"Therefore it is said: If a general is not benevolent, then the three armies will not be close; if a general is not brave, then the three armies will not be sharp; if a general is not wise, then the three armies will be in great doubt; if a general is not clear, then the three armies will be overwhelmed; if a general is not subtle, then the three armies will lose their opportunity; if a general will not be subtle, then the three armies will miss their opportunity; if a general will not be wise, then the three armies will be in great doubt
If the general is always vigilant, the three armies will lose their preparedness; if the general is not strong, the three armies will fail in their duties..."
Zhou Ping did not go to the state capital in the past few days. He stayed with Gan Qian at home and studied again when he had some free time.
Zhou Ping has given up on Zhang Wu and no longer forces him to study. No matter how hard he forces him, he can't read.
However, after Zhou Ping read "Spring and Autumn", he would often tell him some stories and teach him some principles of life and doing things.
"Shaojun, the people who went to Jiangdong are back."
Zhang Wu entered the room and said.
"Let them in quickly."
Zhou Ping had previously sent people to Jiangdong to find out about Sun Ce and Liu Yao.
The detective entered the house and reported: "Sun Ce has defeated Yangzhou generals Zhang Ying and Fan Neng, and Yangzhou herdsman Liu Zhengli has rushed from Qu'a to Dantu, and then boarded a boat from Dantu to go southward. Sun Ce has entered Qu'a at this time.
He issued an order to inform all the counties that if Liu Yaozuo comes to surrender in his hometown and tribe, nothing will be asked. Those who are willing to join the army will be able to get rid of the taxes and servitude of the family if they are willing to join the army. Those who are not happy will not be forced."
Zhou Ping was slightly shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect Liu Yao to still run so fast. It would be nice if he could delay it for another month or two and let the Xuzhou soldiers rest for a while.
Sun Ce is a smart man, and he has Zhou Yu beside him.
After he defeated Liu Yao, Liu Yao abandoned his army and left, and his troops scattered in the countryside around Wu County in Danyang.
If these people are left unchecked, they will gather together and become thieves, which will always be a big trouble in the future.
For this reason, Sun Ce offered very attractive conditions.
As long as one person is willing to serve as a soldier, everyone in his family can be exempted from taxation.
Because of this generous condition, Sun Ce will collect more than 20,000 soldiers and more than 1,000 horses in ten days, making his army stronger.
Zhou Ping had known that this would happen, but it was something that was unstoppable, at least not with his own power.
Sun Ce was like a tiger coming down from the mountain. After crossing the river, he swept all the way. Coupled with the tribe and prestige left by his father, he quickly gathered many soldiers and horses.
Originally, Zhou Ping wanted to persuade Liu Bei to send troops to assist Liu Yao earlier, but in terms of commanding troops, Liu Yao was similar to Kong Rong, both had great ambitions but no talents.
After Zhang Ying and Fan Neng were defeated by Sun Ce in Danyang, Liu Yao immediately abandoned his troops and ran to Yuzhang by boat.
At this time, Xuzhou's soldiers and horses had just experienced the battles between Xuyi and Xiapi. They needed time to recuperate and were unable to provide immediate support.
At the same time, Zhou Ping still had some private thoughts in his heart.
If Liu Yao is rescued now, Liu Yao will still be the shepherd of Yangzhou, and Liu Bei is just here to help and will not get any benefits.
Only after Liu Yao reaches Yuzhang can Liu Bei send troops to capture Yangzhou, then Yangzhou will belong to Liu Bei. Moreover, Liu Yao may also die in the second year of Jian'an.
Zhou Ping did not dare to tell Liu Beiming about this. If he did, Liu Bei would definitely not think so and he would send troops immediately.
It happened that Chen Gong persuaded Liu Bei to send troops to capture Yanzhou, and that Gan Qian was about to give birth to a child. Zhou Ping simply said nothing and just asked Liu Bei to rest his troops and wait until the time came.
"Young Master, Young Master..." Suddenly, the servant Ah Shui ran over in a hurry, "Madam is about to give birth."
Zhou Ping hurried out and took Zhang Wu to Gan Qian's room.
The person who delivered the baby had already taken her home a few days ago and was currently delivering the baby in the room.
Hearing Gan Qian's shouts in the room, Zhou Ping seemed a little nervous and stood uneasily outside the room, walking around.
At this moment, the servant came to report: "Master, Ambassador Liu is here."
Zhou Ping thought that Liu Bei knew that Gan Qian was about to give birth and was here to visit. He hurried out to greet her. As soon as he reached the front yard, he saw Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Jin had come in.
"Lord."
Zhou Ping stepped forward and saluted.
"Why are you so anxious, sir?"
Liu Bei saw the nervous look on Zhou Ping's face.
"Haha, Ping's wife is about to give birth to a baby, so she is nervous." Zhou Ping replied.
"Let's go, we'll wait with you."
Liu Bei and others also heard the shouts of Gan Qian in the inner courtyard.
These three brothers have no sons now, and Zhang Fei doesn't even have a wife.
Now that Zhou Ping is going to have a child, they are also happy.
When he arrived outside Gan Qian's room, Liu Bei said with a smile: "Sir, our three brothers are all older than you, but now we don't have a son. How shameful!"
"Brother, I don't even have a wife!" Zhang Fei complained.
Guan Yu blushed and stroked his beard without saying a word.
After hearing Zhang Fei's words, Zhou Ping wanted to laugh but did not dare to laugh, and said: "Now that Xuzhou is stable and there is no war for the time being, my lord and Yun Changyide may wish to marry wives and have concubines, and have children to pass on to their heirs, especially my lord.
This matter cannot be neglected."
Liu Bei's current wife, Mi Zhen, was frail and sick, and Liu Bei was always busy with official duties and rarely had sex with her, so he remained childless.
Zhang Fei was overjoyed when he heard this and said with a smile: "Sir, what you said is absolutely true. Brother, now that I am a lieutenant general, there must be someone who is willing to marry their daughter to me, right?"
Liu Bei was slightly embarrassed, and Zhuge Jin immediately said: "A master cannot have no heir, my lord, this matter is urgent!"
"Tzuyu, as the ruler, how about I leave it up to you to choose your daughter's family?" Zhou Ping looked at Zhuge Jin and said.
Zhuge Jin replied: "Of course, my lord is famous for his benevolence and majesty. Not to mention the daughter of Xuzhou, even the daughter of the world wants to marry my lord. General Guan and General Zhang are also famous in Xuzhou for their bravery. If
It is not easy to marry a wife and take concubines."
With the current status of Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, it is too easy to get wives and concubines.
If Liu Bei was marrying a wife, he might have some particular requirements, such as being of a good match and so on. But if he wanted to take a concubine, there would be no particular requirements. Even a farmer's daughter would be fine.
Guan Yu already had a wife, so now he wanted to take a concubine, which was also very easy.
Although Zhang Fei wants to marry a wife, it is not difficult at all as he is already a high-ranking military general and has a reputation for bravery in Xuzhou.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu listened to Zhou Ping and Zhuge Jin's exchange without speaking, which was equivalent to acquiescing to what they said.
Only Zhang Fei grinned and said to Zhuge Jin: "Zhuge Zhongzhong, I also want to marry a beautiful woman, hehe."
He said and looked at Gan Qian's room, meaning that he wanted to marry a woman as good-looking as Gan Qian.
Zhuge Jin responded with a smile: "That's what General Zhang meant, hahaha..."
Everyone laughed along with it.
"Wow...wow...wow..."
At this moment, the cry of a baby was heard in the room, and everyone outside the room was overjoyed with smiles on their faces. Even Guan Yu, who didn't usually smile often, now had a smile on his face.
Immediately, a maid came out of the room, and Zhou Ping hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How is Madam?"
The maid replied: "Madam is well. Congratulations to the master of the house. Madam has given birth to a daughter. Both mother and son are safe!"
Zhou Ping was overjoyed: "Hahaha... it doesn't matter if it's a daughter or a daughter!"
Liu Bei, Zhuge Jin and others congratulated Zhou Ping.
After confirming that mother and son were safe, Zhou Ping invited Liu Bei and others to the hall to sit and talk.
"Sir, Cao Mengde proclaimed me General Zhendong, do you think I should accept it or not?" Liu Bei asked Zhou Ping.
"You should accept it. Cao Mengde's move should be because he learned that my lord has won two great victories in Xuzhou and is now strong, so he wants to come and make friends with him." Zhou Ping was in a very good mood today, and everything was easy to talk about.
Liu Bei hesitated and said: "However, Chen Gongtai persuaded me to send troops to capture Yanzhou. What do you think about this matter?"
"No." Zhou Ping said anxiously, "I have said before that it is not the time to capture Yanzhou yet. Cao Cao has a strong army and Yanzhou is stable. If we send troops to capture it at this time, we may return without success. If we are defeated by Cao Cao, we will
The troops from Yanzhou will be led to Xuzhou. Moreover, Yuan Shu still has not given up on Xuzhou in Shouchun. If there is a chance, he will definitely come back with his troops."
"In addition, I have just received news that Liu Yangzhou has rushed to Yuzhang, and Sun Ce has entered Qu'a at this time. He issued a benevolent notice, ordering Liu Yangzhou's scattered soldiers and soldiers in Qu'a to be exempted from military service.
He will remove the taxes and servitude from his family. In this way, more people will be willing to serve as soldiers under him, and Sun Ce's army will also become stronger."
"We Xuzhou has no water army. It will be too difficult to cross the river from Guangling to seize the land east of the Yangtze River. Sun Ce already has many soldiers and he is brave. With our current strength, we are afraid that it will be difficult to cross the river to compete with him. With peace.
It means that we must attack Yuan Shu first and capture the two counties of Jiujiang and Lujiang, so that there will be naval forces available, and it will be easier to cross the river at that time."
Liu Bei was surprised when he heard Zhou Ping's words: "Attack Yuan Shu? Yuan Shu still has tens of thousands of people, how can we attack him?"
"Although Yuan Shu has tens of thousands of troops, they were defeated first by Cao Cao and then by us. They have no courage to fight anymore. As soon as our troops arrive, they will flee immediately, but they can capture the city without fighting. They can wait for Jiujiang
Sun Ce in the two counties of Lujiang and Jiangdong is surrounded by us, and it will be very easy to attack them."
Zhou Ping's idea is very bold. After all, Yuan Shu still has 40,000 troops in Jiujiang, tens of thousands of troops in Lujiang, and Xuzhou currently only has 50,000 troops. He still needs to leave troops to defend the city. It is impossible to bring all 50,000 troops.
go.
Liu Bei thought Chen Gong's idea was very bold, but now Zhou Ping's idea was equally bold, which made him unsure about who to listen to.