fact, he had a certain sympathy for the Yellow Turbans. Most of the Yellow Turbans, especially If the soldiers at the bottom of the Yellow Turban Army could no longer bear the oppression of the tyrants, how could they rebel? Their original intention was just to seek a way out. But when they condensed into a powerful force, they not only slaughtered the nobles and tyrants, but also looted, burned and killed ordinary people from the same background as them. I wonder, are they right or wrong?

Today, the world is in chaos. In this chaotic world, right and wrong are black and white, and it is impossible to tell in one sentence.

A day later, Guo Jia and others returned to Rencheng County.

Compared with Fan County, or because Xun's army is now stationed in Rencheng, and because the Yellow Turbans of Lu State did not dare to stop here, the situation within the county boundary of Rencheng is much better, and there are not many Yellow Turbans collapsed. Succeeded in this activity.

When they arrived in the middle of the county, the two cavalry guards from Guo Jia returned to the station and went to Zhang Fei to pay the order. Guo Jia came to the general tent and asked to see Xu Zhong.

Xu Zhong is not in the account, only Xi Zhi is there.

"Fengxiao is back? How is this going?"

"Fortunately not humiliated."

"Li Xiang is willing to help the king?"

"Exactly."

"Okay, now my department can finally let go of half of the worries."

Although they crossed Sishui smoothly, occupying half of the urban area of ​​Rencheng County, but Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai only had only a few thousand troops. , obviously impossible.

"What's Liu Yanzhou doing recently?"

"Bao Jibei brought 4,000 soldiers and horses and was stationed at Father Kang a few days ago. Yesterday afternoon, one of his envoys came to the camp and asked me what my troops were coming. Other than that, Liu Yanzhou has nothing else to do."

"Bao Yuncheng is stationed at Father Kang? Where is his messenger now?"

"I was sent away."

Xi Zhicai still used the same rhetoric to deal with Lu Dai to send away Bao Xin's messenger.

Kangfu County is very close to Rencheng County, and the two places are only thirty or forty miles apart. However, Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia are not worried that Bao Xin will suddenly attack. The road is not easy to walk, there are many waters, and the trees are lush. The Nanyang Lake in later generations is in this area.

After asking about the developments in Yanzhou in the past few days, Guo Jia asked again: "Is there a letter from the lord recently?"

"I just arrived at a military order this morning, and your Majesty has now arrived at Hexiang."

Guo Jia was overjoyed and said, "This is really great!" Xiao said to Xi Zhicai, "Since the lord has arrived in Hexiang, the rest of the captain seems to be able to let go of his worries."

Xi Zhicai smiled, then put it away and said, "The rest of my worries are not because of military affairs."

"Oh?"

"With the help of Li Xiang, and your Majesty has arrived at Hexiang again, even if Liu Yanzhou and Bao Jibei attack our troops now, I will not worry about it. What I am worried about now is not here."

Guo Jia understood what Xi Zhicai meant.

Military politics, military politics, military and politics are inseparable, and there is no longer any worries in the military, so the remaining half of Xi Zhicai's worries are naturally "politics", that is, diplomacy.

Guo Jia said: "What the school captain said is very true. It is easy to change Rencheng County, but it is not easy to lay a foundation in Rencheng and even expand your power." Wen Xizhicai said, "I went to the lord's army this morning. , what can the lord express to this?"

"Your Majesty didn't say the specific content, just told me to stabilize the situation in Rencheng County first, and try not to start a conflict with Rencheng and Yanzhou soldiers. He also said in the military interview: He will not come to Rencheng County for the time being."

Xun Zhen said in the previous military interview that he would come to the front line in person to sit in town, but now he has changed his opinion and said that he will not come to Rencheng for the time being. If you move troops, you won't move troops", he said: "If you don't move troops, I'm afraid not only my department can make the final decision."

Although from the current point of view, the Yanzhou side should not want to start a war without authorization, but no one can guarantee this kind of thing. If Liu Dai does not want to endure any more after the diplomatic negotiation fails, if he sends troops to attack, Xu Zhong , Xi Zhicai no longer wants to fight, but also has to fight.

242 Take Yan's Plan

Hexiang is located at the border between Donghai County and Lu State. It is the closest county to Rencheng County in Xuzhou. It travels from Hexiang to the northwest, although it needs to pass through Lu State and Shanyang in the middle before reaching Rencheng County. But the total distance is only a little over a hundred miles.

When Xun Zhen transferred his troops to Shandong, this was the transfer center for logistical supplies such as grain, chamotte, ordnance.

The chief general of the garrison in this county is Chen Rong, the captain of Anmin.

After Xu Zhong and others entered Lu, the fashion in Hexiang was good at first. Later, Xu Zhong, Zang Ba and others fought with the Yellow Turbans of Lu State in Zu County. Although most of the Yellow Turbans of Lu State were driven westward by them, there were still some. The "fish that slipped through the net" panicked, fled south, and entered the territory of Hexiang. Chen Rong really fought several battles. It was not until the first two days that he was considered to have wiped out all the Yellow Turbans who had fled to Hexiang.

Xun Zhen's departure from Tan this time was originally a two-handed plan. If the reaction from Yanzhou was intense, then he would enter Yanzhou in person. If the reaction from Yanzhou was not so intense, then he would not enter Yanzhou for the time being. At present, although Liu Dai sent the state troops to the north, Bao Xin stopped at Kangfu County, and it seemed that he had no intention of fighting Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai. Then, Xun Zhen had no need to enter Yan.

After all, he is the lord of a state. Under the circumstance that Yanzhou seems to have no intention of starting the war, if he still enters Yanzhou, then it will not help resolve the matter, but will intensify the current conflict with Yanzhou.

Xun Zhen did not have many troops and horses, only 1,500 cavalry. Xun You and Xun Yu were left behind by him in Tanxian County. There were only a few civil ministers and advisors from the two prefectures who came to Hexiang, and they were headed by Zhang Zhao, who was in charge of the state government, and Xu Zhuo, who was engaged in the shogunate.

On the morning of the next day after Guo Jia returned to Rencheng County, after a night and a half of expedited delivery, the news about Li Zan's agreement to help Xuzhou was presented to Xun Zhen's case.

Xun Zhen stopped watching, and ordered someone to call Li Xuan over.

Because of Li Zan, Xun Zhen brought Li Xuan into the army this time.

Li Xuan came soon, Xun Zhen told him to sit down, and then asked him with a smile: "Qing and Qing father, I'm afraid we haven't seen each other for a long time, right?"

Li Xuan replied, "Yes."

"It was me who didn't think carefully. When Qing arrived in Tan County, I should have asked Qing to go to Dongping first to meet your father." Xun Zhen paused, and then said, "Hexiang is not far from Dongping, so there is It’s only two hundred miles away without salt, if you see your father, I can send troops to send you there.”

Li Xuan said: "Before Xuan came to Xuzhou, he had a letter with Jiajun. In the letter, Jiajun ordered Xuan: Be diligent in doing business. Although Xuan misses Jiajun, but his teaching is in his ear, he does not dare to leave his post without permission."

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "You came to Hexiang with me from the army, and you left without permission!"

Li Xuan is currently engaged in the study of the prefectures, and is in charge of the culture and education of one state. Some time ago, he sent a letter to Xun Zhen, requesting to follow the example of Taixue and set up a state school in the prefecture. Before joining the army, he was busy building state schools and hiring teachers. As Xun Zhen said, since he is now in the army, he has indeed "left his post without permission".

Li Xuan replied: "The Lord has orders, how dare Xuan not obey?"

Xun Zhen laughed and said, "If you don't dare to refuse, then you can go to Dongping!" After speaking, she put out her paper and pen, pondered for a while, and wrote a reply letter to Li Zan, sealed it with the ink pad, and sent it to Left and right handed the letter to Li Xuan and said, "By the way, send this letter of mine to Father Qing."

Li Xuan received the letter and replied, "No."

"The Yellow Turbans in Jibei are strong, and they may go south at any time. When you see your father, please ask me: Are there enough troops and military resources in Dongping? If there is a shortage, I can help them."

Li Xuan got up and thanked him.

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "Father Qing is a great sage in my county. As a younger generation, I should do my best to help me. Why should I thank you?"

If Xun Zhen wanted to get involved in Yanzhou's plot, not many people knew about it before that, with the occurrence of Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai crossing Sishui and entering Rencheng in the west, the whole Xuzhou, whether Xun Zhen told or It was never told, all the discerning people already knew what Xun Zhen was thinking.

Li Xuan is no exception.

He knew very well that when Xun Zhen asked him to go to Dongping, he was nominally asking him to visit his father Li Zan, but in fact, Xun Zhen's real intention must be the last sentence he said: "If there is any inadequacy, I can help Of".

Li Xuan had no objection to Xun Zhen's coveting Yanzhou. He was now under Xun Zhen's account. Of course, he hoped that the stronger Xun Zhen's influence would be, the better. Therefore, he thought in his heart: "It stands to reason that my father would not object to the Lord's sending troops in, but if he does, I will return to Dongping and I will do my best to persuade my father so that the Lord will have the will of the Lord. achieved."

After talking about the business, Xun Zhen and Li Xuan made a decision that Li Xuan would leave for Dongping tomorrow. After that, the two chatted a few words, and Li Xuan left, returned to the residence, and packed up. Xun Zhen wrote down a military order and ordered outside the hall to have someone take it to the camp, and ordered three hundred soldiers to be in charge of defending Li Xuan, and to set off with him tomorrow.

When the person who sent the order left, Xun Zhen instructed the outside again, saying, "Please come to Zhizhong. Bring Xu Zhuo too."

Not long after, Zhang Zhao and Xu Zhuo arrived.

Xun Zhen invited the two of them to sit down.

Zhang Zhao said: "When I came here just now, I passed by Li Dianxue's residence and saw him packing his luggage. I asked him a question. He said that he was ordered to go to Dongping tomorrow. I dared to ask the Lord, but Dongping had a reply. already?"

This time, the civil and military officials who came to Hexiang with Xunzhen. The military officials lived in the military camp, and the cultural officials received preferential treatment. They were all arranged to live in the official residence of the Hexiang county temple. The residences of Zhang Zhao, Li Xuan, Xu Zhuo and others were all under It is very close, so Zhang Zhao will pass by Li Xuan's residence when he comes.

In the beginning, in order to keep the rumors secret, so as not to let the rumors leak out, so that Yanzhou would not be on guard, Zhang Zhao and others did not know about Xunzhen's plan to take Rencheng. Secondly, as Zhang Zhao and others were important officials of the state government, Xun Zhen could not keep it a secret from them, so it was convenient for Xun Zhen to tell Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong and others about the matter before leaving Tan.

Like Li Xuan, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong also expressed support for this.

Xun Zhen replied, "Not bad."

"What did Duke Li say in the reply?"

"Mr. Li did not reply in his own hand. Fengxiao went to Dongping a few days ago, met with Lord Li, and told Lord Li what I wanted to say...Fengxiao said in his letter to me: "Mr. Li didn't say it clearly, but he did. acquiescence."

Xu Zhuo was overjoyed and said, "With Duke Li's help, it is not difficult for our army to gain a firm foothold in Rencheng!"

Zhang Zhao agreed, nodded, and asked Xun Zhen, "The Lord sent Li Dianxue to Dongping to discuss with Duke Li about the garrison of troops in Dongping?"

"Exactly."

The garrison in Dongping was one of the steps that Xun Zhen decided to stabilize Rencheng after several discussions with Xun Yu, Xun You and others, and at the same time further expand his power to Yanzhou.

243 If you can choose to use it, you will consider it

Xun Zhen didn't want to possess Quan Yan now.

Just like he sent Yao Sheng back to Wu County and hired wives for the Xun clan’s children, he is only making a preliminary plan. As for whether to take Yangzhou first, or Yanzhou first, or even Qingzhou, all these have to wait for Zhao Yu. , Xun Chen came back from Chang'an to see if the imperial court would grant officials to Zhao Yu and Xun Chen.

In fact, even if Xun Zhen wanted to attack Quanyan now, he couldn't do it.

First of all, objectively.

After all, although the Han Dynasty is declining, the righteousness of the court is still there. Even if it has a "heart of not being a minister", the "righteousness" must not be lost, otherwise, it will be seized by other princes. Thus becoming the "enemy of the world".

Therefore, he had to wait until Zhao Yu and Xun Chen returned before making the next decision and deployment.

Secondly, from the perspective of own ability.

Even if Xun Zhen disregarded the "righteousness" and did not care about being "raised up and attacked" by the people of the world, given the current internal situation of Yanzhou and Xuzhou, he could not launch a large-scale "state war".

Let’s talk about the interior of Yanzhou first.

Although the prefectures and states within Yanzhou are "like in appearance and delusional", as analyzed above, once Xunzhen invades a lot, for their overall interests, Zhang Miao and others will work together to resist, Xuzhou is not as prosperous as Yanzhou, and its population is not as good as Yanzhou, in other words , that is, the war potential is not as good as Yanzhou, then, even if the Xun army's troops and horses are good at Yanzhou, if they want to conquer Yanzhou, they will definitely lose their troops, lose their vitality, and take a long time. This is still in Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan. Under the premise of no time to care about Yan.

Under such circumstances, will Yanzhou be won by others? have to worry.

Let's talk about the interior of Xuzhou.

Not long after Xun Zhen got Xuzhou, the nobles and tyrants in the prefecture were not fully convinced, not to mention anything else, only Yanhao and Taishan soldiers. It was only two days ago that Xun Cheng supervised the Taishan soldiers to completely destroy the Yanhaos along the coast of Langya. Extermination, and the reorganization of Taishan soldiers has just begun, and it will take some time to complete the reorganization. Such an internal environment does not allow him to launch a large-scale war now.

Objectively and personally, Xun Zhen is not allowed to attack the entire Yanzhou now, so how can we complete the pre-arrangement of Yanzhou under the restriction of "trying not to attack as much as possible" and lay a solid foundation for Yanzhou? This is a question of wisdom.

Xun Zhen, Xun You, Xun Yu and others discussed this for many times, and finally settled on three steps.

The first is to garrison Dongping, so that troops stationed in Rencheng can get a close-range foreign aid and echo.

However, since Li Zan, the prime minister of Dongping, agreed to help Xun Zhen, why didn't he simply give up Rencheng and only station troops in Dongping?

This is for two reasons:

Li Zan is an outsider, not a direct descendant of Xun Zhen, even if he and Xun Zhen are old friends, even if his son is now an official under Xun Zhen's account, but it is involved in important military affairs, who knows if he will repeat in the future? Not to be taken lightly. One before.

Dongping borders Jibei, and the Yellow Turbans in Jibei are strong. Maybe they will go south one day. Once they go south, Dongping will bear the brunt. If all the troops stationed in Yan are placed in Dongping, at this time, Xunzhen will not be By fighting for Yan, he was "defending Yanzhou" for Liu Dai. This is the second.

The second step was to have the Rencheng garrison build two strongholds on the west bank of Surabaya outside the city.

It is not easy for Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai to occupy half of the urban area of ​​Rencheng County without moving a knife or a shot. Yanzhou didn't do anything right now, and Xun Zhen didn't want to fight if he didn't want to fight, so it would be impossible for the two of them to grab the other half of Rencheng County. Since it is impossible, it can only develop outside the city.

After all, it only occupies half of the city, which is too unreliable.

The third step is to continue to use Hexiang as the logistics base for the troops entering Yanzhou.

The most suitable logistics base is actually Zu County in the State of Lu. Zan County is only a few dozen miles away from Rencheng County, but the State of Lu is a vassal of Yuzhou. Of the. Sun Jian can be said to be his most important ally at this stage, and he must respect Sun Jian's interests.

In general, Xun Zhen's three steps can be roughly divided into front and rear.

The front line is Dongping and Rencheng. These two places are adjacent to the north and south. In Rencheng County, there are garrisoned troops in the city and two strongholds outside the city. , In this way, the nail plan laid in Yanzhou is considered to be firmly fixed; the latter convenience is Hexiang, which is mainly responsible for supplying the logistical supplies of the front line. At the same time, Xunzhen plans to add more troops here. If Rencheng and Dongping If you are in a hurry, you can quickly rush to help from this place. Although Hexiang is not as close to Rencheng as Zuxian County, it is not far, only more than a hundred miles away.

Li Zan has now agreed to help Xun Zhen, and as long as he agrees to Xun Zhen's proposal to garrison Dongping, the first step can be implemented.

Of course, these three steps do not need to be implemented one by one, and can be carried out at the same time.

Therefore, Xun Zhen asked Zhang Zhao's opinion and said: "Duke Zhang, although Liu Yanzhou sent Bao Jibei to lead his troops northward, but Bao Jibei advanced to Kang's father and stopped, it seems that Liu Yanzhou did not want to fight me. That being the case, I would like to strike while the iron is hot, pass on Junqing and Zhicai, and tell them to start building a stronghold outside Rencheng County. . What is the general will?"

Zhang Zhao stroked his beard, nodded and said, "I think it's fine."

Xun Zhen asked Xu Zhuo again, "What do you think?"

Xu Zhuo had no objection, and said, "That's what it should be." He added, "In Zhuo's humble opinion, not only can the stronghold be built, but the troops stationed in Rencheng and Dongping can also be dispatched by the lord."

At present, the troops stationed in Rencheng County include Xunzhen's direct descendants, Taishan soldiers, and Pengcheng soldiers. The composition is very mixed. An army composed of such components can be used to fight a short-term battle, but it is not suitable for long-term, or medium- and long-term stationing in foreign states.

The reason is very simple. Just as Li Zan was an outsider and could not make Xun Zhen completely relieved, Taishan soldiers and Pengcheng soldiers could not completely reassure Xun Zhen. Although Xuzhou was not far from Yanzhou, it was only a hundred miles from Hexiang to Rencheng. , but no matter what, Yanzhou is someone else's territory, and the garrison here is considered "lonely". If Taishan soldiers and Pengcheng soldiers are dissatisfied with Xun Zhen, they turn to Liu Dai, and Xun Zhen is just stealing chickens. not.

Therefore, after the stronghold is built, the troops stationed in the stronghold, including Rencheng County, need to be replaced and dispatched to a certain extent.

Xun Zhen pondered for a while, then said, "Gongda suggested that I choose one of the 'three Chens' to be stationed in Rencheng. I haven't made up my mind about who to send. ... Zhang Gong, do you have a suggestion?"

Xun Zhen had a lot of generals surnamed Chen, Chen Bao, Chen Dao, Chen Wu, Chen Rong, who was stationed in Hexiang, Chen Ji, who was in the cavalry, and so on. These people were all "famous generals" in Xun's army. , each has its own strengths, except Chen Ji is now the army commander, and the other four are currently school captains.

However, the so-called "Three Chens" are well known, referring to: Chen Bao, Chen Dao and Chen Wu.

Compared with Chen Jihe, who had a lower military rank, and Chen Rong, who only followed Xunzhen in Guangling, Chen Bao, Chen Dao, and Chen Wu had been with Xunzhen for a long time, and their abilities were stronger than Chen Ji and Chen Rong.

It's no wonder that Xun Zhen had a hard time choosing. Chen Bao and the three of them had experienced so far, and although they were not able to take charge of any aspect, Xu Zhong, Xun Cheng, and Xu Rong could lead all the generals, but they could take out any one of them and let them alone. When one side, half side, all are more than enough.

Zhang Zhao was so unfamiliar with the generals under Xun Zhen's account that he didn't have any advice to offer. Xun Zhen asked him first, just out of courtesy. Seeing that he had nothing to say, he asked Xu Zhuo, "Yuanzhi, what do you think?"

Although Xu Zhuo was not too old, he had been with Xun Zhen since the first year of Zhongping, and he knew all the generals under Xun Zhen's tent, so when he saw Xun Zhen's questioning, he smiled and said: "The three Chen Xiaowei are all solid. But, in Zhuo's opinion, the captain of the Chinese army is the most suitable."

"Oh? Why?"

"The right army is resolute, the left army is valiant, and the Chinese army is flexible. Now, when we enter Yanzhou, we do not focus on military competition, but vertical and horizontal first. Therefore, Zhuo believes that the Chinese army should be chosen."

Chen Da and Shen Yi are steady, Chen Wu is strong and brave, and Chen Bao is flexible and flexible. The three have their own personalities. What Xu Zhuo said was right. This time when the troops were transferred to Yan, it was not to fight for the best in the battlefield, but mainly to stabilize one's footing. Then, it was necessary to send someone who was flexible and friendly. Among the three Chens, Chen Bao was indeed the most suitable. .

In addition, there is another reason that Xu Zhuo did not say, but Xun Zhen knew it, that is, not only is Chen Bao an old friend of Xun Zhen's Xixiang, a direct descendant in the direct line, but all the soldiers in the Liuqu under his command are from Yingchuan. Soldiers are also the most trustworthy.

Xun Zhen thought about it for a while, made a decision, and said, "Okay, I'll send an order to General Xu, and tell him to transfer A Bao to join the township. When the stronghold is built, I will send him all the troops into Yan, and replace Junqing and Zhicai. return."

Chen Bao is now headed to Guangling, under the jurisdiction of Xu Rong.

Xu Zhong was one of the highest-ranking generals under Xun Zhen's account, and it was impossible for him to stay in Yanzhou for a long time. The troops in Xiapi and Pengcheng still needed him to supervise him. Xi Zhi was the mastermind that Xun Zhen relied on, and it was impossible to stay for a long time. Also, so, when Chen Bao arrives at Hexiang, and when the situation in Rencheng County becomes more stable, Xun Zhen can transfer Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai back together with Taishan soldiers and Pengcheng soldiers.

Chen Bao's soldiers were the most numerous among the school lieutenants. Liuqu had more than 2,600 soldiers. Xun Zhen planned to add some cavalry to him so that his total strength would reach 3,000. Three thousand cavalry, as long as Yanzhou does not attack aggressively, he is enough to defend Rencheng's foothold.

Xu Zhuo asked, "If the Chinese army is stationed in Rencheng, who do you plan to send to Dongping?"

"I'm going to send Jiang Hu, what do you think?"

"This is the best policy."

The situation of Dongping is different from that of Rencheng. It is always facing the threat of the Yellow Turbans from the north of Jibei going south. This requires sending a brave and brave general to settle in. There are many brave generals under Xunzhen's tent, but at the moment it is the closest to Dongping, and it is also the same as the Yellow Turbans from the north of Tongji. The Yellow Turbans of the Lu Kingdom, who were from the same lineage, had just fought but Jiang Hu was the only one who had just fought. Therefore, sending Jiang Hu to Dongping was the best choice.

At the same time, there is another reason, that is, the number of Jiang Hu's ministries. He originally had more than 2,100 people in Wuqu. After several battles with the Yellow Turbans of the Lu Kingdom, there are still less than 2,000 people. This The numbers are too many, not too many, and it is suitable to be sent to Dongping. Although Li Zan is willing to help Xun Zhen, he is not a minister of Xun Zhen, but the prime minister of a dignified country. He has his own dignity. If Xun Zhen sent too many people, it might arouse his disgust. Too few, and it can't play any role. Therefore, an army of 2,000 people is the most suitable.

Xu Zhuo asked again, "Here in Hexiang, I don't know which department the lord plans to transfer?"

"Xuan Deshu is invited to fight. I plan to transfer him to bring in a thousand troops to increase troops here. In addition, I will transfer Chang Xi and Sun Kang's troops to station here."

244 To build a water division first find a teacher

Liu Bei is "happy when he hears the war", two recent military operations in Xuzhou, one to destroy Langya Yanhao, the other to enter Lu to crusade the Yellow Turbans, either before or during the war, Liu Bei has written to ask for war, since he is so eager to make contributions , then Xun Zhen will give him a chance.

In his secret report to Xun Zhen, Xun Cheng analyzed several Taishan captains including Sun Guan, and came to the conclusion: Sun Guan and Sun Kang brothers can be used relatively, Wu Dun can also be used, only Yin Li, Chang Xi, and especially Chang can be used. Xi, these two people must not be reused. In other words, Yin Li and Chang Xi, especially Chang Xi, have insufficient loyalty and have double intentions.

Therefore, taking this opportunity to exterminate Yanhao and reorganize the Taishan army, Xunzhen decided to separate Changxi and Yin Li, and transferred Changxi to join the township. Sun Kang also called over. In this way, with Sun Kang watching over him, and Zang Ba, who was stationed more than a hundred miles away, suppressing him, it is expected that even if Changxi had second thoughts, he could only obey orders honestly.

Xu Zhuo served in the shogunate and mastered military aircraft. He had also read Xun Cheng's secret report, so when he heard Xun Zhen's arrangement, he immediately understood Xun Zhen's intention and agreed, saying: "Tiao Changxi, Sun Kanggai It is best to be stationed in He Township, but I don't know when the Taishan troops will be reorganized?"

"I have urged Zhongren to complete it as soon as possible. It is not a matter of urgency to increase the troops to join the township, and Xuande can be transferred first."

After listening to Xun Zhen and Xu Zhuo talking about the topic of exterminating Yanhao and reorganizing Taishan soldiers, Zhang Zhao said: "I heard that Langya Yanhao and pirates have colluded quite a bit. Xuzhou faces the sea to the east, and there are many pirates in the sea today. As the number of pirates increases, even though Yan Hao is determined today, in my opinion, the coasts of Langya, Donghai, and Guangling counties still cannot relax, and they need to station elite troops to prevent the pirates from invading.”

Xuzhou is close to the sea and has a long coastline. When Tao Qian was in charge of Xuzhou, Langya and Donghai were plagued by pirates. When Xun Zhen was the prefect of Guangling, there were often pirates along the coast of Guangling. Xun Zhen also specialized in this. They sent troops to the coast to attack the pirates, but due to the lack of warships and navy, they could only build defenses along the coast, and could not eradicate the pirates.

Xun Zhen agreed with Zhang Zhao's opinion, and he said to himself: "This time, we have captured many ships from those Yanhaos, and we can use this as a basis to find a way to build a navy. "

The most difficult thing in building a navy is not the ships, but the generals who know water warfare and the sailors who are proficient in sailing. Sailors can say that there are many fishermen along the coasts of Langya, Donghai, and Guangling, and they can choose from them. Generals are hard to find.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, there were naval forces. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period at the latest, the boat divisions of the Qi, Wu, and Yue countries along the coast were not only able to fight in inland rivers, but also had the ability to fight at sea. He once ordered Fan Li and others to lead the other troops of the Yue army into the Huai River via the sea, thus cutting off the retreat of the Wu army, so that Fu Chai had to ask for peace.

In the former Qin Dynasty and the former Han Dynasty, with the advancement of shipbuilding technology, not only the scale of the navy, the types of warships and the combat capability have also been greatly improved, but also the navy as an independent branch of the army has also begun to step up. The cavalry branch was completely independent.

At the time of the former Han Dynasty, the navy that became a separate arm was mainly stationed in the local area as a prefecture-state soldier, mostly distributed in the areas where the southern water network was intertwined. Only one called "Yelin Yellow Head" was directly controlled by the central government. The navy troops, the so-called "yellow head", is because the navy's clothing is different from that of the infantry and cavalry. Because of the saying that the five elements give birth to gram, "earth wins water", they all wear yellow hats, because they are often called "" Huang Toulang." The navy of the former Han Dynasty was very powerful. In the second year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Wu of the Han attacked Korea, and Yang Pu, the general of the building ship, led a navy to travel by sea. The strength of this navy reached 50,000. the crowd.

In the current dynasty, the strength of the navy is still very strong. In the ninth year of Jianwu, when the generals Cen Peng and Gongsun Shu confronted Jingmen, they led thousands of ships of various sizes. In the nineteenth year of Jianwu, General Fu Bo, Ma Yuan, attacked Jiaozhi and used more than 2,000 large and small ships.

It was only later that in order to strengthen the centralization of the central government over the localities, and also to recuperate the people's strength, Emperor Guangwu abolished most of the state soldiers of the county. Even so, there were originally some sailors along the coast of Xuzhou, but after the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the past few years, these sailors along the coast have now been completely lost, and almost nothing remains.

Thinking of this, Xun Zhen asked Zhang Zhao and said: "Xuzhou is near the sea, there were quite a lot of building ships in the past, although the navy no longer exists now, it is expected that there must be people who are proficient in water warfare in the prefecture. Can anyone recommend? "

"Does Duke Ming want to build a boat again?"

"When I was in Guangling, the coast was often infested by pirates. Naihe County had no boats, so I couldn't go into the sea to attack them, so I could only set up troops along the coast, passive defense, time-consuming food consumption, and tired of running around. Master, it's hard to do it with the strength of one county alone, so that's it. Now that Xuzhou has been settled, it seems that you can do it with your hands. ... What is the general will?"

Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "It's not an easy task to set up a navy master."

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "That's why I asked Gonggong if anyone who knew about water warfare would recommend it."

"Not only do you have to have people who are proficient in water warfare, but you also have to have money. Although I don't know how much money it takes to build a ship, I think it will be a lot."

Many of the original navy warships in Xuzhou were destroyed, and there were not many left. At the beginning, it was possible to use fishing boats or sea boats seized from Yanhao to "make up for it", but after all, it was not for a long time. The strategy, sooner or later, will have to build warships dedicated to water warfare, which will require money, and the number will not be small.

"This time, to destroy Yanhao, I got hundreds of millions of dollars from them, which can be used to build warships."

All those who were in the salt or iron business were very rich, and the salt tycoons who were exterminated along the coast of Langya were rich in wealth. In addition, he has obtained more than ten pieces of fine armor and several pieces of horse armor. It seems that there are not many pieces, but it is actually a very rich seizure. It should be noted that this "armor" is genuine fine armor , is not a generalized fine armor, what is the real fine armor? It is made of polished iron. It is expensive and has a very strong defense. When placed in the army, only the Marquis of Qu Jun and even the captain of the school are qualified to wear it. As for the horse armor, it is even more rare. It can be said that Xu Zhong before Although they fought a great victory in the State of Lu, they did not even capture a single horse armor in the Yellow Turbans. That is to say, these Yan families are rich and rich, and Donghai, a neighboring county of Langya, produces iron, so they can only accumulate years of effort. Take off these armors and armors.

Zhang Zhao frowned and said, "If it's just to exterminate the pirates, why should it cost so much? Tao Gongzu was in Xu for several years, and the people have been miserable for a long time. Why not spend hundreds of millions of dollars on people's livelihood?"

244 Fighting Thieves and Doing Business

Xun Zhen smiled and said: "Although people's livelihood is important, military equipment is also indispensable. The self-owned money used for people's livelihood, moreover, the hundreds of millions of dollars are used for the establishment of navy. It can even make money.”

Zhang Zhao said, "What does Duke Ming mean?"

"'The world is crowned with clothes and shoes', the silk and silk textiles in Xufang are the best in the sea, and the iron smelting, lacquer, and ceramics industries are also unpretentious. If you go south, you can go to Yangzhou, and if you go a little further, you can also go to Jiaozhou, and I can trade with these several states with my specialties, so that we can exchange goods and not be able to make money?"

Xu Zhuo smiled and said, "My lord is farsighted!"

Zhang Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Ming Gong is indeed a vision. If this is the case, it is not impossible for this navy to prepare for construction."

"Zhang Gong, since the father has no objection to this, then this person who is proficient in water warfare will ask Zhang Gong to choose more and recommend one or two for me?"

Zhang Zhao replied, "No."

For a time, although Zhang Zhao was a native of Xuzhou, there was no suitable candidate to recommend. He had to wait for someone to ask after returning to the state capital.

Now that there are wars in the sea and the land is not easy to travel, even if it is easy to travel, it will take a long time. Therefore, Xun Zhen has long considered the matter of trading with neighboring states through the sea, but it only takes a lot of money to build a navy again. Come on, the problem of having Taishan soldiers and Yanhao in Xuzhou has not been solved, and there is no time to do this, so it has been postponed until now. Now the matter of Taishan soldiers and Yanhao has been solved, and I copied it from Yanhao. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent, but it was possible to do this.

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "Originally, we were discussing the military affairs of Yanzhou, so how do we talk about the navy and maritime trade?"

Xu Zhuo and Zhang Zhao also laughed.

Xun Zhen said: "Zhang Gong, Yuan Zhi, do you two have anything to add to this matter?"

Zhang Zhao and Xu Zhuo both said, "There is nothing to add."

"Then do so."

The two replied, "No."

Xu Zhuo asked: "Since it seems that Yanzhou does not need the lord to visit in person, I wonder when the lord is going to return to the prefecture?"

Xun Zhen pondered and said, "Wait for a few more days. When Xuande arrives, I will return to the prefecture."

Therefore, Xun Zhen personally wrote the letter, and first issued military orders to Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai, ordering the two of them to immediately choose two suitable locations outside Rencheng County to build strongholds, and ordered Jiang Hu to do a good job of stationing in Dongping. After preparing, he wrote a military order to Xu Rong and Liu Bei each, ordering Xu Rong to mobilize Chen Bao to join the township, and ordering Liu Bei to bring a thousand troops from the headquarters to join the township. He completed the reorganization of Taishan soldiers as soon as possible, and then transferred Changxi and Sun Kang to Hexiang.

After a few military orders, Xun Zhen handed it over to Xu Zhuo, and asked him to send people out.

After finishing these military affairs, Xun Zhen chatted with Zhang Zhao, mentioned his son Zhang Cheng, and said with a smile: "Although the son is young, he is very public, he has entered my shogunate by himself, is humble and eager to learn, and has recommended me several Young and talented. This son of the public family, young Fengqing is as clear as Lao Fengsheng."

Zhang Cheng is now a servant of the shogunate, and he is fifteen years old. After arriving at the shogunate, he successively recommended to Xun Zhen several young people who were about the same age as him or slightly older than him, such as Yan Yan, who was from the same county. Time, I tried the talents of these people he recommended, and there were no compliments. They all had talents. Among them, Yan Fan was the most outstanding.

Zhang Zhao said: "The dog is stubborn, how dare you take the honor of Duke Ming?"

"I'm not telling a lie, Gongjiazi is indeed excellent in character and study, but unfortunately he is a little young, and there is no way to make great use of him now. ... Among the young talents he recommended to me, I like Yan Fan the most. Zhang Gong, there is a famous Xue Ti in Yanzhou, who is weak in age and has already worked for the state, I intend to promote Yan Fu, so that Yanzhou can not specialize in beauty, what is the public opinion?"

Zhang Zhao said, "I also know this son of Yan Yan. He is eager to learn and has a pure temperament. With time, he may become a great tool, but he is still young and cannot be used."

Yan Fu is three years older than Zhang Cheng. He is eighteen this year. Although he has not been crowned, this age is not too young for young people. For example, Xue Ti in Yanzhou is only twenty years old this year. Years old, is already engaged in a state.

"It can't be used, you have to try it before you know it. Mr. Zhang, don't you think so?"

"Isn't haste, it may be harmful. In my opinion, let him study for a few more years."

Xun Zhen pointed at Xu Zhuo with a smile, and asked, "How is Gongjue Yuanzhi?"

"Handsome talent."

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "When Yuan Zhi followed me, he wasn't as old as Yan Yan is now. Since I think he is handsome, it means that I didn't hurt him very much."

Zhang Zhao still disagreed and said: "The talent is high and shallow, Yuan Zhi is high, it is solid to be an early official, a strict person, a middle-aged person, if the official is too early, I am afraid that I will not be able to succeed."

It was not a whim for Xun Zhen to expel Yan Yan.

Yan Yan is indeed very young, but it is precisely because of his youth that if he is promoted to a state to take up such a high position, whether it is from the perspective of winning the hearts of Xuzhou scholars, or from the perspective of competing for Yanzhou, Yangzhou, and Qingzhou, it will be the same. will be beneficial. Why? First of all, this shows that Xun Zhen loves talents, and it will be a good story to spread out. Second, it also gives a hint to the nobility. Xun Zhen will not only use you famous and older scholars, but also reuse the young people in your clan. 's children.

Just seeing Zhang Zhao's strong opposition, Xun Zhen had no choice but to say with a smile: "Zhang Gong really loves the younger generation."

Zhang Zhao said, "It's a blessing for Wenzi, Yan Yan and other sons to be admitted to the shogunate, and they often hear the teachings of Duke Ming."

Xun Zhen smiled.

That night, Xun Zhen left Zhang Zhao and Xu Zhuo to eat.

The next morning, a state newspaper came from Yuzhou.

The state newspaper was sent by Sun Jian, Xun Zhen began to look at it, and saw that there were three things written above.

The first thing was that Sun Jian told Xun Zhen that Sun He had returned to his army, and he thanked Xun Zhen again for helping him fight against the Yellow Turbans from Lu.

The second thing is a brief summary of the military situation related to Sun Jian's attack on Chen and Liang.

Although Chen State is small, King Chen is good at martial arts and crossbow. There are many crossbow troops in the army of Chen State, and their combat effectiveness is good. Minister of Chen State Luo Jun loves the people like a son in Chen State, and he is deeply loved by the people. Sharing the same hatred, although Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, did not directly send troops to assist the Chen State, he secretly supported the Chen State with a lot of grain and armaments. Therefore, until now, although Sun Jian has captured most of the Chen State's city, he still has no problem. They failed to win the final victory, especially Chen County, the capital of Chen State, which was well-defended and could not be attacked for a long time. It was Liang State. Even though the attack on Liang State was only from other troops under Sun Jian's tent, Liang State was already in jeopardy.

The third thing is about Yuan Shu.

Sun Jian said in the state newspaper: Yuan Shu sent a messenger to see him two days ago and wanted to sign a covenant with him.

Sun Jian couldn't make up his mind on this matter, and the generals and advisors in his army also had different views, some were for it, some were against it. Therefore, Sun Jian specially wrote the matter into the state newspaper to seek Xun Zhen's opinion.

246 Yuan Road

Yuan Shu had an old grudge against Sun Jian.

When the feudal lords asked Dong, Yuan Shu wanted to recruit Sun Jian for his own use, but Sun Jian joined forces with Xun Zhen, which made Yuan Shu very angry. Yuan Shu was not a magnanimous person. He regarded himself very highly and thought he was a direct descendant of the Yuan family. However, many scholars from all over the world ran under Yuan Shao's door. The matter of soldiers also made him hate it.

He thought that Sun Jian looked down on him—in fact, Sun Jian did look down on him.

The two therefore forged a grudge.

However, time has changed, and now it is different from before. Although Yuan Shu is not struggling in Nanyang, it is not developing smoothly. Since Liu Biao arrived in Jingzhou, except for the Nanyang county, the rest of the Jingzhou counties have gathered under Liu Biao's banner, Jingzhou's Kuai , Cai, Huang and other surnames also gave full support to Liu Biao, which made Yuan Shu still only occupy Nanyang and could not expand outward.

Under such a situation, Yuan Shu urgently needed to find allies.

Nanyang County is adjacent to Yuzhou in the north and Yangzhou in the east. The governor of Yangzhou, Chen Wen, is a native of Runan, and he is a fellow of Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, but he is far away from Yuan Shu and close to Yuan Shao. .

For the sake of profit, Yuan Shu had no choice but to let go of the "old grudges" he had with Sun Jian.

At least on the surface, Yuan Shu was very sincere about forming an alliance with Sun Jian. The messenger he sent to Yuzhou was his younger brother Yuan Yin. Yuan Yin arrived in Yuzhou, the prefecture he went first, and then rushed to the front line to meet Sun Jian on the battlefield of Chen State.

Yuan Yin said to Sun Jian, "Although your lord is pastoring Yuzhou, there are not only five commanders in the prefectures and counties of Yuzhou who follow your orders. My brother from the north represented Zhou Xin, the prefect of Yuzhou. If it wasn't for Gongsun Bogui going south, Zhou Ang would have already entered Henan!" Now that Nanyang is adjacent to Guizhou, why don't you make a covenant with the generals? In this way, it is possible not only to resist Jizhou in the north, but also to determine the territory of Henan.

"Brother Bei" refers to Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao is in Jizhou in the north, so Yuan Yin calls him "Brother Bei".

What Yuan Yin said is very reasonable.

Sun Jian is good at fighting, but he comes from a poor family and lacks influence in the scholarly forest. This is his biggest shortcoming. Although he and Xun Zhen are allies now, Xun's appeal is not as good as Yuan's. In the north, Yuan Shao is eyeing the tiger, and in Yuzhou, especially when the county magistrates and local scholars in Runan communicate with Eryuan, forming an alliance with Yuan Shu is indeed a feasible option.

—Runan is the hometown of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. The two of them have great influence in this county. Although Yuan Shao’s reputation is high, most of them echo Yuan Shao from afar, but there are many who can communicate closely with Yuan Shu. Of the six prefectures in Yuzhou, the largest is Runan. Regardless of its jurisdiction or population, one Runan prefecture can almost equal the sum of the other five prefectures. If Yuan Shu's family background and influence can be used to completely bring Runan prefecture into control , to take a step back, even if it cannot be fully controlled, as long as most counties in Runan can support and obey Sun Jian in name, it will be a great gain for Sun Jian.

This is very attractive to Sun Jian.

However, Sun Jian also has doubts and worries.

What he was most worried about was Yuan Shu's character. To put it bluntly, he couldn't trust Yuan Shu.

If a covenant is reached with Yuan Shu, it is obviously impossible to get benefits without paying. Without Yuan Yin saying it, Sun Jian could also guess the reason for Yuan Shu's request to form an alliance with him, either to obtain material help, or to obtain military help, or the lion opened his mouth, thinking about both the military and the material. Sun Jian is not stingy with these sacrifices to get help, but the problem is, don't ask him to pay too much, but Yuan Shu refuses to admit it in a blink of an eye, and stabs him again with his backhand.

Therefore, Sun Jian hesitated.

Xun Zhen read the state newspaper sent by Sun Jian, put it on the case, got up and paced the room.

As he paced, he weighed the pros and cons of Sun Jianru's alliance with Yuan Shu, both for Sun Jian and him.

He thought in his heart: "Yuan Gonggong 'disregards previous suspicions' and took the initiative to request an alliance with Wentai, which must be to compete with Liu Jingsheng for Jingzhou. Now there are beacons in the north, or the counties and states are fighting endlessly with the Yellow Turbans and Montenegro, or Gongsun Boguishu It is about to hit Jizhou, but the southern states are relatively calm, and it is a good thing for me to have a catfish like Yuan Highway to stir up the water in the south.”

The calmer it is, the harder it is to start, and the more chaotic it is, the more profitable it will be.

Xun Zhen walked to the wall, looked at the map hanging on the wall for a while with her hands behind her back, stretched out her hand, pressed it on Yangzhou, and said to herself, "I remember that Yuan Gonggong and Liu Jingsheng seemed to be unable to win, and then they invaded. Yangzhou. Will this be a bit of a disadvantage for me?"

If one or both of Xun Chen and Zhao Yu were appointed by the imperial court as the county governor of Yangzhou, and Yuan Shu invaded Yangzhou, would it be bad for Xun Zhen? Xun Zhen thought about it for a while, and felt that instead of being disadvantageous, it would be beneficial.

He thought to himself: "Yangzhou is like a war, and I can just use it as an excuse to go south in a big way."

In this way, the alliance between Sun Jian and Yuan Shu is not only beneficial to Sun Jian, but also beneficial to Xun Zhen.

However, Xun Zhen thought to himself: "Yuan Gonggong's influence in Runan is not as good as Yuan Benchu's, and forming an alliance with him will help Wentai to control Runan, but this benefit is limited in the end, but it should not be given to him because of this limited benefit. Help me more." So he made a decision, "I should go back to the writing desk: it is good to form an alliance with Yuan Gonggong. If he asks for food, he can consider it, and if he asks for troops, it is best not to give it."

As for Sun Jian's concern about Yuan Shu's character, because Xun Zhen knew that Yuan Shu was currently fighting for Jingzhou, he didn't think it was a big problem.

When the plan was settled, Xun Zhen returned to the case, wrote down her intentions, sealed the seal, and called the attendants outside the hall to come in, and ordered someone to be sent to Yuzhou immediately.

247 Xunzhen's Fortress, Rencheng

Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai brought a lot of civilians with the army. When they were chasing the Yellow Turbans of Lu State, the civilians were led by Xia Ming, a general of Chu Su, who followed behind the army to transport luggage, collect and seize them. Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai led the troops to the west. A few days after crossing Sishui and entering Rencheng County, Xia Ming and his husband also rushed outside Rencheng County, because Xu Zhong and others only occupied half of the urban area, and there was not enough place for them without disturbing the residents. They were stationed outside the city, so they did not enter the city.

After receiving Xun Zhen's order, Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai began to arrange the construction of a stronghold.

In the former Han Dynasty, Rencheng State was originally the territory of Dongping State, and when Emperor Zhang entered the first year of Yuanhe, three counties of Fanxian, Rencheng and Kangfu in Dongping State were separated, and this Rencheng State and Rencheng State were established. The first king was the grandson of Emperor Guangwu and the son of Liu Cang, the king of Dongping, named Liu Shang.

It has only been a hundred and a few years since the existence of Ren Chengguo, but he has already changed the three veins of Ren Chengwang.

Liu Shang's grandson had no son, and the country was supreme, so Emperor Huan changed the title of Liu Bo, the son of Liu Kai, the filial king of Hejian, to the king of Rencheng, and Liu Bo also had no son. Liu Tuo, the son of King Zhen, was appointed as the King of the City. After he enshrined Liu Bo, the reason why Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling both enshrined the descendants of King Xiao of Hejian to succeed him as King of the City was because Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling were also Hejian. The descendants of King Xiao, Emperor Huan is the grandson of King Xiao Hejian, and Emperor Ling is the great-grandson of King Xiao Hejian. In other words, that is to say, the current King of Rencheng Liu Tuo is today's "grandfather", and the blood relationship between the two is still very close.

Liu Tuo has been in power for more than ten years. He is not as famous as Chen Wang and Liu Chong, but he has no notoriety.

When Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai first entered Rencheng County, they went to pay homage to Liu Tuo, probably because they lacked Liu Chong's bravery, so they didn't tell Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai. Liu Tuo did not express any anger at the "chaotic ministers and thieves" who violated other states.

In their spare time, Xu Zhong and Xi Zhicai would often leave one person to guard the city, while the other would go out to survey the surrounding mountains, rivers and trees. Therefore, the two of them already knew the terrain around Rencheng County, and now they receive With Xun Zhen's military order, the two of them didn't need to search on the ground any more, they could decide on the construction site of the two strongholds.

Xun Zhen's military order ordered both of them to build their strongholds on the west bank of Sishui, which is the east of Rencheng County.

Xi Zhicai said to Xu Zhong: "I am alone now, although Liu Yanzhou has not sent troops to attack, but its meaning is unpredictable. Our department can be said to be in an 'enemy country'. If so, it should be both strongholds. It is built in the west of the water so that it is close to the city, and if something happens, they can help each other immediately. However, in my opinion, in addition to these two strongholds, it is also necessary to build a stronghold on the east bank of Sishui.”

Xu Zhong agreed and said, "It's time to build a stronghold on the east bank of Sishui."

To build another stronghold on the east bank of Surabaya, it is not for offense or defense, but to ensure the safety of logistics.

As Xi Zhicai said, Rencheng County is an "enemy country", and it is good that Rencheng and Yanzhou did not raise troops to attack, let alone supply them with food and other materials, logistics materials must be It was sent from Xuzhou. In this way, it was necessary to build a stronghold on the east bank of Sishui to ensure that Xuzhou's supplies would not be cut off by Yanzhou's troops on the other side of the river.

The two of them were leading troops and had a certain right to dispose of them on the fly. They did not have to ask Xun Zhen for instructions on every detail. After the plan was agreed, the two first selected two strongholds in Hexi, and then decided on the one in Hedong. The location of the stronghold, and then invite Zang Ba for his opinion. Zang Ba was the deputy general of this military operation. Even out of respect, he had to ask for his opinion. Zang Ba had no objection.

Xu Zhongsui summoned Xia Ming and ordered him to say: "The lord ordered me to build a stronghold outside the city, and I have agreed with the military advisor and the Tibetan general,..." He motioned Xia Ming to come forward, pointing to the map unfolding on the case to show him, " Build one each at these two places on the west bank of Surabaya and this place on the east bank of Surabaya, and you can assign servants to start construction tomorrow."

Xia Ming watched the map carefully, remembered these three locations, and replied, "No."

In order not to affect various affairs such as agriculture, water conservancy construction, and construction of state schools in Xuzhou, Xunzhen did not assign too many servants to Xu Zhong before this military operation. The three bases are not many, but the amount of work It's not too small. Xu Zhong ordered the construction to start tomorrow, and Xia Ming had to go back immediately to arrange the shift of the servants, so after receiving the military order, he saluted and left.

After he left, Xi Zhicai, Xu Zhong, and Zang Ba talked about military affairs.

Zang Ba said: "Bao Ji Beitun is in the father Kang. He can't advance, and he can't retreat. I don't know what he means."

Xi Zhicai said with a smile: "If he had entered, I'm afraid he would have already entered. Now that he is not stationed, I expect him to be four or five days later, or just one or two days later, and he will definitely leave Father Kang. ."

"Oh? How do you say that?"

"The Yellow Turbans in Jibei are getting more and more violent. As Prime Minister of Jibei, how can Bao Yuncheng be away from the county for a long time?"

"It is."

If the incompetent person who is greedy for life and fear of death, might not want to return to the county when the Yellow Turbans are raging, or even give up his post, but Bao Xin is a responsible and courageous person, and he will never leave the county for too long. of.

As Xi Zhicai expected, Bao Xingang sent Liu Dai a letter asking him to return to Jibei yesterday.

In the camp outside Kang's father's city, Bao Xin stood above the watchtower, looking out to the north.

There was no one in the tower, except him, only his eldest son Bao Shao.

"Father, there is one thing Shao has yet to figure out."

"What's the matter?"

"Why did Xizhi say that Xuzhou soldiers entered our Yanzhou, so that Uncle Zhou would no longer be in a dilemma? Why would Uncle Zhou believe this?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Shao stupid, please show me."

Bao Xin sighed and said to himself, "Meng De's son is smart and brave, and he is far better than my son."

Although Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, was not directly born, he was handsome and intelligent, and he was modest, and he loved him. Bao Xin's eldest son, Bao Shao, was indeed far from him.

Although it was a sigh, it was his own son. Bao Xin patiently explained to him: "The one who is worried about Zhou Bo Gui is that Bo Gui and Bo Gui were both in a hurry at the beginning, but Bo Xin did not know what to do. Under such a situation , Xuzhou soldiers entering our Yanzhou, for Zhou Bo, it is an excellent excuse, at least temporarily, we can use 'Xuzhou to invade' as an excuse to deal with Ben Chu and Bogui."

Bao Shao suddenly realized, and said, "So that's the case!" He said, "It's also because of this that my father wanted to go to Uncle Shuzhou yesterday and asked to return to the county, right?"

"That's right. Since I don't need to use troops against Rencheng County at the moment, I don't need to stay in Father Kang any longer." After speaking, Bao Xin became worried, and looked into the distance again, looking at the direction of Jibei to the north again, and said, "The county has been reporting urgently every day that the Yellow Turban thieves are getting bigger and bigger. I came back to Li County to discuss with Zhou Bo how to pacify the Yellow Turban thieves in the county. Right now, I can't stay at Father Kang any longer."

"I just don't know if Uncle Zhou will agree to lend troops to his father?"

What Bao Xin said was to discuss with Liu Dai how to pacify the Yellow Turban thieves in Jibei County. In other words, Bao Xin wanted to ask Liu Dai to borrow troops. If you want to "suppress the thieves", you must first have soldiers. If there are not enough soldiers, it is useless to say anything.

Bao Xin said: "Jibei is the barrier to the north of Yanzhou. If Jibei is lost, Dongping and Rencheng will not be protected, and Shanyang will also be in danger. Even if the state uncle will not allow me to borrow 5,000 troops, why? They will also borrow two or three thousand men and horses for me."

"Since Uncle Zhou will lend troops to his father, why is his father still worried?"

"What I'm worried about is not whether Zhou Bo will lend me troops, but whether the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans will go south in a big way."

248 Cao Bao Lian Rang Yu Northwest

After Yuzhou, Nanyang, and Jizhou Yellow Turbans were defeated, Qingyan and Xu Yellow Turbans followed. Xuzhou Yellow Turbans were beaten away by Tao Qian and scattered into Qing and Yan. This made Xuzhou a little more peaceful, but it also strengthened Qingyan. The momentum of the Yellow Turbans. Ying Shao, the prefect of Mount Tai, has a good military strategy. Last year, he personally led the civil and military forces and fought against the Yellow Turbans of Yanzhou and Qingzhou who came to Taishan. He beheaded thousands, captured more than ten thousand old and weak prisoners, and seized a full two thousand carriages to attack Mount Tai. Because of the retreat of the Yellow Turbans, some of them entered Lu State and Jibei in the west, and most of them went north to Qingzhou.

The governor of Qingzhou, Jiao He, is a famous scholar, but he can only talk about dry things, and he has no ability to do it, let alone the military. , To test the outcome of the battle, other than that, there is nothing to do, so that the land of Qingzhou has become a paradise for the Yellow Turbans. From Donglai in the east to the plain in the west, there are yellow turban flags.

Thanks to Gongsun Zan last year in Bohai County, he used 20,000 troopers to defeat the 300,000 Qingzhou Yellow Turbans "to join the Black Mountain Army" twice in succession. , the car armor and property are invincible, and the prestige and power of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans is one of the curbs. Even so, in today's Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, there are still more than a million people. Apart from the old and weak, there are still hundreds of thousands of those who can fight, which is still not to be underestimated.

With only one prefecture in Qingzhou, it is extremely difficult to afford the million-plus Yellow Turbans. Now the road to the west is blocked by Gongsun Zan, and the east and north are the sea. As far as the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans are concerned, they can only expand to the south.

From east to west, to the south of Qingzhou are the Langya State in Xuzhou and Taishan County, Jibei State, and Dong County in Yanzhou.

Xuzhou doesn't need to think about it, even Tao Qian from earlier was able to drive away the Yellow Turbans in the territory, what about the current Xun Zhen? You know, Xun Zhen's status today is largely due to his military exploits in Huangfu Song's attack on the Yellow Turbans in the past, and Zhang Jiao was forced to death by his cavalry general Xin Ai. , Therefore, going south to Xuzhou is not an option for the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans.

In the case of Taishan County, although Ying Shao is not as famous as Xunzhen for military exploits, he still knows some battle tactics. After all, the Yellow Turbans in Mount Tai were driven away by him only last year. It's an option, but it's obviously not there yet, so Mount Tai is not the main southward direction for the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans.

In this way, only Jibei and Dongjun are left.

Compared with Xun Zhen and Ying Shao, Cao Cao and Bao Xin did not have outstanding military achievements during the Yellow Turban uprising in their early years. When they attacked Dong Zhuo, although the two dared to fight, they ended in great defeat. If it is not a deterrent, it will inevitably be regarded as a soft persimmon in the southern states and counties by the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans. - In fact, it seems to be the case, at least Bao Xin has no good plan for the Yellow Turbans in Jibei.

As for Cao Cao, although he had not made any decent military exploits before, and he was defeated when he tried against Dong, he was a hero. He was victorious when he attacked the Black Mountain Army in East County.

Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are one party, Gongsun Zan is Yuan Shao's enemy, that is to say, Gongsun Zan is also Cao Cao's enemy, but last year's Gongsun Zan's Bohai battle and Cao Cao's Dongjun battle, at the root, they actually fought each other. A cooperative battle.

In the face of the attacks of the Han soldiers from Xu, Yan, Ji and other places, the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and the Heishan Army in Jizhou both realized that in order to compete with these Han princes in the northern states, they must join forces on both sides. Therefore, almost at the same time last year, a part of the main force of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou entered the Bohai Sea in Jizhou in the west, while a part of the Heishan in Jizhou entered Dongjun in Yanzhou in the east, one in the west and the other in the east. The strategic intentions of the two are obvious. , I want to join forces in the junction of the three prefectures of Qing, Yan and Hebei.

It is a pity that they met Gongsun Zan and Cao Cao respectively, and both were defeated, so that the strategic intention of joining forces could not be achieved.

It can be said without exaggeration: Yuan Shao, Liu Dai, including Zhang Miao and other prefectures and county officials in Ji and Yan prefectures, and even Xun Zhen, have to thank Gongsun Zan and Cao Cao. The battle only curbed the hopes of the Yellow Turbans and Montenegro to further strengthen their momentum. In other words, it also prevented the situation in Ji, Yan, Qing and other prefectures from further deteriorating.

Just imagine, if Cao Cao was defeated by the Heishan army that invaded Dongjun, then this Heishan army could go north from Dongjun to Pingyuan County in Qingzhou, and then go north to the Bohai Sea, and then join the main force of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou. If Gongsun Zan did not block the westward advance of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, then the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans could either continue westward from the Bohai Sea, or turn southward from the Bohai Sea, and then reach Dongjun and Weijun through Ganling State, where they would meet the Heishan Army in Dongjun. If this happens, Ji, Qing, Yan and even Xuzhou will be in great danger.

It is precisely because of this great contribution that Yuan Shao disregarded the fact that Wang Huan, the prefect of Dongjun, was Liu Dai's, and represented Cao Cao as the prefect of Dongjun. It was also for this reason that Cao Cao represented his henchman Bao Xin as an aid. When the Northern Prime Minister, Liu Dai, Yuan Shao and other talents tacitly agreed.

Of course, the reason why Yuan Shao expressed Cao Cao as the prefect of Dongjun, and the reason why Liu Dai and Yuan Shao acquiesced to Bao's trust in the minister of Jibei, apart from rewarding Cao Cao's merits, there is another important reason, that is: Although Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan were victorious, especially Gongsun Zan, the results were great, but neither of them was able to completely wipe out the enemy. Whether it was the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou or the Black Mountains in Jizhou, their strengths still existed. Under these circumstances, Jibei and Dongjun are currently the only export for the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, and they are also the eastward imports that Jizhou Heishan still covets. The pressure on the two places has suddenly increased.

To put it bluntly, Dongjun and Jibei are two hot potatoes right now. Few people would want to come to these two places to be the county governors. They are not thankful for their efforts. However, the strategic position of these two counties is very important at the moment, and they have played a role in isolating the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou and the Black Mountains in Jizhou. Prime Minister of Jibei.

Cao Cao and Bao Xin are well aware of this, but it can be seen from the interviews with Dong that they are both courageous people, so not only do they have no complaints and complaints, but they are both high-spirited and active. Enterprising, wholeheartedly want to rise again.

Hearing that Bao Xin was worried that the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou would go south, Bao Shao said: "Last year, Duke Cao smashed Montenegro and Yu Fuluo, and his army was powerful. Why didn't father ask for help from Duke Cao?"

Dongjun is located in the westernmost part of Yanzhou, Jibei is located in the northernmost part of Yanzhou, and the western part of Jibei borders the northeastern part of Dongjun. If Bao Xinru asks Cao Cao for help, Cao Cao's reinforcements will soon arrive. However, Bao Xin did not want to ask Cao Cao for help.

He said: "The people of Mengde County in the east, the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou in the north, and the Black Mountains in Jizhou in the west, from last year to the present, they have been fighting hard year after year, almost without a break. He only uses it for himself, and sometimes even thinks that he is too stretched to use his own troops. I can't ask him for help unless I have to." Having said this, he remembered something, and said to himself, "Meng De should have received it long ago. I have a secret letter, but why haven't he replied yet?"

On the day that Bao Xin and his troops arrived at Father Kang, he wrote a letter to Cao Cao, informing him of the entry of Xuzhou soldiers. Counting the time, Cao Cao should have received his letter long ago, but he has not seen it for some reason. his reply.

249 Fan Kai joins soldiers in Jiqing

The reason why Cao Cao did not reply to Bao Xin's letter was because he was not in the prefecture.

When Bao Xin's messenger arrived at Puyang, the county seat of Dongjun, Cao Cao had just left the city the day before and went to the northern part of Dongjun.

The northern part of Dong County is bordered by Pingyuan County in Qingzhou in the northeast and Ganling in Jizhou in the northwest.

Among the two counties, Pingyuan and Ganling, only Pingyuan County was originally stationed by Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou appointed by Gongsun Zan. However, not long ago, Yuan Shao appointed Gongsun Fan as the prefect of Bohai and the guards of Ganling Pan County. Ji Yong defected one after another and surrendered Gongsun Zan. As a result, not only Yuan Shao was more passive, but the pressure on Cao Cao also increased suddenly. Therefore, after the situation in the county had settled down a little, Cao Cao went north to patrol.

Although the Heishan army in the county was defeated by Cao Cao last year, the people of Heishan are numerous and strong, and there are still a large number of troops stationed in Wei county. Because, in order to guard against the re-invasion of these Heishan troops in Wei county, Wei county is to the west of Dong county. , the two counties bordered, Cao Cao kept most of the capable civil and military personnel in the county mansion, or sent them to the west of the county, and only brought Chen Gong, Shi Huan, and Cao Chun to the north from him.

Chen Gong, courtesy name Gongtai, a native of Dongwuyang, Dongjun, is a local celebrity in Dongjun. After Cao Cao became the prefect of Dongjun, he used a group of scholars from his own county in accordance with the usual practice. Chen Gong was one of the outstanding ones.

Shi Huan, courtesy name Gongliu, a native of Pei, when Cao Cao challenged Dong's cavalry, he followed him as a guest. Xun Zhen's military commander is now Chen Bao. There is no need to say much about the relationship between Chen Bao and Xun Zhen, and Xun Zhen's trust in Chen Bao need not be said much. From this, it can be seen that Shi Huan's position in Cao Cao's army.

Cao Chun, courtesy name Zihe, is Cao Cao's second younger brother. His grandfather, the former prefect of Yingchuan, Cao Bao, and Cao Cao's grandfather's grandfather, Cao Teng, the former long-servant, are brothers. Lai Zu, father Yu Yin, Zhongping four years, only ten years old. The eighth Cao Chun was conscripted by the imperial court as the servant of the Huangmen. Two years later, Cao Cao fled to Chenliu to recruit troops to beg Dong, and Cao Chun, who was 20 years old at the time, followed him. Participate in the war.

Cao Cao had 5,000 troops when he started his army at Chenliu. Later, he was defeated by Xu Rong, who was a general under Dong Zhuo at the time.

With the help of Chen Wen, the prefect of Danyang, and Zhou Xin, the prefect of Danyang, Cao Cao and others recruited more than 4,000 Danyang soldiers. However, on the way back, these Danyang soldiers mutinied halfway. There were only more than 500 people who did not rebel. After gathering, there were only a thousand soldiers left. Fortunately, Cao Cao’s other younger brother, Cao Hong, brought more than a thousand soldiers, as well as two thousand Lujiang elite soldiers and thousands of Danyang soldiers who were also recruited from Yangzhou, and arrived in time to meet Cao Cao. , Cao Cao's troops did not disperse because of this, but the army was revived because of Cao Hong's arrival. - Cao Hong and Yangzhou governor Chen Wen have a very good relationship, so he can also recruit a lot of troops from Yangzhou. .

At the same time, Cao Chun's co-brother, Cao Cao's second-in-law, Cao Ren, also gathered more than a thousand episodes to follow.

So far, Cao Cao's soldiers and horses have grown from their vitality after the defeat to tens of thousands of cavalry. Cao Cao did not return to Chenliu because he and Zhang Miao and others had "different aspirations and different plans" at that time, but brought these soldiers and horses into the camp to Hanoi. Last year, he led his troops into Dongjun and fought between Dongjun and Weijun. The reason why he was able to defeat Heishan and Yufuluo one after another was because of these troops.

After several major battles, his divisions suffered losses and supplements, and up to now, his subordinates are still around 10,000 people.

The current situation facing Dongjun is such that there are Yellow Turbans in the north, Black Mountains in the west, and Gongsun Zan's works in the north and northwest. What the letter said was really "stretched", but as Bao Xin said, with the strength of the people of Dongjun County, there is really no way to raise too many troops, let alone expand the army, there are only 10,000 people, and Cao Cao has already It's almost impossible to support him, he can't afford it, but he can't be fired. Cao Cao is also miserable.

Cao Cao's 10,000 cavalrymen, 3,000 were stationed in Baima County, southwest of the county, with Xiahou Dun, the commander of Zhechong, as their general, and 2,000 soldiers at Dunqiu in the west of the middle of the county. Baima and Dunqiu are located in the south and north of Puyang, the county seat, and both border Puyang. With the addition of the 1,500 troupes of the "quanzuo mobile army" stationed in Puyang, Cao Cao has a total of 10,000 people on foot and cavalry. There are 6,500 troops and horses arranged in this area, which can be described as "heavy troops stationed", and its purpose is to prevent the Montenegrin army from entering again.

With the remaining 3,500 men, Cao Cao stationed them in Liaocheng and Boping.

Boping is in the northernmost part of Dong County, bordering Gaotang County in Pingyuan County and Ling County in Ganling Kingdom. To the north of Ling County is Pan County. With Cao Ren as the general, the two thousand soldiers and horses were mainly used to guard against Tian Kai's troops and Ji Yong's troops who had just surrendered to Gongsun Zan, as well as the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans scattered in Pingyuan County.

Liaocheng is in the south of Boping, bordering on the westernmost Eping County of Jibei. Cao Cao stationed 1,500 troops and horses here, with Cao Hong, commander of Xingyingyang as his general, whose main task is to guard against Qingzhou in Jibei. Yellow scarf.

After leaving Puyang and heading north, it is not too far to go to the Yellow River, cross the Yellow River and then go north, passing Dunqiu, Weiguo, Dongwuyang, Yangping, Fagan, and Leping, and arrive at Liaocheng. - The entire terrain of Dongjun is long from southwest to northeast, and narrow from east to west. It is about 500 miles away from the far southwest to the far northeast, while the narrow place from east to west is only tens of miles, and the widest point is only two hundred miles. Among them, the number of counties north of the Yellow River and the counties south of the Yellow River are basically equal, with eight and seven respectively.

Liaocheng County is a place for chatting and photography in ancient times, and its county was founded in the former Qin Dynasty.

In the fifth year of King Qin's administration, the general Meng Ao attacked Wei and gained 20 cities. Because this area is located in the east of Wei State, it is the eastern part of Wei State, so Ying Zheng set up Dongjun here, and Liaocheng County, from there. Until now, Liaocheng has been under the jurisdiction of Dongjun for more than 400 years.

Cao Cao didn't bring too many parts to the north this time, he only brought 500 soldiers and more than 100 elite cavalry.

When he was about to go outside Liaocheng County, Cao Ren, who had received the letter in advance, was waiting by the side of the road.

Cao Ren is a dozen years younger than Cao Cao. He is 25 years old this year, and he is not very old.

Compared with the other Xuns under Xun Zhen’s tent, he was five years younger than Xun Yu, eleven years younger than Xun You, younger than Xun Cheng, much younger than Xun Yue, even younger than Xun Hong and others. Xun Lu, Xun Dao, Xun Pu, etc. are of the same age, but Xun Lu, Xun Dao, Xun Pu, etc., who are currently higher than Qian Shi, are only one side benefit, any commander, but Cao Ren is already two. Qian Shi, who led an army alone, took on a heavy responsibility. This is because Cao Ren is a relative of Cao Cao, but it is also because Cao Ren is indeed talented, and he now seems to have the style of a general.

When Cao Ren was young, he was fond of bowing, horses, horses, and archery. He did not practice inspections, and fought with Cao Cao. Because of this, Cao Cao gave Liaocheng to him to be stationed and guarded with confidence.

Seeing Cao Cao's arrival, Cao Ren rushed forward to greet him.

Cao Cao and others met Cao Ren in Daozhong.

Cao Cao smiled and said: "Zixiao, the leader of the Qing army, treat me like you are in the camp, why should you welcome me from afar?"

250 Bohai and Shan rebelled one after another

Cao Ren, dressed in military uniform, gave a military salute. After the salute, he said, "General's tour of the north, and Ren's subordinates, how can you not welcome him?"

Cao Cao laughed, jumped off his mount, waved at Cao Ren, motioned for him to come forward, and when he came over, the two led the horses side by side.

As he walked forward, Cao Cao asked, "How are the troops in the camp recently?"

Liaocheng is adjacent to Ganling to the north and Jibei to the east. Ganling currently has the rebel army Ji Yong, and the Yellow Turbans in Jibei are powerful, so Cao Cao first asked the military's heart.

The backbone of Cao Ren's lineage is the young men of Yu and Xu who he gathered in the Huaisi area in the past. These soldiers have followed him for more than ten years. The time under his command is long, and Cao Ren manages the army and rewards and punishes justly. Therefore, these soldiers The soldiers are all loyal and loyal. Although there is heavy pressure from outside, it is a change in the military's heart without any worries. Cao Ren replied: "The military's heart is very stable, and the morale is like a rainbow."

"How's the drill?"

"On the order of the general, we will have an exercise every other day."

Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction, turned his face to look in the direction of Jibei to the east, turned his head, and asked again, "Has there been any changes in the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans in Jibei recently?"

"I heard that my generation tried to attack Lu County a few days ago, but they couldn't succeed for a few days, and they have already withdrawn."

Cao Cao also knew this military report.

Lu County is the capital of Jibei Kingdom. Although Bao Xin is not currently in the country, he has properly arranged the defense and military affairs of Lu County before going to the prefecture. A large amount of grain and ordnance, and these soldiers and resources are not enough to attack, but it is more than enough to defend the city, at least in the short term.

Cao Cao led the horse on foot, but Chen Gong and the others were no longer able to ride, so they all dismounted from their mounts and followed behind Cao Cao and Cao Ren.

After listening to Cao Ren's words, Chen Gong said: "Although there are many Yellow Turbans in Jibei, but they have no foundation, they are roaring in groups, and they only use copying and looting as money, 'rogues' are also. Bao Jibei does not follow them. To fight outside, choose elites, hold on to the strong ground, and wait for them to get tired, this is indeed the best policy.”

Cao Cao agreed, nodded and said: "Yuncheng has both civil and military skills, and is a wise man. Jibei County has few small soldiers, and it is not enough to suppress the thieves. With Yuncheng's ability, he can stick to Lu County without losing, and avoid the thieves first. Accumulating strength and sharpening, waiting to win and then winning, but it is not a problem."

Regardless of the size of the region, only the number of cities under its jurisdiction, the county with the largest number of cities in Yanzhou is Chenliu, which has 17 counties, the next is Dongjun, which has 15 counties, the third is Taishan, which has 12 counties, and the next is Jiyin. Eleven counties and Shanyang govern ten counties. Rencheng is the smallest, with only three counties. Jibei and Dongping are similar in size and have the same number of counties, both of which are five counties.

As the capital of Jibei, Lu County is the most prosperous county in Jibei, and has the largest population. Therefore, it has been coveted by the Yellow Turbans in the territory for a long time, and has been besieged several times. Failed to capture it.

Of the four remaining counties in Jibei, the easternmost Cheng County is located between Taishan County and Lu State. It is sandwiched between these two counties and states. It has long been reduced to a "thief's territory". The bordering cities of Gangxian and Sheqiu have also been occupied by the Yellow Turbans. The westernmost city, Eping, is located on the east bank of the Yellow River and crosses the Yellow River and travels westward for more than ten miles, which is the boundary of Liaocheng in the East County. Cao Ren's Ministry responded proactively, and the two cities joined forces. Although Eping was in danger, it seemed that it was still able to support it.

Whether Enping can hold on is not very important to Jibei. The current situation in Jibei is such that three counties are lost in five counties, and it doesn't matter if one more is lost, but for Dongjun, this things are very important. If El Ping is lost, it is equivalent to losing the natural danger of the Yellow River. From then on, the Yellow Turbans in Jibei will no longer be hindered by the westward advance. If they cross the river, they can easily enter Dongjun.

Cao Cao then asked En Ping, and he asked, "How is El Ping's situation recently?"

Cao Ren replied: "Since the Yellow Turban attack was repelled half a month ago, there has been no Yellow Turban attack in these days."

Half a month ago, Eping was besieged by a part of the Yellow Turbans in Jibei. The defender of Eping sent envoys to Liaocheng to ask for help. Cao Ren sent troops to cross the water and rescued them. After two days of fierce fighting, the Yellow Turbans were repelled. Cao Cao naturally knew about this.

Cao Cao said: "Gongsun Fan rebelled at the beginning, and used the whole county of Bohai to vote for Gongsun Bogui, and Ji Yong rebelled again with the county of Yan, and now the north of the county is in a hurry, the pressure is severe, whether or not Eiping can hold it depends on you and me. , now it is very important. Zixiao, don't be careless."

As mentioned earlier, once Eping fell, the Yellow Turbans in Jibei would no longer be a potential threat, but a real threat. There are Gongsun Zan's troops in the north and the Heishan army in the west. The situation in the eastern county is already very dangerous. If the Yellow Turbans from the east attack again, it will be even worse. At that time, Cao Cao will not be "stretched", but will be "embarrassed on all sides". .

Cao Ren was very clear about this, and he replied spontaneously: "Don't worry, General, as long as Ren is there, peace will be guaranteed!"

Hearing that Cao Cao was talking about Gongsun Fan, Cao Chun said, "Gongsun Fan was given the seal of the Prefect of the Bohai Sea. This is really a foolish move by Yuan Gong!"

Cao Cao thought to himself: "Gongsun Bogui's intention is in the whole of Ji, how can he be satisfied by the Bohai Sea? Besides, although the Bohai Sea has actually been occupied by Gongsun Bogui, but if there is no seal, after all, the name is not right. Shun, at the beginning, the advance and retreat failed, and the seal of the governor of Bohai was awarded to Gongsun Fan, so that Gongsun Bogui could match the name and reality, and it would be a foolish move to use the whole county of Bohai to fund the enemy."

Although Bohai belongs to Jizhou, Yuan Shao was once appointed by the imperial court as the prefect of Bohai, which is why he has the seal of the prefect of Bohai. However, the actual controller of Bohai County is no longer Yuan Shao, but Gongsun Zan. Last year, Gongsun Zan Yu Dongguang broke the Qingzhou Yellow Turban, and this Dongguang is the county under the jurisdiction of the Bohai Sea. The reason why the Bohai Sea will be occupied by Gongsun Zan is due to Yuan Shao himself and also due to geographical reasons. The reason for Yuan Shao himself is that he has not been able to unite the various forces within Jizhou, so he became the Yellow Turban of Qingzhou. When attacking the Bohai Sea, he could not take it into account; the geographical reason is: Bohai County borders Youzhou in the north, and when Jizhou is unstable, Gongsun Zan's forces can easily penetrate into it.

Gongsun Fan is Gongsun Zan's younger brother. Yuan Shao gave him the Bohai Sea where he started in Jizhou, obviously for the purpose of "bribing" Gongsun Zan, but as Cao Cao thought, Gongsun Zan was aiming to occupy the whole of Ji, so what about Bohai County? Can you satisfy him? Not only did it fail to make Gongsun Zan retreat, on the contrary, Gongsun Zan could justifiably rule the Bohai Sea.

Cao Cao thought so in his heart, but he couldn't say it out of his mouth. After all, now that he and Yuan Shao are in a "same party" relationship, Yuan Shao definitely needs him to protect the southern part of Jizhou in Dongjun, and he also needs Yuan Shao's strong support for him. Therefore, he looked back at Cao Chun, shook his head, and said, "Otherwise, it was a helpless move to give the seal to Gongsun Fan at the beginning, how can it be called a foolish move?"

Chen Gong said: "In order to enrich the military resources, Duke Yuan tortured and looted the surnames in Jizhou, and the people were disappointed. I heard that even the prefect of Julu has written letters with Gongsun Zan, ... Yuan Gong gave the seal of the Bohai prefect to Gongsun Fan, which is really helpless." After a pause, he added, "But Yuan Gong doesn't think about it, there is only one Bohai. County, how can you fill Gongsun Bogui's greed? It's not bad to say that his move was a foolish move."

Cao Chun is from his own clan, so Cao Cao can stop him from commenting on Yuan Shao, but Chen Gong is a strategist under the tent, so he cannot be forcibly suppressed, and what Chen Gong said is also pertinent, so Cao Cao did not deny it. Instead, he changed the subject and asked Chen Gong with a smile: "Gongtai, in your opinion, what will Gongsun Bogui do next?"

"Having already entered the Bohai Sea, and has received the investment of Ganling Ji Yong, and also has Li Shaoyintong, the prefect of Julu, I expect Gongsun Bogui to divide his troops into three groups next."

"Oh? Why are the troops divided into three groups? I would like to hear the details."

"With Gongsun Fan Jian Hejian, use Zhuojun soldiers to force Zhongshan and Changshan, bring their main force through Ganling and enter Julu, and fight with Yuan Gong in Wei."

Jizhou’s overall distribution of prefectures and states is as follows: the four northern prefectures, from west to east, are Changshan, Zhongshan, Hejian, and Bohai, all of which border Youzhou. It is mainly bordered by the plain of Qingzhou, and the easternmost part of the border is bordered by Le'an of Qingzhou; the western border of the Bohai Sea is mainly bordered by Hejian Kingdom, and the southernmost part of the western border has a total area of ​​less than 100 miles. It is divided into Anping and Ganling to the south of Anping; the west of Anping and Ganling is Julu, and the west of Julu is divided into Zhongshan, Zhao and Wei County from north to south; Wei County is not only connected to the west of Julu. It borders the border, and also borders the southern border of Julu; the eastern border of Wei County is bordered by Ganling in the north and the Dongjun currently occupied by Cao Cao in the south; the southern border of Wei County is Hanoi.

After the Bohai Sea was occupied by Gongsun Zan, Ganling and Julu respectively opened their doors to Gongsun Zan due to the surrender of Ji Yong and the secret communication of Julu Prefect respectively. Gongsun Zan's troops can now drive straight in from the Bohai Sea and the plain to Jizhou. The hinterland giant deer.

The state governance of Jizhou was originally Gaoyi of Changshan State, Han Fu was the shepherd of Jizhou, and the state governance was moved to Ye County in Wei County. Yuan Shao won Jizhou, because Wei County is adjacent to Hanoi in the south and Yanzhou in the west. Hanoi is Yuan Shao's territory, and Yanzhou has Yuan Shao's The allied army is that Yuan Shao still ruled by Ye. In other words, that is to say, at the moment, although Gongsun Zan has not yet marched into the army, Yuan Shao has opened a door for him.

Therefore, Chen Gong said that Gongsun Zan "had a decisive battle with Yuan Ben in Wei".

This "decisive battle" actually refers not to Gongsun Zan, but to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao has no way to retreat. When Gongsun Zanruo, as Chen Gong said, went south to Julu, Yuan Shao had nothing to do but fight to the death. I can only go back to Hanoi.

Cao Cao said: "The public platform's words are exactly what I expected!" He asked Chen Gong again, and said, "Only for today's plan, can the public platform have a plan to save the situation?"

"Which plan to save Duke Ming is asking? To save Duke Yuan? Or to save Dongjun? If it is to save Duke Yuan, Gong has no plan; if it is to save Dongjun, Gong has a plan."

"He Ce also?"

"I heard that Duke Ming and Xunhou of Xuzhou are friendly, is there any such thing?"

"good."

"In this way, Duke Ming can set up the borders of the army, stop the Yellow Turban, Heishan, and Gongsun Zan from abroad, then send troops to cross the river, and together with Bao Yuncheng to settle the north of Ji, cross the big river east and west, and make diplomacy in Xuzhou, echoing the north and south with Liu Yanzhou, then Yuan Gong will be defeated. , and it will not harm Duke Ming.”

251 Fairness and sincerity are the same

Like the traitor Ji Yong of Tanxian County and Li Shao, the prefect of Julu, Chen Gong is not optimistic about Yuan Shao in the upcoming battle between Ji and You. It is not that he thinks Yuan Shao will fail. When discussing this matter with Cheng Li and others, all three of them believed that although the current situation seemed extremely unfavorable to Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan might win a temporary victory, but Gongsun Zan had no good reputation among the gentry except for his illustrious martial arts. , in other words, he lacks Yuan Shao's political foundation, so the ultimate winner can only be Yuan Shao, but even so, at least for a long period of time, Yuan Shao will be left and right, and he will be in a state of embarrassment.

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao have a "one party" relationship, Gongsun Zan regards Cao Cao as Yuan Shao's "minion", and Dongjun borders Pingyuan and Ganling at the same time, so Yuan Shao's early defeats are likely to involve Cao Cao.

In such a situation, how should Cao Cao protect himself? That is, how to "rescue"?

"Chen Bingjun's borders, block Huangjin, Heishan, and Gongsun Zan outside the border, then send troops to cross the river, and together with Bao Yuncheng to settle Jibei, cross the big river east and west is dangerous, diplomatic Xuzhou, echoing the north and south with Liu Yanzhou, even if Yuan Gong is defeated, it will not harm Ming Dynasty. The public is over." This was Chen Gong's policy.

Cao Cao unknowingly thought of Bao Xin's earlier suggestion to him that "the rule is the south of the river, waiting for it to change".

He thought to himself, "Wise men see the same thing."

Bao Xin suggested that Cao Cao develop to the Yanzhou area south of the Yellow River. Chen Gong's strategy at this time was also to develop to the south, and the two coincided.

Chen Gong asked Cao Cao, "What does Duke Ming think of Gong Ce?"

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Gu Jia policy!"

Chen Gong saw that Cao Cao seemed to have unfinished words, and asked again: "Ming Gong must have another best strategy. Gong is all ears."

"It's not a good strategy, but I think that I and Primitive are dead lips and teeth.

"Oh? What does Duke Ming mean?"

"It is absolutely necessary to decide Jibei together with Yuncheng, but after the situation in Jibei has been stabilized a little, I think that it is not just diplomatic Xunhou, echoing the north and south with Liu Yanzhou, but should join forces with Yuncheng to the north. Attack the plains in order to respond to the beginning."

Chen Gong's "rescue strategy" was mainly based on "self-protection". Cao Cao took it a step further. In addition to self-protection, he proposed "offensive as defense" to attack Pingyuan and Jinan.

In fact, this idea of ​​his, on the surface, is "cooperating with the beginning", but in fact not only that, he is focusing on the future.

There are only four prefectures "south the river": Qing, Yan, Yu, and Xu.

There are only Qingzhou and Yanzhou next to Dongjun. Liu Dai is the prefect of Yanzhou officially appointed by the imperial court, and he is also an ally with Cao Cao. There is no major war in Yanzhou, and there is no way to start, so what Cao Cao can do now. Only Qingzhou is left for the pictors.

Cao Cao admitted that attacking Pingyuan and Jinan was a dangerous idea, and it was very likely to provoke Gongsun Zan's thunderous revenge. He had only had one county until now, and he was still in the territory of four battles. Cao Cao was really anxious.

For the upcoming battle with Gongsun Zan, most of the people around Yuan Shao saw danger. Cao Cao saw not only danger but also opportunity. If Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao are in a decisive battle in Ji, if he sends troops north to attack the Plains, he will not only be able to support Yuan Shao, but also take the opportunity to expand his sphere of influence. Of course, with his current military strength, it is very difficult to conquer the entire Plains. , but he doesn't need to lay down the whole county, as long as he can lay down a city and insert a nail into it. As for the future, he can make a decision based on the progress of the war between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan, and he can take it slowly.

Cao Cao couldn't tell Chen Gong about this "Xu Xutuzhi" thought, so he only said the superficial meaning of "cooperating with the beginning".

Chen Gong frowned and said, "Tian Kai, the governor of Qingzhou, placed by Gongsun Bogui, is quite skilled in the military, and his troops and horses are also strong. If he is stationed in the plain, it will not be easy for Ming Gong to attack."

Cao Cao smiled and said: "If the 'General White Horse' is in the plains, I will give way to the three houses, Tian Kai's disciples, the only thing to worry about is that their soldiers are strong, even if the military is strategic, there is nothing to worry about."

The general of the White Horse was Gongsun Zan.

Cao Cao has a talent in the military. The main reason for his defeat in the fight against Dong Zhi was that he had few soldiers, and most of his troupes were recruits, and his combat effectiveness was not strong, so he was defeated by Xu Rong. It had nothing to do with his own ability. The crime of war, this can be seen from the Yu Fuluo who broke the Montenegro and the Southern Xiongnu. He fought more with less, and fought several battles in succession, without a single defeat, and all of them were victorious.

After speaking, a group of people went outside the city.

Cao Ren asked Cao Cao to enter the city, and Cao Cao said, "I won't enter the city anymore, I will go to your camp to see."

Cao Ren replied, "Yes."

The crowd did not enter the city and went directly to Cao Ren's barracks.

On the way, following the topic just now, Chen Gong said: "Compared to military strategy, Tian Kai is far inferior to Duke Ming, this is true, but also as Duke Ming said, Tian Kai's works are numerous, and most of them are related to Xianbei in successive years. When it comes to combat power, the old soldier of Youzhou should not be underestimated."

"The North Strike Plain is just an idea I have now. As for whether to implement it or not, and if so, how to implement it, you and I can make a long-term plan."

Chen Gong nodded and said, "This is the best."

When he was about to reach the barracks, Cao Cao saw a hare crouching on the grass beside the road. He hurriedly asked Cao Chun for a bow and arrow, and shot it with bated breath. The hare was clever, and before the arrow arrived, he jumped away and ran away.

Cao Cao looked back at the guards who followed behind him and said, "Whoever can catch that hare for me first, give him the rabbit legs to eat!"

The guards promised loudly, mounted their horses one after another, urged their horses to chase after them, galloping with lightning speed, and rolled up the dust for a while.

Cao Cao took Chen Gong and others to stand there and wait.

Not long after, a guard first grabbed the hare, galloped back, jumped off the horse in front of Cao Cao, knelt down on one knee, and offered the hare in his arms. Cao Cao laughed, took two steps forward, lifted his beard with one hand, and took the hare in person with the other. Gu Chengong waited and said with a smile, "This rabbit is very fat!"

Calling the guard up, Cao Cao casually threw the rabbit to him again, patted his arm, and said with a smile: "When we get to the camp, bake the rabbit and give you the rabbit legs!"

The guard smiled happily and said, "Thank you Ming Gong for the reward!"

Cao Cao turned his head again, UU read www.uukanshu.com to look at Chen Gong, and asked with a smile, "Gongtai, with my tiger warrior, what about Tian Kai's works?"

Chen Gong said in his heart: "Duke Cao is fine everywhere, but he acts a little too lightly sometimes."

Take off lightly, that is, frivolous. Most of the children of the Guan family with the right surname and well-known celebrities at home and abroad pay attention to being stable.

While "belly slander", Chen Gong joked and replied with a smile: "It's better from a distance."

Cao Cao laughed again.

The barracks had arrived, and they were about to enter the gate. A guard caught up from behind and reported, "Ming Gong, there are several horses galloping on the road over there. I don't know where they came from."

Cao Cao followed his fingers and saw that there were four or five cavalry galloping along the road, heading towards the barracks. The guards scattered their guards, and when the horses ran to the vicinity, some guards recognized the person who was coming. They were officials and soldiers of the county government. Because they were guarded, the leading officials came to see Cao Cao. Seeing Cao Cao, the official bowed down to the ground, presented a book, and said, "The Minister of Jibei, Lord Bao, has sent an urgent letter to the prefecture."