Sun Ce died in the battle and his troops were badly damaged. Liu Bei and Chen Bing were outside the city. Sun Quan did not dare to stop at Qu'a for a long time. He agreed with Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong to stay behind to bury his brother Sun Ce. He took Zhu Zhi, Lu Fan, Sun Fu, Zhou Tai and others with him and led 5,000 soldiers.
The horse left Qu'a and rushed to Dantu.
Liu Bei also lost nearly 3,000 men in this battle, but he killed Sun Ce, which was considered a great victory.
Gao Shun and Zhang Fei and Gan Ning led their troops to charge forward, but it was Xu Chu who made the greatest contribution, and it was he who beheaded Sun Ce.
It was reported that the people in the city were led by Sun Quan, who led his troops to leave Qu'a and fled to Dantu, apparently preparing to retreat to Lujiang.
However, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong did not follow him, but stayed in Qu'a to bury Sun Ce properly.
Liu Bei and Zhou Ping were happy to report that Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong did not follow Sun Quan, indicating that they were unwilling to assist Sun Quan.
"Sir, you know people very well, do you know what Sun Quan is like?" Liu Bei asked Zhou Ping.
Zhou Ping replied: "Sun Quan is fashionable and young, only seventeen years old. As far as Ping knows, this man is not as brave as Sun Ce and has no talent in leading troops in war. However, this man is very good at using people and should not be underestimated."
In fact, in Zhou Ping's view, although Sun Quan had many shortcomings, he was a master at knowing people and making good use of them.
He used Zhou Yu to defeat Cao Cao in Chibi, used Lu Meng to defeat Guan Yu in Jingzhou, used Lu Xun to defeat Liu Bei in Yiling, and other generals, he could make good use of them.
However, there are not many people available to Sun Quan now. Ganning, Lu Su, Tai Shici, Zhuge Jin and Xu Sheng are already Liu Bei's people.
Han Dang Chen Wu and Jiang Qin, as well as Wu Jing and Sun Ben had all died in the battle. Especially without Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong were unwilling to follow him. It can be said that Sun Quan's power was already very weak.
Moreover, if he takes the lead and goes to Lujiang, he will definitely not be welcomed by Yuan Shu. The Sun family can no longer pose a great threat to Liu Bei. Now he only needs to continue to advance troops to Lujiang and destroy Yuan Shu. Yangzhou will belong to Liu Bei.
Liu Bei led his troops into Quacheng, and together with Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, gave Sun Ce a grand burial.
Just as he was about to lead his troops to pursue Sun Quan, the scouts reported back that Sun Quan, together with Cheng Pu who was stationed at Dantu, had fled to Lujiang by boat with eight thousand soldiers and horses.
At this time, Chen Deng sent someone to ask if he wanted to pursue Sun Quan.
"Sun Quan has 8,000 troops, and Cheng Pu leads the army. I'm afraid it will be difficult to win, so don't pursue them yet. If they flee to Lujiang River, they will definitely encounter the Jiangxia navy. It will be a good time for their two armies to fight, and we will reap the benefits of the fishermen."
Zhou Ping said.
Liu Bei was convinced and asked Chen Deng to retreat to Guangling first and not to pursue Sun Quan.
At the same time, Gao Shun was sent to lead 3,000 soldiers and horses to camp Dantu.
After burying Sun Ce, Zhang Zhao refused Liu Bei's offer to stay and went to Kuaiji. Zhang Hong also refused Liu Bei's offer and returned to Guangling to live in peace.
"Zhang Zibu and Zhang Zigang are both great talents in Xuzhou. They abandoned Sun Quan but were unwilling to help me. What a pity!"
Liu Bei felt very sorry for Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong's rejection, but he had no choice but to force them to stay with him.
Zhou Ping advised: "My lord, Zhang Zibu and Zhang Zigang were originally subordinates of Sun Ce. Now that Sun Ce is dead, although the two Zhangs do not want to follow Sun Quan, if they help the lord at this time, people may think that they have betrayed Sun Ce."
I think if my lord wants to get help from these two people, he will have to wait for a while."
After listening to Zhou Ping's advice, Liu Bei had some understanding: "It's true what the gentleman said. He is too lonely to be eager."
"I want to let Mi Zifang serve as the governor of Wu County. What do you think, sir?" Liu Bei asked again.
This question surprised Zhou Ping.
Sun Quan fled, and Zhu Zhi, the governor of Wu County appointed by Sun Ce, also left. Liu Bei would definitely re-appoint the governor of Wu County.
Zhou Ping originally wanted to mention this matter to Liu Bei, but Zhou Ping wanted to propose that Li Jia be appointed as the prefect of Wu County, and then Lu Su or Liu Fu be appointed as the prefect of Jiujiang.
Wujun is the hometown of the Sun family, and there are many aristocratic families and thieves, making it difficult to manage.
At present, Li Jia is more resourceful and a better candidate.
But Liu Bei now took the initiative to ask Mi Fang to serve as the governor of Wu County. No wonder Liu Bei had asked Mi Fang to lead troops to occupy Wu County. It turned out that he had already had this intention.
The lord has said this, and it is difficult for Zhou Ping to refute. Moreover, Mi Fang is Liu Bei's in-law, and he is a person Liu Bei can trust.
"My lord, Wu County is the foundation of the Sun family. People's hearts are unconvinced and it is easy to cause chaos. If Mi Zifang is appointed as the prefect, Gao Boping can be appointed as the captain of Wu County at the same time. It seems more appropriate for them to rule Wu County together.
"
Zhou Ping found it difficult to manage Wu County with Mi Fang alone. It might be easier if Gao Shun was appointed as the captain of Wu County.
The smile on Liu Bei's face froze for a moment, and he said: "Sun Quan and Yuan Shu have not been destroyed, Gu is the time to employ people, Gao Boping is good at commanding troops, and he must follow Gu to conquer Lujiang. Although Wu County is in chaos, Gu believes that Zi Fang will be able to do it
If Wu County is managed well, he can be appointed as the prefect."
Zhou Ping said hurriedly: "My lord, just make the decision."
He knew that Liu Bei's excuse to let Gao Shun follow him to conquer Lujiang was just an excuse. In fact, he did not want Gao Shun to take over the power of Mi Fang.
The captain governs the army. If Gao Shun is appointed as the captain of Wu County, Mi Fang will only be able to govern the people, and the military power will be handed over to Gao Shun.
Although Liu Bei also trusted Gao Shun, he preferred to keep the power completely in Mi Fang's hands.
Liu Bei formally presented Mi Fang as the prefect of Wu County, allowing him to continue to command three thousand soldiers and horses to garrison Wu County.
In August of the third year of Jian'an, according to reports from scouts, Sun Quan's men encountered Huang She's navy in the Niuzhu area. The two armies fought fiercely. Zhou Tai jumped on the enemy ship and killed Huang She. Chen Gong led the remaining soldiers to escape.
Sun Quan continued to go up the river, but it was said that Sun Quan was not retreating to Lujiang, but was fleeing to Yuzhang.
At this time, news came back from Youzhou that Cao Ren and Xu Huang led 20,000 troops and horses, together with Yuan Shao's troops, to attack Gongsun Zan and were about to break through Gongsun Zan's Yi Jing.
This news made both Liu Bei and Zhou Ping feel nervous.
"If Gongsun Bogui is destroyed, Yuan Cao may join forces to attack Xuzhou. Lord, we should capture Lujiang as soon as possible and then return to protect Xu."
Liu Bei nodded: "Yuan and Cao join forces to attack. Even if Bogui has a strong base in Yi Jing, it will be difficult to defend it. If they join forces to attack Xuzhou, Xuzhou will be in great danger! And Sun Quan, if he retreats to Lujiang, he will fall alone."
But there is no need to worry, he fled to Yuzhang, if he captures Yuzhang, he will be in great trouble in the future!"
"We have rested for many days. We should go to Liyang immediately, attack Huang Gai first, and then join forces with Yunchang to capture Lujiang. Yuan Shu will be destroyed," Zhou Ping said.
Liu Bei agreed to Zhou Ping's proposal and immediately left Qu'a with his generals and fifteen thousand soldiers and horses to go to Liyang. At the same time, he sent people to Danyang City, leaving Taishi Ci with only two thousand soldiers and sent three soldiers.
Thousands of soldiers and horses accompanied Liu Bei to Liyang.
At the same time, Sun Jing had sent people to Liyang and personally handed Huang Gai a letter.
