In February, the peach blossoms are in full bloom, and the warm afternoon sunshine shines down, making people feel relaxed and happy.
Outside the thatched cottage, Liu Bei came slowly with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. When he saw Zhuge Liang pruning the branches and leaves under the peach tree, he bowed his hands and came forward to pay homage.
"A late man of the Han Dynasty, a foolish man in Zhuo County. I have heard of Mr. Sir's name for a long time, and it is like thunder in my ears. I have visited the Jin Dynasty twice without seeing each other. Today I came to visit you rashly. I finally met Mr. Sir. I hope you will forgive me."
Liu Bei bowed ninety degrees and saluted seriously. Guan Yu behind him also saluted, but Zhang Fei bowed reluctantly.
Zhuge Liang took two steps forward, clasped his fists and saluted with slight excitement, and said: "The barbarians of Nanyang are lazy by nature. They have been repeatedly visited by the emperor in vain, and are extremely ashamed."
"I am lucky to be able to meet you. Although I am a descendant of the Imperial Han Dynasty, I have been missing from the sky all day long. I hope you can help me."
Liu Bei bowed his head again.
Zhuge Liang smiled, stretched out his hand in the direction of the thatched cottage and said, "Uncle Emperor, please go inside and talk in detail."
"Thank you sir."
Liu Bei cheered up. Zhuge Liang was willing to talk to him, which showed that he had great hope in inviting him to come out this time. So he turned to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei and said, "Second brother and third brother, wait here."
After saying that, he followed Zhuge Liang into the thatched cottage and sat down in the outer hall. Zhuge Liang knelt down and said, "Liang has long heard of the emperor's ambitions, and his concern for the country and the people also made Liang very happy."
I admire him, but I hate that Liang is so young and inexperienced, so I might mistakenly ask the emperor's uncle."
"Mr. Shui Jing's meaning and Xu Yuanzhi's words are not empty talk." Liu Bei said quickly: "I hope that Mr. Shui Jing will not give up and be humble, but give me some teachings."
"Ah Chen has a talent for managing the world. He is an enemy of Cao Cao in the north and Sun Quan in the east. He is a famous person in the world today. I often heard that he highly praised the emperor's uncle, but Liang is just a country man. How dare he talk about world affairs? Emperor
Why did uncle give up the beautiful jade for the stubborn stone?"
Zhuge Liang picked up the kettle and poured a cup of tea for Liu Bei. This tea was Shen Chen's favorite roasted tea. The custom of drinking tea in the Han Dynasty originated from Bashu, and Jingzhou and Bashu were separated by water, so naturally they were influenced by Yizhou customs.
Liu Bei took the tea cup with both hands respectfully and said: "Sir, you are being too modest. The young master and I have known each other since childhood. He also praised him full of praise. How can a man with a talent for managing the world live in the mountains, forests and streams for a long time? May Mr.
With the common people in the world in mind, I will be prepared to be ignorant and not hesitate to teach you."
Zhuge Liang raised his head and stared at him for a moment. Seeing that Liu Bei's eyes were sincere and he was also looking at him seriously, he said softly: "So, I would like to hear the emperor's ambition."
"well."
Liu Bei put down the cup in his hand and sighed: "The Han Dynasty is in decline, and traitors are in power. I am not prepared to do my best, but I am willing to do justice to the world. But my wisdom and skills are shallow, and I have achieved nothing so far. I only hope that the teacher will be ignorant and save the crisis. In fact,
Very lucky."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "The emperor's uncle was kind to Achen when he was young, and you fought side by side in Yingchuan, Zigui and other places. Didn't he plan for the emperor's uncle to build a business?"
Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said: "Ah Chen did have plans for me, but he said that the King of Chu was proclaimed emperor and asked me to plan Jingzhou."
"Hahahahaha."
Zhuge Liang covered his mouth with the feather fan beside him and chuckled: "Although Ah Chen is brave and resourceful, he still has some mistakes after all."
Liu Bei sighed and said: "I also think this plan is too shocking. Although if the King of Chu becomes emperor, I will be incompatible with him. However, the King of Chu now has 200,000 soldiers with strong soldiers and horses. There is no one who can't take it. How can I be an enemy of him?"
Shen Chen's plan was actually relatively crude, because his plan came from the fact that he knew that Liu Biao would die soon. At the age of more than sixty, he was frail and sick and would die of illness within two years. When the time came, he would encourage Liu Qi and Liu Cong to Fighting for the foundation of Jingzhou will allow Liu Bei to take advantage of the opportunity.
But others did not know that Liu Biao was about to die, so if Liu Bei immediately started trouble after Liu Biao proclaimed himself emperor, it would be tantamount to death. Compared with Liu Biao's current scale, his small number of troops cannot be said to be one hundred and eight thousand. Liba, at least it is different from Yunni.
So even though he said this, in Zhuge Liang's view, Shen Chen's plan for Liu Bei was indeed inappropriate.
So he said softly: "Ah Chen is right to plan for Jingzhou, but he can't rush it. In the north, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in Guandu. Although Kuangcheng was defeated, Yuan Shaoxin died, and within five years, the north will be captured by him. Ah Chen defeated Sun Quan in Yuzhang. However, Jiangdong has been in existence for three dynasties. The country is in danger and the people are attached to it. If they want to make an enemy of the King of Chu, they can only use it to help but not to attack him."
"Um."
Liu Bei nodded secretly after hearing this.
He actually wanted to attack Jiangdong, but without a naval force, it would be foolish to plan for Jiangdong.
"The west of Jingzhou is Yizhou, with dangerous roads and fertile fields for thousands of miles. It is a land of abundance, and Gaozu became an emperor because of it."
Zhuge Liang continued: "Now that Liu Zhang was defeated in Zigui, Zhang Lu went south to attack Bashu. The King of Chu sent Cai Mao to attack it. In fact, he wanted to plot Xichuan. However, Liu Zhang didn't know this, so he stayed in Shu County and watched Cai Mao and Zhang. When Lu was at war, he stood still, thinking he was reaping the benefits, but instead he sat back and waited for death. How could the emperor's uncle, a nobleman of the Han Dynasty, not be pursuing the cause of the great ancestor?"
Liu Bei sighed: "The road to Yizhou is difficult and dangerous. Now the road from the Yangtze River to Bajun has been controlled by the King of Chu. Even if I want to enter Bajun, it will be difficult for me to get across."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "The emperor can sit in Jingnan and wait for the weather. I think that with Cai Mao's ability, he may have a slight chance of winning in the Yangtze River water battle, but if he enters Ba County and fights Zhang Lu's army on land, he will definitely be defeated." .When Zhang Lu annexes Yizhou, the king of Chu will not tolerate it. The king of Chu will definitely recruit the emperor's uncle to fight in Yizhou. It will be feasible by then."
The current world situation is already different from the time when Longzhong faced off in history.
Liu Biao was powerful and became the most powerful prince in the world.
Liu Zhang and Sun Quan were all defeated around him, and his intention to proclaim himself emperor was clear.
Liu Bei was trapped in Jingnan, and the east and west sides were not easy to plot. He needed naval forces in Jiangdong, and the only place to go was Bashu.
This year Liu Zhang continued to send envoys to Liu Biao, willing to conclude an alliance with him and restore old friendship.
Liu Biao followed the trend, and in the name of establishing a clan and expelling domestic slaves, he sent troops to attack Bajun and fight Zhang Lu's army in Bajun.
Liu Zhang's troops were completely withdrawn from Shu County, Guanghan County, the northern part of Qianwei County and other places. He wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight.
But his military strength is less than 30,000. It seems that he is sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, but in fact he is sitting and waiting for death. Once Zhang Lu and Liu Biao decide the winner, no matter who it is, they will annex his Yizhou.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang's suggestion is to sit back and watch the world in Jingnan first, and then attack to capture Bashu when the situation changes, and then send troops from Yizhou to capture Jingzhou. This is completely opposite to Zhuge Liang's plan in history to capture Jingzhou first and then capture Bashu. .
Mainly because the situation at the time was that both Liu Biao and Liu Zhang were relatively weak, and Liu Biao was very afraid of Cao Cao. Therefore, Zhuge Liang strongly suggested that Liu Bei take Jingzhou. However, Liu Bei was unwilling to attack Liu Cong even when passing by Xiangyang, and finally it became He first captured Bashu, then divided Jingzhou equally with Jiangdong, and finally went north to plot the world.
But the current situation is that Liu Biao is very powerful, and it is not easy to plot against him, so he first entered Bashu, and while Zhang Lu, Liu Biao, Liu Zhang and others were attacking each other, he seized Yizhou as his foundation. When Liu Biao died in the future, Jingzhou would inevitably be in civil strife. , at this time, you can go down the river and occupy Jingzhou to achieve hegemony.
"Does it mean that after the King of Chu becomes emperor, I still have to serve him?"
Liu Bei didn't quite understand.
Once Liu Biao proclaims himself emperor, it will be good if he does not fight with the other party. Do you still want to serve him?
Zhuge Liang said: "This is an act of hypocrisy. If the King of Chu proclaims himself emperor, the civil strife in Jingzhou will inevitably continue. The emperor's uncle should sit back and watch the changes and wait for them. Once the land of Yizhou and Jingzhou is obtained, he can go south and take Jiangdong first. At that time, he will inevitably fight with Jiangdong." Cao Cao faces the north and the south, and then goes north to plot the Central Plains."
Historically, Zhuge Liang planned to divide the world into three parts, and wanted to unite with Sun Quan to fight against Cao Cao. But that was because Cao Cao was strong at that time and had occupied the entire north, so he could only choose to alliance with Sun Quan and had no way to fight internally.
But now due to Shen Chen's obstruction, Cao Cao's road to unifying the Central Plains is far away. They have at least five years of development space. If Liu Bei gets Yizhou and Jingzhou, and Cao Cao in the north has not finished getting the entire north, then they have a chance to get it first. Destroy Jiangdong and then take over the Central Plains.
After all, by that time, no matter how bad Cao Cao is, he will definitely have won Jizhou, and his strength will not be any worse than Liu Bei. If he doesn't take Jiangdong first, once Cao Cao and Sun are united, Liu Bei will be besieged.
Therefore, this is the so-called moment-by-moment situation. The framework of the Longzhong Dynasty changed drastically, from the situation of dividing the world into a situation of confrontation between the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Liu Bei nodded secretly after hearing this. Zhuge Liang's plan was much more detailed than Shen Chen's rough plan. Although it was basically the same, taking the south first and then the north, it at least provided him with a sure and feasible plan, otherwise he would just listen to Shen Chen. I don’t even know where to start with my plans.
"Uncle, please take a look."
While talking, Zhuge Liang took a piece of silk from the table, hung it on the wall, unfolded it, and said: "This is the map of the fifty-four states of Xichuan. First, take Xichuan as your home, then take Jingzhou as your foundation, and then go south along the river. , to obtain the east of the Yangtze River, so as to establish the opposition between the north and the south. The emperor's uncle is the emperor's guard, his faith is everywhere, he is responsible for the heroes, and he is thirsty for the virtuous. Cooperate with the Rong, pacify Yiyue in the south, make good friends with Xiliang on the outside, and cultivate political principles on the inside. If there is a change in the world, then order a general to lead the Yizhou army out of Qinchuan, and then use the Yangzhou army to attack Yan, Xu, The emperor's uncle leads the people of Jingzhou to march towards Henan and Luo. Who dares not to eat pots of pulp to welcome the emperor's uncle? If so, hegemony can be achieved and the Han Dynasty can prosper. This is Liang's plan for the emperor's uncle. How can we say that our great cause has been accomplished?"
Liu Bei was overjoyed and said: "Sir's words suddenly enlightened me, and I saw the blue sky like clouds and mist. Before I left my thatched cottage, I knew that the world is divided into north and south. It is really beyond the reach of anyone in the past. Although Bei has a name of little virtue, I hope Sir, do not abandon your humbleness, go out to help others, and be prepared to listen to your teachings."
After saying that, he knelt down and kowtowed. This was not a nod, but a kneeling ceremony second only to the bowing ceremony among the nine bows. It was the most respectful ceremony for people, which was enough to show Liu Bei's heart. Sincerity means.
Zhuge Liang was deeply moved when he saw how much he respected him. He knelt down and said sincerely: "In order to achieve the general's ambition, Liang is willing to do the hard work of dogs and horses!"