The Nameless of the Common Clans

It seems that not many major events happened in the eleventh year of the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's demise was also expected by many people. After all, only Qingzhou was left in the entire Central Plains. In fact, Cao Cao was able to sustain it for nearly two years before he was defeated. The breakthrough is already very surprising. After all, Qingzhou is said to be mountainous, but there are not many natural dangers to defend, let alone passes like Hulao, Yique, and Hangu.

Xia Houyuan's battle over the mountains and surprise attack on Zhang He broke the myth of Chen Mo's invincibility. Although it was not Chen Mo's command, it still inspired many people. Chen Mo did not really have all the plans. He would still be able to win every battle. If you make a mistake, you will be defeated, but Cao Cao's death still makes many people regret it.

But no matter what, with the unification of the Central Plains, Chen Mo became the true overlord of the north, holding the land of Jiuzhou and lording over the world. Now, the only princes in the world who can still compete with Chen Mo are Liu Bei of Jingzhou, Sun Ce of Jiangdong and the King of Shu. There were three Liu Zhangs, but the three of them were just trying to survive by taking advantage of the favorable geographical conditions. Chen Mo had already begun to dominate the world.

In the first month of the twelfth year of the Han Dynasty, Chen Mo, who had been away from home for several years, finally stabilized Qingzhou and appointed Xu Shu as the governor of Qingzhou. It took three years for the war in the Central Plains to cease.

Jiangdong, Moling.

"What a pity." Sun Quan sent away Cao Xiu and others who came to ask for orders to go north. Cao Cao was very good at winning people's hearts. This death made these Cao generals who were taken to Jiangdong in advance filled with indignation. But Sun Quan knew that at this time, it was already The best opportunity for the Northern Expedition was missed. If Jiangdong could be integrated half a year earlier and cooperated with Cao Cao to catch Chen Mo off guard, there would be no problem.

It's a pity that there are no ifs in this world. Sun Quan's philosophy of governing Jiangdong is different from that of his brother Sun Ce. When Sun Ce was alive, he mostly suppressed the Jiangdong gentry. He had the ability and qualifications, but the price was that the Jiangdong gentry and Sun Ce were not of the same mind and assassinated Sun Ce. The fact that the assassins successfully ambush so easily has something to do with this. There are even aristocratic families involved, at least helping to hide their whereabouts and provide intelligence.

Sun Quan did not have Sun Ce's prestige. If he wanted to secure Jiangdong, he could not suppress these nobles in Sun Ce's way. He chose to use a gentle approach, preparing to completely pull the Jiangdong nobles onto his warship and let them be used by him.

It’s unclear whether he was right or wrong. Sun Ce did this because he didn’t want his Northern Expedition to be hampered too much, while Sun Quan chose to win over and appease him in order to ensure the stability of Jiangdong. In fact, Jiangdong was completely stabilized, and there were many incidents. Talents who are willing to serve Sun Quan and contribute to him.

For Cao Cao's death, Sun Quan could only express regret, but now Sun Quan is not ready for the Northern Expedition, and Zhou Yu and Lu Su do not recommend the immediate Northern Expedition. Cao Cao's death means that Cao Cao's imprint in the Central Plains has completely disappeared, even those who were loyal to Cao Cao The generals returned They are resisting, but to be honest, these people can't make any waves. For Sun Quan, although he lost the opportunity of the Northern Expedition, it is not all bad. Cao's trusted generals can only follow Sun Quan now. The abilities of these people There is no doubt about it.

For example, Cao Xiu, such as Cao Ang, who is both civil and military, although it is not possible to be placed in the army now, in the future it will be Sun Quan who checks the power of veteran generals like Zhou Yu.

"My lord, Cao Cao is dead now. Although Chen Mo won the Central Plains after this battle, it was very costly and it may take several years to recover. I think that at this time, we can plan for Xichuan first." Lu Su said. Sun Quan poured a glass of wine and smiled.

"What Zijing said does make sense, but Liu Bei was separated during this period. Zijing really thought Liu Bei would let us plot to seize Xichuan?" Sun Quan nodded, and then said with some distress.

Although Liu Bei only occupies the land of three counties now, one Nanjun is worth several counties of Sun Quan. The land east of Jiangdong is vast and sparsely populated. From east to west, on both sides of the Yangtze River, if it is said to have the largest population, it is probably Nanjun is gone. Jiangxia has been fighting for years, and its population has declined. Changsha, Guiyang and even The entire Jingnan was regarded as a semi-barbaric land, and Liu Bei sent all the people plundered from Nanyang to Wuling and Lingling, causing the population of the two counties to surge. In the two years since Chen Mo defeated Cao Cao, he has been developing the two counties and encouraging births. Now If you count the population, Liu Bei is not much less than Sun Quan.

If Sun Quan is allowed to take Xichuan, Liu Bei will be caught between Chen Mo and Sun Quan, becoming Sun Quan's vanguard against Chen Mo. There will be no room for development. Will Liu Bei be willing?

If Liu Bei refuses, Sun Quan will send troops to Xichuan. Liu Bei will cut off his retreat in Yong'an, and Sun Quan will have no other option but to withdraw his troops.

Lu Su nodded, this is indeed an embarrassing place. If you want to capture Xichuan, Liu Bei is a hurdle that cannot be overcome, and Liu Bei is not a fool. He will let Jiangdong go to capture Xichuan.

"Lord." Lu Su looked at Sun Quan and suddenly said: "In order to form an alliance with Liu Bei, the former lord took the initiative to cede the two counties of Wuling and Lingling to Liu Bei. However, he did not specify whether it was a gift or a loan. It is better to send an envoy before Go and ask for the second county.”

Sun Quan's eyes lit up when he heard this. If Wuling and Lingling counties were in hand, there would be no need to worry about Liu Bei cutting off their retreat. But then, Sun Quan had no choice but to smile bitterly and said: "How easy is it? Is Liu Bei willing to let go?"

At the beginning, Sun Ce ceded the two counties to Liu Bei, but he did not say whether it was a gift or a loan. He did have the intention of asking for it back in the future. But now that Sun Ce is no longer here, this has become a confusing account. No matter what anyone says, it makes sense, but if He really took over two counties, not to mention that Liu Bei took hundreds of thousands of people to supplement the two counties. He worked hard to manage the two counties in the past two years. Just talking about the territory, Liu Bei was suddenly left with only one county. How could Liu Bei be willing?

"Of course not, but my lord can take this opportunity to borrow the road to Xichuan." Lu Su said with a smile.

"Let's discuss this later." After hesitating for a moment, Sun Quan finally shook his head. There are many issues involved, not only whether Liu Bei would borrow the road, but even if he was willing, who would go to Xichuan to fight?

You know, even if Xichuan was conquered, for Jiangdong, Liu Bei was in the middle, and Xichuan was an enclave. After the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition entered Sichuan, he took advantage of Jiangdong's power to conquer Xichuan, but suddenly had other ideas. What should he do? Not to mention Zhou Yu, even if he asked his brother Sun Yi to fight, Sun Quan was not at ease, worried that the other party would become independent after conquering.

Sun Quan felt that the matter of conquering Xichuan, at least for now, was a bit thankless, unless he could conquer Jingzhou, but not to mention that Liu Bei had become a climate, even if he didn't, he couldn't stop turning against him, surrendering to Chen Mo, and joining Chen Mo to deal with Jiangdong, what should he do?

There are too many uncertain factors in this matter.

Hearing this, Lu Su could only nod helplessly, got up and said goodbye.

"Zijing!" Just after leaving Wuhou Mansion, Lu Su was about to get on the car, but was stopped by someone. Looking back, he saw Zhou Yu walking towards him.

"Gongjin? When did you come back?" Lu Su was a little surprised. After Zhou Yu retreated from Qingzhou, he had been training new troops in Danyang.

"Just came back and was about to find the lord." Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Have you ever told the lord about the Western Expedition?"

"Yes." Lu Su nodded helplessly and said, "The lord is quite concerned about this matter. If Gongjin comes for this matter, don't mention it for the time being."

Mentioning it too much will make Sun Quan suspicious of Zhou Yu. Lu Su has seen it during this period. Sun Quan is different from Sun Ce. Sun Ce can trust Zhou Yu and Lu Su without reservation, but Sun Quan can't do it. Perhaps it is also related to the way Sun Quan came to power. He is very suspicious and more like a king, but also more unfeeling.

Zhou Yu frowned slightly when he heard this. He had been planning the expedition to the west for a long time. This was the only way out for Jiangdong. If they marched north now, they would have no chance of winning. Han Qiong, an old general, alone made it difficult for Jiangdong men to leave Hefei. In the next few years, Chen Mo would only become stronger and stronger. It would be difficult to win the expedition to the north, and it would only cause more killings. Now, the only thing they could seek was Xichuan. If they could get the manpower and material resources of Xichuan, Jiangdong would at least have the capital to compete with Chen Mo.

"Don't talk about these. The lord will host a banquet for Cao's civil and military officials tonight. Gongjin might as well go with me. There are indeed many outstanding people in the Cao family. If they can be used by the lord, it will be a great benefit to Jiangdong." Seeing that Zhou Yu looked unhappy, Lu Su persuaded him.

Zhou Yu sighed, nodded and said, "Okay."

...

A few days later, Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

Speaking of Cao Cao's fall, the one who was most moved was probably Liu Bei. You know, it was Cao Cao who drove Liu Bei out of the Central Plains. Logically, that was a deadly feud, but when Liu Bei heard the news of Cao Cao's defeat, he was silent.

At the beginning, Cao's army brought a lot of pressure to Liu Bei. He had seen the elite and fierceness of Cao's army, but such a Cao's army was eventually defeated by Chen Mo. How strong was Chen Mo?

Then think about Chen Mo now dominating the nine states, and most of the world has fallen into Chen Mo's control. When Liu Bei thought of this, he felt a wave of sadness.

His background was similar to Chen Mo's, and even higher than Chen Mo's, but after so many years, there was only one Chen Mo in Hedong, who was already powerful in the world, while he had been running around for half his life, but he only had a foothold in half of Jingzhou. Now Liu Bei is over fifty years old. Whenever he thinks of the gap between him and Chen Mo, he can't help feeling frustrated. He sighs all day long, making Guan Yu and Zhang Fei a little puzzled.

"Brother, why should we be afraid of him? We are different now than we were two years ago. Jingzhou has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food. Why should we be afraid of him?" Zhang Fei came with Zhuge Liang and Chen Gong to do business that day. Seeing Liu Bei sighing alone, he couldn't help but said.

Liu Bei looked at Zhang Fei, smiled, and looked at Zhuge Liang and Chen Gong and said, "Do you two military advisors have important business here?"

"My lord, Lu Su is here." Chen Gong smiled.

"Zijing? Why are you here at this time?" Liu Bei was a little surprised.

"I came for Wuling and Lingling counties at that time."

Liu Bei's face suddenly darkened when he heard this, and Zhang Fei beside him was even more furious...