After everyone dispersed, Zhou Ping suggested to Liu Bei: "My lord, now that Guan Yunchang is the commander of another department, supervising tens of thousands of people, it seems that his position is low and it is difficult to convince the people. In Ping's opinion, my lord can temporarily stay in Anton.
For the position of general, Guan Yu is appointed as Zhonglang General, so that he can easily supervise the troops and give orders to the three armies."
In fact, Zhou Ping had thought about this issue as early as a month ago.
Liu Bei did not have the position of general and commanded many troops. The appointment of generals was always a problem.
It is impossible to let Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and those generals who have made meritorious service to serve as commanders of other departments all the time. They must be given the military position of captain or general, so that they can do their best to assist.
Zhou Ping once considered asking Chen Gui or Kong Rong to ask Liu Bei for the general position, but asking them for the general position would make Chen Gui and Kong Rong look down on Liu Bei and ruin Liu Bei's reputation, so he did not mention it.
But now that Yuan Shu has sent troops, Liu Bei has to command three armies. In addition to his own Xuzhou soldiers, there are also Danyang soldiers and Taishan soldiers. These generals must be respected in order to better retain their loyalty.
Liu Bei was a little surprised when he heard this: "General Anton? How can I call myself a general?"
Zhou Ping explained: "The lord is acting as a general, rather than calling himself a general. When Cao Cao attacked Dong, he acted as a Fenwu general. This was an expedient move. After Yuan Shu is defeated, the lord will be relieved of his duties as General Anton."
That’s all.”
Anton means to stabilize the east. Xuzhou is located in the east, and Yuan Shu comes to attack. As the pastor of Xuzhou, it is natural for Liu Bei to act as the general of Anton.
Tao Qian was General Anton before, and Zhou Ping remembered that Chen Yu was also General Anton later, but that was two years after Jian'an, and he is not yet.
Liu Bei also knew that he did not have the title of general, and the appointment of his subordinate generals was a problem. He could not always let them supervise the masses with minor positions.
"It can be an expedient measure. In this case, Zang Xuangao and the commander of the Danyang Army will also be appointed."
"Yes, Zang Xuangao can also be appointed as Zhonglang General. Even if he is the general of the Danyang Army sent by Cao Bao, the lord can also appoint him as the Zhonglang General. As for Liang Lu, the fake Sima in Xuyi, the lord can also appoint him as the school captain. Zhang Yide also
He can be appointed as the school captain."
Liu Bei hesitated and said: "Is it inappropriate for the generals to be appointed without merit?"
Zhou Ping advised: "In the face of a powerful enemy, we can reward him first and then record his merits. Rewarding him first can make him remember the Lord's kindness and fight to the death. Moreover, this is a sudden change in battle, so there is no need to stick to routine."
Liu Bei thought for a while and then said: "That's all. If I serve as General Anton, my husband can be my Sima, and the others will be rewarded for their merits."
Zhou Ping had never thought about becoming Anton's General Sima, but this was a suggestion he made, and there is a saying that rewards should be given first and credit will be credited later. It was difficult to refuse at the moment, so he could only accept it and said thank you: "Thank you, Lord!"
When Cao Cao became Fenwu General, Xun Yu was Fenwu General Sima. In this way, he received the same treatment as Xun Yu.
Therefore, Liu Bei assumed the post of General Anton, appointed Guan Yu as Zhonglang General, Zang Ba was also appointed as Zhonglang General, and at the same time appointed Xu Dan, commander of the Danyang army, as Zhonglang General.
Zhang Fei and Liang Lu were appointed as school captains, Zhou Ping was appointed as Sima, General Anton, and Taishan Sun Guan was also appointed as school captain.
Although there are too many appointments at once, Guan Yu is currently the only general who can command the army on Liu Bei's behalf. Zang Ba and Xu Dan are natives of Taishan and Danyang. They are appointed because they want to win over Liu Bei and cannot be ignored.
However, an accident occurred in the Danyang army. Xu Dan fell off his horse and injured his legs and feet. Cao Bao replaced the captain Cao Cheng who was supposed to stay in Xiapi to lead the nine thousand Danyang soldiers to follow Liu Bei southward, while Xu Dan stayed behind in Xiapi.
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At this point, Liu Bei could not appoint Cao Cheng as Zhonglang General again. Moreover, Cao Cheng and Cao Bao were from the same clan and were deeply trusted by Cao Bao. It would be extremely difficult to subdue him.
Because the food and grass had been prepared in advance, there was no need to wait for collection. On the day of dispatching troops, Zhou Ping said goodbye to Gan Qian.
"Mr. Lang, take care of yourself!"
Gan Qian was not the kind of woman whose mother-in-law gave her endless advice. Zhou Ping didn't need too much advice from her, just a simple expression of concern was enough.
"Well, you can rest peacefully at home. Ah Shui will be here in the next few days."
A few days ago, Zhou Ping sent people back to Zhoujiazhuang, Feng County, and called his servant Ah Shui to Xiapi.
At the same time, he also informed his brother Zhou Qi of his current situation to reassure him.
Zhou Ping, riding a high horse with a wine gourd hanging on his waist and Zhang Wu carrying a bow and arrows, waved to Gan Qian and patted the horse away.
Liu Bei originally wanted to lead Cao Cao to join Xu Sheng's army on the expedition, but was persuaded by Zhou Ping.
There are no brave generals in Xiapi City now. If Cao Bao really rebels, or Lu Bu suddenly comes to Xuzhou, there must be brave generals who can lead the army to resist the enemy.
Jian Yong was left behind in Xiapi by Liu Bei, and Mi Zhu and Mi Fang were also left behind. Only Zhuge Jin, who was engaged in governing the country, traveled with the army.
Liu Bei currently has 15,000 troops under his command.
There were originally eighteen thousand soldiers in Xuzhou. Guan Yu led five thousand to Xuyi, Tian Yu led three thousand to hide in the mountains, Lu You led five thousand to Huailing, and now three thousand are left to guard Xiapi.
, only 2,000 Xuzhou soldiers were left to follow Liu Bei on the expedition.
Liu Bei's original army had about a thousand men. The 4,000 Danyang soldiers that Tao Qian had given him before were left with nearly 3,000 men. Adding in Cao Bao's 9,000 Danyang soldiers, there were exactly 15,000 men.
When the army marched out, flags fluttered and dust flew, the people of Xiapi walked along the road to see each other off. Some even shouted: "Liu Shijun will win!"
Cao Cao's previous indiscriminate killings reminded them that they still felt scared. Now they were afraid that Yuan Shu would be like Cao Cao and massacre the city after coming to Xuzhou. They only hoped that Liu Shijun could repel Yuan Shu and protect Xuzhou's safety.
…………
Langya opens the Yang.
Zang Ba received Liu Bei's order and discussed with Sun Guan and others.
"Yuan Jiujiu led troops to attack Xuzhou, and Liu Shijun ordered us to send troops to resist the enemy. What do you think?" Zang Ba asked Sun Guan and others.
"Haha, I didn't expect that Yuan Jiujiu would come to attack Xuzhou so soon. No wonder Liu Shijun made you the prime minister of Langya before. It seems that what he did before was prepared for today! Liu Shijun could have anticipated today in advance,
It’s not simple!” Sun Guan smiled and replied.
When Zang Ba saw that Wu Dun and Yin Li were both silent, he first expressed his attitude: "In any case, Liu Shijun is kind to us. This time Yuan Shu led his troops to attack. Ba thought that we must send troops to help Shijun resist the enemy."
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Sun Guan then said: "I also agree to send troops, but we cannot send out all our 10,000 horses and troops. Langya must leave troops to garrison."
After Zang Ba became Langya Prime Minister, when he recruited troops for Liu Bei, he also recruited some elite Taishan troops. Now he has 10,000 troops in his army.
"I also think we must leave soldiers and horses to garrison Kaiyang." Wu Dun agreed.
Zang Ba looked at Yin Li again and saw that he nodded and said, "Well, Wu Dun, please lead three thousand people to stay in Kaiyang, Zhongtai, and Yin Li. You and I will lead the troops to assist Liu Shijun."
Sun Guan and the others responded with their hands raised: "No."
Zang Ba and Sun Guanyinli led seven thousand Taishan troops to leave Langya Kaiyang and head south.
After Chen Deng in Guangling received Liu Bei's military order, he left the meritorious Cao Chen Jiao to guard the city and led four thousand troops north to Dongyang.
Suddenly, soldiers and horses from all directions gathered in the direction of Xuyi. A big battle seemed to be coming...
