The guards who came to the city to inform him reported back that Taishi Ci was very happy when he heard about Zhou Ping's visit and had already left the city to greet him.
This made Zhou Ping very happy. Taishi Ci valued him and persuaded him to lead his troops to leave Danyang and attack Jiujiang. The chance was much greater.
Zhou Ping led everyone outside the north city of Jingxian County, and saw dozens of people waiting outside the city gate from a distance.
As they raced closer, they saw that the leader was about thirty years old, about 1.8 meters tall, with long arms and a beautiful beard. He dismounted and stood waiting.
The guards who had entered the city before said that this person was Tai Shici. Zhou Ping quickly dismounted his horse, hurried up to greet him and cupped his hands, saying: "I have heard about the name of Zi's sworn brother for a long time, and today I am finally lucky enough to meet him."
Taishi Ci bowed his hands and returned the greeting: "Hahaha... I have heard of Zhou Wen'an for a long time. Come on, let's go to the city to talk."
After entering the city, Taishi Ci had already prepared wine and food and held a banquet to entertain them.
Xu Chu, who is now the Sima of another department, went into the room to sit down with Zhou Wen'an, while the others drank with Tai Shici's tribe outside the door.
Zhang Wu followed Zhou Ping into the house and stood behind him with a bow and arrow on his back.
He didn't know much about Taishi Ci, but he saw that Taishi Ci's tribe had a bandit spirit, so he was worried about Zhou Ping and wanted to stand behind him to protect him.
"Ziwei, you go out and have a bar with your brothers."
Zhou Ping turned around and said to Zhang Wu.
Zhang Wu, however, stood still, staring straight ahead, pretending not to hear.
"Ziwei, don't worry when you go out to have a drink. I'm here. Don't worry."
Xu Chu smiled and said, He knew that Zhang Wu was afraid that something would happen to Zhou Ping and wanted to stand here to protect him.
"Go." Zhou Ping said again.
Zhang Wu had no choice but to raise his hands and said, "No."
I went out to eat with the knights from the Hushi Camp, but I didn’t drink.
After Taishi Ci waited for Zhang Wu to go out, he smiled at Zhou Ping and said, "Sir, the guard is like this, which shows his loyalty. Seeing that he has a bow and arrow on his back, I think he must be good at shooting."
Zhou Ping responded: "Ziwei's father was originally a hunter. He followed his father into the mountains to hunt since he was a child. His skills in bow shooting are acceptable, but he cannot compare with Zi's step-brother! On the way here, we unexpectedly met Sun Ce. Fortunately, we met Sun Ce.
He shot back the pursuers and was able to escape here."
"Have you met Sun Ce?"
A look of surprise appeared on Taishi Ci's face.
General Zhou Ping met Sun Ce on the road and told Zhang Wu about staying behind to block the pursuers.
Taishi Ci sighed: "I didn't expect that Wu Jing and Sun Ben led their troops to attack before, but they failed to cross the river after a year. However, as soon as Sun Ce came, he quickly led his troops to cross the river and won successively. I
I once encountered and fought with him. This man is very brave, and his generals are also very brave. It is rare for you to escape from this encounter. It seems that your bodyguard has extraordinary skills!"
"Haha, let's not talk about him. Now Liu Yangzhou has retreated to Yuzhang, and brother Ziyi is staying in Jingxian. What are his plans?" Zhou Ping asked.
"Of course we are recruiting soldiers to repel the traitors and enemies and help General Zhenwu pacify the states and counties."
Liu Yao has been worshiped by the imperial court as Yangzhou Mu and General Zhenwu.
"Sir, when you come here, could it be that Liu Xuzhou wants to send his troops south to help General Zhenwu pacify Yangzhou?" Tai Shici asked again.
Zhou Ping replied: "Yes, my lord Liu Zhendong and General Zhenwu are both descendants of the Liu family. They wanted to come to help before, but Yuan Shu led his troops to fight for Xuzhou, so he stopped his troops and failed to go south. Now Yuan Shu has been driven back.
We also defeated Lu Bu, who coveted Xuzhou and wanted to attack Pi. Xuzhou is now safe and can raise troops to help."
"It's just that Yuan Shu and Sun Ce have a large number of soldiers and horses, with a total of nearly one hundred thousand soldiers and horses. It may be difficult to defeat the enemy with Xuzhou's strength alone. Therefore, I came here this time to ask my lord to join forces with my lord.
Destroy Yuan Shu and Sun Ce so that General Zhenwu can conquer Yangzhou."
Liu Bei's reason for sending troops now can only be to help Liu Yao pacify Yangzhou, so that his troops can be famous and justified.
Taishi Ci was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Hahaha... If this can be done, when Liu Xuzhou raises his troops to go south, I can join the people from several counties in Danyang to go north to meet him and attack Sun Ce together."
Zhou Ping drank a cup by himself, with a troubled expression on his face, and said: "Brother Ziyi, it is easy for my lord to send troops, but Sun Ce sent heavy troops to guard Dantu. It will be difficult for Xuzhou's soldiers to cross the river!"
Compared with Jiujiang and Lujiang, it is indeed difficult to cross the river from Guangling because the river is relatively wide, Xuzhou has no navy and lacks warships.
Taishi Ci also understood this problem.
At this time, he also looked troubled. After drinking a drink, he asked: "Mr. Su Wen is good at having strange plans. Since you are here, you must have a plan. Why don't you tell me about it?"
"Yuan Shu and Sun Ce, one is in Jiangdong and the other is in Jiangxi. Brother Ziyi, who do you think is easier to defeat between them?" Zhou Ping looked at Taishi Ci and asked.
Taishi Ci hesitated. In terms of military strength, the two men now have about the same strength, with about 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers.
However, in terms of combat power, Yuan Shu was defeated many times, losing troops and generals, and his morale was low, but Sun Ce won consecutive victories and his morale was high. Moreover, Sun Ce's bravery was unparalleled by Yuan Shu. He also had many battle-hardened soldiers left behind by his father Sun Jian.
Among his generals, Sun Ce is undoubtedly the stronger.
Regarding the terrain, if we send troops from Xuzhou to attack Sun Ce, we must cross the river, and crossing the river is difficult. If we attack Yuan Shu, we do not need to cross the river.
From this point of view, of course Yuan Shu is easier to defeat.
Taishi Ci was a smart man. He anticipated Zhou Ping's intention and asked, "Sir, do you want to attack Yuan Shu first?"
Zhou Ping nodded with satisfaction, looked at him with a smile, and asked, "What do you think, Brother Ziyi?"
"If we send troops from Xuzhou, it is natural to attack Yuan Shu first. But since Liu Xuzhou wants to attack Shouchun first, what is the purpose of coming here?"
"Haha, I just made it clear that I want my sworn brother to join forces with my lord to attack Yuan Shu first and then Sun Ce."
Taishi Ci asked in confusion: "You want me to leave Danyang and lead troops to attack Shouchun?"
"Is there anything wrong?" Zhou Ping asked with a smile.
"this……"
Taishi Ci poured himself a cup and drank two cups in a row while thinking about it in his mind.
He finally gained a foothold in Jingxian County and recruited more than 6,000 people. The commander-in-chief of Jingxian County, Zu Lang and Jiao Ji, among others, also expressed their willingness to listen to his orders.
If we just leave like this, what will these scholars do? They probably won't leave Danyang and follow us to attack Jiujiang.
"Brother Ziyi, don't you want to leave here?"
Zhou Ping guessed what Tai Shici was thinking and asked with a smile.
Taishi Ci nodded slightly: "Although I have recruited thousands of people here, Zu Lang who is currently stationed in Lingyang and Jiao Jie in Yixian County and other commanders are willing to listen to my orders. If I leave, I'm afraid they won't
If you are willing to go with me, all my previous efforts will be in vain."
"How can it be in vain? It would be best if they are willing to go with us. If not, it will be beneficial for them to stay here. When we defeat Yuan Shu and attack Sun Ce again, they can respond inside and disturb the enemy.
Let's cross the river to help." Zhou Ping said.
Taishi Ci thought for a long time, and still felt that it would be better for him to stay in Danyang: "Although what the teacher said is reasonable, it will be more beneficial for me to stay here. Liu Xuzhou has the plan of the teacher, and Zhang Yide and Guan Yunchang
If you are so brave, it would be easy to defeat Yuan Shu. I only have a few thousand people now, and even if I go to help, it will only be one finger of strength, and it is dispensable. If you want to attack Yuan Shu first, wait for Yuan Shu to be defeated, and then attack Sun Ce.
Compassion will lead everyone to help."
"Besides, when Liu Xuzhou attacks Shouchun, I can hold Sun Ce in Danyang and prevent him from raising troops to help." Tai Shici added.
Because Zhang Fei stabbed Ji Ling to death, stabbed Lu Bu, and killed Lu Bu's two generals Cheng Lian and Wei Yue, his reputation was far superior to that of Guan Yu. When others talked about their bravery, Zhang Fei took the lead.
Zhou Ping expected that Taishi Ci would have such an idea, and was about to say that if Taishi Ci was willing to lead the crowd to help, after Jiujiang is captured, Liu Xuzhou can declare him as the prefect of Jiujiang. This can be regarded as an actual prefect, and what he calls himself now
Danyang Prefect is very different.
At this moment, Zhou Ping's guard who had left behind to detect the movements of the pursuing troops rushed to report: "Sir, Sun Ce has led 30,000 troops and horses to rush here, and his vanguard of 5,000 troops is only a hundred miles away."