In the middle of May of the second year of Xingping in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 195)
Yuan Shao first wrote a letter to his friend Cao Cao, saying that they were going to the court together to discuss the matter of guarding against Lei Gong.
Now the Yellow River defense line is basically under the control of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. Although Cao Cao was surprised that Yuan Shao actually went to the court to discuss this matter, he just thought that Yuan Shao wanted to ask Liu Bei for help and didn't think much about it. Instead, he took Guo Jia to Xiangyang!
Yuan Shao himself also brought Xu You, Tian Fu, and Xun Kan to Xiangyang City!
However, Yuan Shao's face became ugly when he saw the people greeting him. When the Xiangyang court was just established, when he came here, all the three ministers and nine ministers of the court came to greet him. But now, not to mention the three ministers and nine ministers, even Liu Bei
Even the poor people were unwilling to greet him. Only Zhang Wen, a Situ, came to greet him.
Obviously, Liu Bei conquered the entire south in the past few years during his southern and northern campaigns. The territory that the imperial court could control increased sharply and its strength increased greatly. Yuan Shao, who naturally occupied the three states of the Central Plains, was hit hard by three consecutive years of drought. He even asked Liu Bei to do it every day.
Relief will prevent people from starving to death in the three states of the Central Plains. Now he is far inferior to Liu Bei in terms of strength, so the court's attitude towards him is far worse than before!
As Zhang Wen accompanied Yuan Shao into the city, he asked, "How could I have time to come to Xiangyang when I wasn't in the Central Plains to fight against the Thunder Lord?"
Yuan Shao said: "The land of Hebei has been occupied by Lei Gong for three years. During these three years, the imperial court has been sending troops to the south, but has no plan to deal with Lei Gong, the biggest traitor of the Han Dynasty. Shao is only afraid that if Lei Gong occupies Hebei for a long time, the people of Hebei will
Shao was bribed by Lei Gong and forgot about the existence of the imperial court, so Shao planned to write to the imperial court to conquer Lei Gong in Hebei!
Zhang Wen said in shock: "Benchu, do you want to deal with Lei Gong?"
In recent years, the territory of the Xiangyang court has continued to expand. In terms of area alone, they can be said to have saved half of the Han Dynasty. Moreover, although the Central Plains suffered from severe drought, there were only some floods in Jingzhou, Yangzhou and other places, but these places are not uninhabited areas.
It was where the barbarians lived, and the floods did not have much impact on the court.
The newly reclaimed lands in Jingzhou and Yangzhou were equipped with water conservancy facilities, and these water conservancy facilities became the best flood control measures when floods broke out. The floods were even beneficial to the government's management. The residences of these barbarians were submerged, and they had no choice but to seek refuge with the Han Dynasty.
According to the imperial court, although Liu Bei has continued to use troops in recent years, he has also found ways to move millions of barbarians out of the mountainous areas to farm in the Jingzhou plains.
It can be said that the floods in the south and the drought in the Central Plains helped the entire south add more than 3 million people. A large number of small towns began to appear on the land in the south of the Yangtze River. The southern counties continued to expand their cities to accommodate the increasing population!
There are tens of millions of people in the three states in the south. In addition, Liu Bei's policy of dividing land into acres and using land to support soldiers, now the entire Xiangyang court not only has 100,000 standing troops, but also 200,000 soldiers, and the finance department
The income is more than three times that of Emperor Ling's period. It can be said that with such military strength and financial resources, in the eyes of old people like Zhang Wen, this was nothing more than the former Emperor's period!
For veterans like Zhang Wen and Yang Biao, such a prosperous court was something they were happy to see. Zhang Wen, who was supposed to die of illness this year, is now strong and energetic, and looks like he can still fight for the Han Dynasty for another 10 years.
Look!
But now Yuan Shao mentioned Lei Gong, which instantly broke the illusion that they were prosperous in the south. It reminded Zhang Wen that they were driven from Luoyang City to Xiangyang by a rebel named Lei Gong.
In hand!
Yuan Shao smiled faintly: "The imperial court appointed me as a general of chariots and cavalry and asked me to guard Luoyang City, not just to deal with Thunder Lord. Now I have 300,000 troops in Luoyang. The imperial court has used the past few years to quell the rebellion in all directions and cultivated
A central army capable of conquering and fighting. Now there is only one rebellion in the entire Han Dynasty: Lei Gong. As long as we eliminate Lei Gong, the world will be at peace and the court can return to Luoyang! We can also become famous ministers when the Han Dynasty prospers again!
Zhang Wen looked at Yuan Shao seriously. He also knew Yuan Shao's current situation. This big man suffered three years of disasters, either in Yanzhou or Guanzhong. It can be said that Yuan Shao's territory was the most severely affected in the past three years. Zhang Wen suspected that Yuan Shao
Maybe he couldn't even afford to raise troops. He couldn't understand why Yuan Shao proposed to conquer Hebei at this time!
Facing Zhang Wen's gaze, Yuan Shao looked indifferent, as if he was so loyal to the Han Dynasty!
Xiangyang court meeting!
After Yuan Shao respectfully paid a courtesy visit to the Emperor!
Then he told the civil and military officials of the imperial court his idea of expediting the north of Hebei, and said loudly: "Now that the southern part of the imperial court has been decided, I have also been training for three years. I am a big man with millions of soldiers. Your Majesty will be the reward commander of the three armies."
, Expedition to the north of Hebei, eliminate the traitorous Lei Gong, revive the Han Dynasty, and return the old capital!"
Yuan Shao's words caused an uproar among the civil and military officials.
The young Emperor Xian was so excited by Yuan Shao's words that he really thought that as long as the Han Dynasty destroyed Thunder Lord, he could become the leader of ZTE!
"General Chariot and Cavalry said well. We have loyal ministers like Ai Qing, so why worry about the Han Dynasty not being prosperous!" Then Emperor Xian saw Liu Bei and said, "General, you have to join forces with General Chariot and Cavalry to eliminate this rebellious Lei Gong!"
Since Liu Bei settled the imperial court in Xiangyang City, he had no idea of fighting the Thunder Lord in the Central Plains. His original strategy was to rely on the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River to weaken the combat effectiveness of the Thunder Lord cavalry and protect half of the Han Dynasty. After all, the imperial court was in danger back then, and he could not even defeat half of the empire.
If he might not be able to keep it, he wouldn't even want to fight Lei Gong in Hebei.
But now his strategy is going too smoothly. In just three years, the entire southern princes have been pacified by the imperial court. Even Shi Xie in Jiaozhou surrendered to the imperial court and asked the imperial court to send governors to take over the power of Jiaozhou. It seems that the imperial court is now
It’s time to move on to the next strategy, which is to eliminate Thunder Lord, the most powerful rebel in the conference!
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! But Liu Bei still looked embarrassed when he heard Emperor Xian's words. The imperial court's strength has recovered very quickly in recent years, but Lei Gong's strength has grown even faster, and he only sent 50,000 troops.
Not only did they pacify the entire Xiliang, but they also captured millions of Qiang people. This was better than the Han Dynasty's achievements in hundreds of years, which shows how powerful Lei Gong is now.
Liu Bei was not sure that with the current strength of the imperial court, he could defeat the Duke of Thunder in Hebei. He was even more worried that if he led the soldiers of the imperial court and lost to the Duke of Thunder like Huangfu Song and others, the great situation of the imperial court in the south would be ruined!
So he didn't dare to face Emperor Xian's problem directly. He was also worried that Emperor Xian would really send the elites of the imperial court to fight against Thunder Lord!
At this time, Taiwei Yang Biao said to Emperor Xian: "Your Majesty, Lei Gong has millions of people in Hebei and hundreds of thousands of cavalry. If the court wants to attack Lei Gong, it needs to plan carefully, otherwise it will be easy to repeat the same mistakes!"
At this time, Emperor Xian remembered that there was a fat man who also led the Han Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops to conquer Lei Gong. However, the fat man failed, causing the court to lose hundreds of thousands of troops, and also caused the Luoyang mutiny, which almost destroyed the entire Han Dynasty.
Fall apart!
Thinking of the fat man who died tragically, Emperor Xian was horrified. If the Han army was defeated by Lei Gong again this time, there would be another mutiny in Xiangyang City! Thinking of such terrible consequences, Emperor Xian no longer dared to express his opinions at will!
So this court meeting ended unhappy!
Xiangyang General’s Mansion!
Liu Bei summoned his confidants and asked everyone to discuss what Yuan Shao wanted to do. Why did he come up with the idea of expediting Lei Gong in the north?
Zhang Fei asked strangely: "Yuan Shao comes to Jingzhou every year to buy a lot of grain. He can hardly feed his own soldiers, and he still wants to conquer Lei Gong in the north. Does he really think that Lei Gong is a fool?"
Zhang Fei couldn't figure out what Yuan Shao was thinking. He had experienced hundreds of battles. Didn't he know that when he went to Hebei, even if the Han army had a million troops, he couldn't be the opponent of Lei Gong's hundreds of thousands of horsemen, so he chose the battlefield where Lei Gong was the most powerful.
A strong place, this is not a loss of consciousness!
Jian Yong sneered and said: "I don't believe Yuan Shao is loyal to the court. Don't forget the rumors about the Han Dynasty a few years ago. Did he want to deceive us into being killed by Lei Gong in Hebei so that he can dominate?
The court!"
But after Liu Bei pondered for a long time, he asked Zhao Yun: "If we have an army of more than 500,000, can we withstand Thunder Lord's cavalry in Hebei?"
Zhang Fei was surprised and said: "Brother, you don't really want to go to Hebei to fight with Thunder Lord, do you?"
Liu Bei nodded and said: "Now that the south is under the control of the imperial court, the only rebel left in the Han Dynasty is Lei Gong. As long as we want to unify the Han Dynasty and revive the imperial court, Lei Gong is the enemy we must face!"
Zhao Yun smiled bitterly and said: "Ming Gong, now Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Liangzhou are all in the hands of Lei Gong. The Han Dynasty has lost the land to raise horses. The cavalry in our hands is even less used. If we really want to go to Hebei to fight with Lei Gong, what is in Lei Gong's hands?"
The cavalry does not exceed 100,000. In addition, we have developed vehicle formations, shield formations, and artillery to deal with the cavalry. We should be able to compete with Lei Gong.
But if the cavalry in Lei Gong's hands exceeds 200,000, we will definitely be defeated. The terrain in Hebei is really not suitable for fighting cavalry. We could have fought in a shield formation, but Lei Gong still has artillery that can break the formation.
The soldiers are looking for death when they gather together, so the cavalry in the hands of Thunder Lord exceeds 200,000, and we may not even be able to escape!"
At this time, Shi Yuanji, the chief of the general's office, said: "My lord, if you don't want the imperial court's foundation in the south to be destroyed, don't think about defeating Lei Gong in Hebei! Although the imperial court's strength has grown rapidly in recent years, Lei Gong's strength has increased even faster. The Han Dynasty
After spending hundreds of years on the Qiang people, no matter how many famous ministers and generals failed to completely defeat the Qiang people, Lei Gong completely pacified Xiliang in less than half a year and captured millions of Qiang people, no matter where they came from.
Look, things like Lei Gong’s military strength are the most popular now. Now that we have a head-to-head confrontation with Lei Gong, we will definitely lose!”
"The imperial court is no longer what it used to be. If you, General, are defeated, half of the Han Dynasty will surely be torn apart again, and the Han Dynasty will definitely be captured by Thunder God. So, General, please be patient. What we can do now is to find a way to immigrate from the Central Plains.
Go to Jiangnan and make the wild land of Jiangnan as fertile as the Central Plains, so that we can have the strength to withstand Lei Gong's attack on Jiangnan!"
"Leave the Central Plains to Ben Chu and Cao Cao. My lord just needs to support them with food, grass and armor. These two people are ambitious and talented. It will not be easy for Lei Gong to completely occupy the Central Plains! The two of them can at least get us 10
Years of time!”
But Liu Bei thought for a moment and said: "We can now arm 300,000 troops. Yuan Shao also has 300,000 troops. Cao Cao has also raised 200,000 troops in recent years. Now the court has 800,000 troops. This should be the number of troops the court has in the past hundred years.
When the front is at its strongest, if we can't defeat Lei Gong at this time, I'm afraid we won't have a chance to defeat Lei Gong. Although I don't know why Yuan Shao is loyal to the court, he started this matter, and Lei Gong puts pressure on him.
He is the biggest, and it is impossible for him to hold back the imperial court!"
"So I want to try to see if the big man can defeat Thunder Lord! If I really defeat Thunder Lord in this battle, the world will be at peace in advance!"
Yuan Ji could only smile bitterly when he saw Liu Bei who was already a little stunned!
On the third day after Yuan Shao proposed to attack Hebei, Cao Cao also arrived at Xiangyang City. His ranking was even lower. The imperial court only sent Wang Yun, one of the Nine Qings, to greet Cao Cao!
Wang Yun told Cao Cao Yuan Shao's plan to attack Hebei in the court hall a few days ago!
And asked seriously: "The imperial court has a total of 800,000 troops. Can such a powerful force defeat the Thunder Lord?"
Wang Yun has always been in contact with the Wang family in Bingzhou, but the situation in his hometown is very bad. Lei Gong has completely wiped out the powerful nobles like them. The former disciples of the Wang family have been driven away by Lei Gong, and their fields have been divided. Now not only can they not
You can't join politics, and you can't even serve as a soldier, which means that the Wang family has lost its official line in Daqian, and can only survive as a lowly merchant in the future!
It can be said that Wang Yun is gnashing his teeth at the existence of Da Qian. He wants to eliminate Lei Gong and others more than anyone else! So when Yuan Shao proposed the strategy of attacking Hebei, he now asked Cao Cao these generals who were closest to Lei Gong just to know.
Does such a coalition have any chance of winning? Can it kill Thunder Lord?
Cao Cao and Guo Jia looked at each other and smiled bitterly. They knew Yuan Shao's thoughts very well. When they were short of food, they borrowed Tao Qian's food and grass to support their troops. But now Yuan Shao is more generous than them, and he obviously wants to use the imperial court to support his 300,000 troops.
Moreover, when the war begins, they must gather hundreds of thousands of troops, and at least prepare millions of civilians to transport food. These civilians must be recruited in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, which are close to the battlefield. And now they can still provide so much food, I'm afraid
The only one left was the imperial court. Yuan Shao not only wanted the imperial court to help him raise soldiers, but also to help him raise his people.
Finally, Cao Cao said sincerely: "Even if the imperial court's 800,000-strong army invades Hebei, it is impossible to defeat Lei Gong. Lei Gong can recruit a million troops and hundreds of thousands of cavalry in Hebei. We go to Hebei to find death!"