Chapter 71: Is Cao Fujun willing to be an internal servant?
Zhou Ping brought Zhang Wu to see Piling Sun Kang.
When Sun Kang heard about Xuyi's victory, he admired Zhou Ping very much. He was able to serve as the commander of Xiapi because of Zhou Ping's contribution, and he was even more grateful to him.
"I heard that Lu Bu was a merciless and ungrateful man, so I asked you to accept him and give him food and grass to feed his troops. It is possible that he would take the opportunity to attack Xiapi, so we must be on guard. Since we have prepared an ambush,
I’m not afraid that he will lead an army to attack, but he has recruited so many people for no reason, and I’m afraid it will be difficult to hide it from Lord Cao.”
Zhou Ping told Sun Kang about several ambushes.
Sun Kang was from Taishan, and his younger brother Sun Guan was an ambush general. It was difficult to hide this matter from him, and there was no need to hide it from him. Besides, Zhou Ping still needed him to do some things.
But it seemed difficult to ask Sun Kang to recruit two thousand people to pretend to be soldiers, but also to hide it from Cao Bao and prevent him from knowing.
Cao Bao is the Prime Minister of Xiapi, and his territory is in Xiapi. It is not easy to hide it from him.
However, Zhou Ping had already thought about this problem: "I will tell you tomorrow that Yuan Shu has been defeated. Your Majesty wants to send troops to assist Liu Yangzhou, but there are not enough troops and horses. It is urgent to send 5,000 troops from Xiapi to Xuyi. Then you can recruit civilians."
, you can recruit two thousand more civilians, but Lord Cao will not know about it, and even if he does, it will be difficult to understand what it means."
Sun Kang was overjoyed when he heard this: "This is feasible."
"In addition, I expect that Lu Bu may have some contact with Lord Cao. You should send your confidants to pay special attention to the gates on all sides of the city, especially the White Gate of the West City. If you see Lu Bu's envoy, come and inform me immediately, but do not tell him
It's alarming."
Zhou Ping said again.
"promise."
Sun Kang brought hundreds of Taishan soldiers to Xiapi, and the county was responsible for the security of the city and the guarding and inspection of the city gates. The soldiers of the state and county were mainly responsible for city defense.
Cao Bao's one thousand Danyang soldiers were responsible for defending the west side. The one thousand soldiers were led by Zhonglang General Xu Dan and garrisoned at Baimen in the west city.
The other three sides of the city were garrisoned by three thousand Xuzhou soldiers led by Xiahou Bo.
Zhou Ping went to see Xiapi Prime Minister Cao Bao again and told him that in the Battle of Xuyi, the Danyang soldiers fought bravely and made many meritorious deeds. The captain Cao Cheng also made great achievements. When he returns to Xiapi, he will definitely give you a heavy reward.
He also said that the envoy wanted to send troops to assist Liu Yangzhou, but there were not enough troops and horses, so he wanted to send the 5,000 new soldiers who stayed in Xiapi to Xuyi. He also asked Cao Bao if the 1,000 Danyang soldiers could go with him.
When Cao Bao heard this, he realized that Zhou Wen'an had already taken away his 14,000 Danyang soldiers, and now only these 1,000 men were left. He did not let go, and came to attack these 1,000 men again. So he quickly shied away.
, it is said that the safety of Xiapi is particularly important, and the thousand Danyang soldiers cannot leave.
Zhou Ping didn't say much, he just wanted to make him believe that Liu Bei really wanted to lead troops to assist Liu Yao, and he really was short of troops, so he summoned troops from Xiapi.
After sending Zhou Ping away, Cao Bao thought to himself: This man is good at treachery and wants to seize my soldiers. He first took the opportunity to kill Xiao Bao and captured 5,000 Danyang soldiers, and now he asked Li Jia to take away 3,000 Danyang soldiers.
As for Cao Cheng, although he would not betray him, if he had been favored by Liu Bei, he might not be able to stop Liu Bei if he wanted to divide his forces again. Even if he wanted to stop him, it would be useless with Zhou Wen'an here.
.
unless……
A terrible thought flashed through Cao Bao's mind.
But it's just a thought.
Now that Liu Bei had almost all his troops broken down and taken away, even if he wanted to rebel, he would have no intention of doing so.
"Alas..." Cao Bao sighed, raised his glass and drank to relieve his sorrow.
…………
On the second day, Liu Bei happened to send someone to deliver the news, saying that Yuan Shu had entered Huailing, rebuilt the city defenses, and had people rush to transport grain and grass from Shouchun to Huailing. He seemed to intend to stay here for a long time. Liu Bei asked
Zhou Wen'an, how to deal with it now.
This news made Zhou Ping even more certain that Yuan Shu must have contacted Lu Bu and had the intention of leaving troops in Huai Ling to cooperate with Lu Bu in attacking Tapi.
Otherwise, Yuan Shu had just been defeated and was short of food and grass. Logically speaking, he must have returned to Shouchun immediately, and it was impossible to stay in Huailing. The purpose of his staying in Huailing was to contain Liu Bei's troops.
Having confirmed this, Zhou Ping was inexplicably excited. He was not afraid of Lu Bu coming to attack Xia Pi, but he was afraid that he would not come.
If Lu Bu doesn't come, then Liu Bei has no reason to deal with Lu Bu and can't drive him away, but he has to guard against him at all times.
It's like a time bomb, you don't know when it will explode, making you anxious all the time.
If he comes, then there is a chance to destroy him. Even if he cannot be destroyed, he can be driven away so that he does not dare to be greedy for Xuzhou anymore.
Zhou Ping wrote a handwritten letter and sent someone to Xuyi to deliver it to Liu Bei. The letter stated his plan and asked Liu Bei not to move for now, but to pay close attention to Yuan Shu's movements.
Yuan Shu has just been defeated and cannot be a threat at the moment. The biggest threat now is Lu Bu, who must be eliminated first. Once Lu Bu dies, Yuan Shu will retreat and will not dare to come again.
Zhou Ping ordered Sun Kang to recruit civilian men to transport grain, and at the same time ordered 3,000 men under Mi Fang and 2,000 men under Xu Sheng to prepare to send troops to Xuyi.
He also sent many troops to conduct close surveillance inside and outside Lucheng, as well as along the roads and at the gate of Xiapi City, as well as outside Cao Bao's Mansion, to see if they saw the envoys sent by Lu Bu.
Sure enough, two days later, news was urgently sent from Lucheng, saying that Lu Bu had sent an envoy.
Then came the news from the detectives along the way, who were following and monitoring Lu Bu's envoys all the way.
Until Lu Bu's envoy entered Xiapi and Cao Bao's mansion, everything was under Zhou Ping's control.
Lu Bu is indeed like this. He is seeking his own death. I can’t blame him!
Zhou Ping was secretly happy.
But he had no way of arranging spies in Cao Bao's house, so he knew nothing about what happened in Cao Bao's house.
But this is no longer important. As long as Lu Bu sends people to contact Cao Bao secretly, he must be planning to attack Xiapi.
In Cao Bao's house, Xu Bang thought that he came quietly in a carriage without anyone noticing. No one would know where he came from or why he came.
"Since Mr. Xu is working in Yanzhou, why are you here?"
Cao Bao was quite surprised by Xu Bang's visit.
Although he knew that Lu Bu had already sent troops to garrison in Lucheng, Lu Bu came to defect to Liu Bei. Cao Bao did not know what kind of relationship he had with Liu Bei, nor did he know the purpose of Xu Si's visit, so he asked this question.
Xu Si smiled slightly and replied: "I am here today to help the Ming Dynasty."
"Help me? Help me for what?" Cao Bao was stunned and didn't know what he meant.
"Therefore, Mu Tao Gongzu of Xuzhou passed away, leaving behind more than 10,000 Danyang warriors, who originally belonged to the Mingfu Lord. But now, Liu Shijun cleverly used treacherous tactics to take away the Mingfu Danyang warriors, leaving only a thousand people in Xiapi City.
,Are there no idiosyncrasies in the Ming Dynasty?"
What Xu Bang said struck a chord with Cao Bao, but at the moment he didn't know whether Xu Bang was sent by Lu Bu or Liu Bei to test him, so he didn't dare to answer clearly.
"Please tell me clearly what Mr. Xu means," Cao Bao said seriously.
Xu Bang carefully observed the expression on Cao Bao's face and saw a slight change in his expression, knowing that he could continue to speak.
"General Lu Fengxian is good at fighting and is invincible. He was defeated by Cao Cao in Yanzhou. Now he is stationing troops in Lucheng. I guess the Ming Dynasty already knows about it?"
Cao Bao nodded: "I know."
Xu Bang continued: "The Yuan family in Runan is a prominent family in the world, and General Yuan Gongluo is highly regarded by the public. Now he has made an appointment with General Lu to capture Xuzhou. As long as the Lord Mingfu is willing to act internally, he will open the city gate and release General Lu's troops."
Enter the city, so Xuzhou can be obtained. After that, the land of Donghai in Pi is left to the Lord of the Ming Dynasty to choose, and he chooses a county as his own territory. The people of Danyang can return to the Ming Dynasty, and General Lu will not treat him poorly. He does not know the fate of the Ming Dynasty.
What do you think?"
Lu Bu's current conditions for Cao Bao can only be this. Just like Liu Bei handed over Langya to Zang Ba, he can hand over Xiapi or Donghai to Cao Bao for independence.
The most important thing is that the Danyang soldiers that Liu Bei took away can be taken back. With these soldiers and horses, Cao Bao can truly be independent.
But although Cao Bao had thought about betraying Liu Bei many times before and now he really wanted to do it, he hesitated again and did not answer for a long time.