"But what if Zhang Jiao is difficult to calm down in a short time?"
Chen Mu asked again.
Liu Bei was puzzled and said: "Shijun's army is at its peak, how can it be impossible to pacify it?"
"Soldiers also have spirit. General Lu has won consecutive battles and his morale is high. If Zhang Jiao was smart, he would never confront General Lu head-on. Instead, he would choose to hold on to the city and frustrate the spirit of the officers and soldiers."
Chen Mu said: "I once talked about the upper, middle and lower strategies to retreat the enemy. Zhang Jiao neither chose the upper strategy to counterattack the enemy, nor the middle strategy to flood the city. Then he would definitely choose the lower strategy to defend the city. But I don't expect it to last long.
He will also suffer defeat because General Lu sent cavalry to cut off his retreat."
Guangping City is actually the seat of Guangping County, just like Julu City is the seat of Julu County. The two are equivalent to the urban areas of two local cities, but they are very close. Moreover, the city of Guangping City is larger than that of ordinary counties.
If it is higher, Lu Zhi will not attack Guangping so quickly.
Although Chen Mu didn't know how Lu Zhi took just two or three months to conquer Julu Quzhou in Guangping and besieged Zhangjiao in Guangzong County in June, he was able to combine
Analyze actual facts.
First, why didn’t Zhang Jiao escape back to his hometown in Julu?
The reason was that Lu Zhi sent cavalry to steal his home, cutting off Zhang Jiao's escape route and leaving him unable to retreat to his base camp.
Second, why did Zhang Jiao abandon Guangping?
If you look at the map, you will know that Guangping City, like Guangnian County, was built next to the Ming River.
One is downstream and the other is upstream. If Lu Zhi's army had a boat, they could go down the river and sail directly into Guangping City, with almost no danger to defend.
As a result, Zhang Jiao could only retreat to Quzhou.
Third, what if Zhang Jiao is attacked by Lu Zhi’s cavalry and infantry on the way to withdraw from Quzhou?
Then of course we can only continue to evacuate to Guangzong County.
This eventually evolved into that scene in history. Zhang Jiao led his army to retreat to Guangzong County and defended the city. Lu Zhi led his army to surround Guangzong County, dug trenches, made siege equipment, and prepared to attack the city, and then was captured.
Zuo Feng asked for bribes.
There are only a few strokes in history that claim that Lu Zhi won consecutive battles and Zhang Jiao was defeated. In the end, it was the insidious villain Zuo Feng that led to the failure of the attack on Zhang Jiao.
But they are far from aware of how many battles Lu Zhi and Zhang Jiao had in reality and how many strategies they used.
If Lu Zhi had not sent cavalry to raid Zhang Jiao's hometown, would Zhang Jiao's power in Julu have been defeated so quickly?
If it weren't for the poor geographical location of Guangping, would Zhang Jiao not stick to Guangping?
If Lu Zhi hadn't chased his retreating troops, how could Zhang Jiao have retreated to Guangzong hundreds of miles away?
Scenes that were not written in the history books slowly unfolded in front of Chen Mu. He took a glimpse and saw the whole leopard. He seemed to have a pair of god-like eyes, standing above the clouds, and guessed through countless clues and gray lines.
Stories that didn't make it into the books.
Since the next development of things can be predicted, Chen Mu naturally has to follow the trend and help Liu Bei make more plans.
Some people may say, since you have anticipated the consequences of Zhang Jue, why not just help Liu Bei intercept and kill Zhang Jue, help him achieve greater achievements and gain a greater official position?
The question is very simple.
Because this is the general trend and cannot be changed.
Unless Liu Bei's army does not have 300 elite soldiers and 2,000 new soldiers, but at least 3,000 cavalry and 20,000 elite soldiers.
Otherwise, trying to stop Zhang Jiao's more than 100,000 troops from withdrawing with just a few people like him would be like a daydream.
And Lu Zhi obviously expected all this, otherwise he would not have sent cavalry to intercept.
But his soldiers are still too few. If he can win 30,000 soldiers against hundreds of thousands, it would be great, but it is impossible to kill the enemy's general.
Therefore, things will develop in the direction Chen Mu expected, but he cannot change it because his power is too weak.
It's like you are a doctor and you know that a patient will die soon if he has cancer, but because you don't have a drug to treat cancer, you can't save this person.
Liu Bei didn't understand very well and asked: "Since Zhang Jiao will be defeated, why won't he be defeated in a short time? Fourth brother, what on earth do you want to say, I am confused by you."
Chen Mu hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Zhang Jiao did not dare to fight General Lu head-on, and he would definitely defend the city. This is a long-lasting war, and it is easy to find changes. So what I want to tell my elder brother is that after the attack on Guangping is completed,
After that, the eldest brother should resign from General Lu and go south to join General Huangfu Yizhen."
This finally brings us to the topic.
"boom!"
Liu Bei stood up, furious, pointed at Chen Mu and said angrily: "Fourth brother, how could you say such a thing? Let me leave my master when he is in trouble. I, Liu Bei, can never do it!"
Chen Mu was helpless.
After going around in so many circles, when we got here, we couldn't get around it after all.
He knew Liu Bei would be angry.
Historically, the relationship between Liu Bei and Lu Zhi was actually only when Liu Bei was a boy and he had been students with Gongsun Zan, Liu Deran, Gao You and others under Lu Zhi for more than a year, so the relationship was not very close.
But you have to take into account that this is the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty inherited the Confucian legal tradition and governed the world with filial piety. It learned from the "Tai Gong Family Education" left by Jiang Ziya of the Western Zhou Dynasty that "one day is a teacher, and all life is a father".
Xunzi established "the king of heaven and earth, his relatives and his teacher", which was strengthened by Dong Zhongshu into the "three cardinal principles and five constant principles", which became the discipline that Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty must abide by.
Therefore, in Confucianism, the teacher is like a father, and even the emperor is not immune. Because if he wants to be a good emperor, he must first set an example to the world and show that he is a filial person.
Maintain a good image.
For example, Sikong Zhang Ji, who just passed away this year, was introduced to Han Ling Emperor as his teacher by Taiwei Yang Ci in 168 when Emperor Han Ling just succeeded to the throne. Since then, he has been respected by Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty.
In just 11 years, he has risen through the ranks and reached the position of Sikong, one of the three princes.
Moreover, his position as Sikong was not promoted as frequently as other officials in the Han Ling Emperor's dynasty. He stayed there for five years, and there was no change from 179 until his death in 184 this year.
After Zhang Ji's death, he was granted the title of Marquis of Guannei, and his son Zhang Gen was granted the title of Marquis of Caiyang Township. His honor and favor never faded.
There is also Taiwei Yang Ci, who is also one of the imperial masters. Compared with Zhang Ji, this man can be regarded as a fierce man descended from heaven.
He openly contradicted the Han Ling Emperor and denounced the Han Ling Emperor for selling his official position and amassing personal wealth. After the Yellow Turban Uprising, he argued with the Han Ling Emperor in the court, making the Han Ling Emperor very angry.
However, every time Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was angry with him, he would find an excuse to dismiss Yang Ci's official position, but soon after, he would reinstate it. If after his dismissal, his original official position was replaced by someone else, then he would be given another one.
The positions of Sangong and Jiuqing.
Except for Weiwei and Zongzheng, who had never done anything, this dear man had almost worked for the Three Gongs and Nine Ministers.
The most serious incident was when Yang Ci wrote a letter to impeach several favored ministers of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, and Zhang ordered Zhao Zhonglesong and others. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was very angry, so he exiled Cai Yong...
Cai Yong probably had a question mark at that time.
You must know that Cai Yong was involved in another incident at that time and was framed by the ruthless official Yang Qiu. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty also knew that he was wronged and asked him to write a letter stating how he was framed. He had no intention of persecuting him.
As a result, Yang Ci happened to rub Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty into trouble at this time, and he remembered that Cai Yong often used to give advice. If I can't cure the master, I can't cure you, Cai Yong?
So I found an excuse to exile Cai Yong to Shuofang...
Although Yang Ci was dismissed from his official position at that time and sent to Taixue to teach for a few months, in December of the same year, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty went to Taixue in person and invited Yang Ci out. He respected him as the third elder of the country and continued to work.
Jiuqing senior official.
With so many "bad deeds", if it had been another official, not the teacher of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the corpse would have been cold.
It can also be seen from here that in ancient times, especially in the most orthodox era of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty, the relationship between a student and a teacher was not just about how long he had taught you, nor how much affection you had, but simply that once you had a teacher
As a disciple, you must respect him as a father.
Lu Zhi taught Liu Bei for a year ten years ago. From the perspective of modern people, I am afraid that this master has been forgotten long ago. But in the eyes of people at that time, if you dare to forget your teacher, it is unfilial.
, is a person with corrupt moral character.
The crime committed by an unfilial person is much more serious than the crime of murder. Not only will they go to jail, but they will also be discriminated against by everyone.
Looking at the criminal laws of later generations, it is obviously difficult to understand, but it was indeed the case in the Han Dynasty.
Chen Mu earnestly advised: "Brother, it's not that I left General Lu in a critical moment, but I expected that Zhang Jiao would not dare to fight General Lu head-on. He would definitely defend the city. Zhang Jiao has been operating in Julu and other places for many years, and the city is
There is a lot of food and grass in the city, so the siege of the city will not be completed overnight. Now that General Huangfu Yizhen has few soldiers, the war will definitely not go smoothly, and we need your help."
Liu Bei's anger came and went as quickly as it came, because he knew that he could get to where he is now only because of his fourth brother's strategy, so he would not have any objections to Chen Mu, but on this matter, he was very stubborn, shook his head, and was calm.
Di said: "Fourth brother, this matter deviates from the master's teachings and cannot be done. Please do not say anything further."
"But brother should understand that if he can go south to Yingchuan, he can help General Huangfu Yizhen defeat the enemy, which is another great achievement. After defeating the Yingchuan Yellow Turban bandits, he can then return to Yuzhou and help General Lu defeat Zhangjiao.
With this merit added to me, I can look forward to the post of governor."
Chen Mu's strategy is another way to make time difference.
In his memory, Lu Zhi's army went smoothly at first, with 30,000 troops attacking the city and destroying several cities in Zhangjiao, defeating Zhangjiao to the point of defeat.
But he was stopped in Guangzong, which lasted for two months. In June, Zuo Feng came to ask for bribes, but Zhang Jiao was still not defeated.
The war on Huangfusong's side did not go well at the beginning, and they are still besieged in Changshe. It will not be until summer comes in May and Changshe is burned down that they can defeat Bocai's troops and complete the reversal offensive in Yingchuan.
So if we leave Lu Zhi now and go to Yuzhou, we will just catch up with this battle.
Huangfu Song ate meat, Liu Bei drank some soup, and his achievements continued to accumulate. In addition, Chen Mu hid a sum of private money to buy an official position, which would be the capital to increase his position in the future.
If we can follow Huangfu Song and defeat the Yuzhou Yellow Turban Bandits, it will be almost July or August. By then Lu Zhi will have been replaced and Dong Zhuo will be defeated. Then we can follow Huangfu Song and go north to defeat the Zhang Jiao brothers.
This is almost a perfect road to success, and the timeline is well grasped.
Because Jizhou and Yuzhou are actually Henan and Hebei in later generations. The two places are not far away. The distance from Handan to Xuchang is only more than 300 kilometers. Now we set out from Yuzhou in April and can arrive in May. The time is just right.
By then, with the two great achievements of attacking the Yellow Turbans of Yuzhou in the south and defeating the Yellow Turbans of Jizhou in the north, plus donating property to Xiyuan, at Liu Bei's age, it is unlikely that he will become the prime minister of the country with a thousand stones or the prefect of the country with two thousand stones, but he will be the governor of the six hundred stones.
, maybe it can be done barely.
However, Liu Bei still refused and stood up and said: "Okay, fourth brother. You are tired from running around for days. Go and have a rest. The Yellow Turban has not yet been broken, so why talk about promotion and promotion? Let's discuss this later."
Chen Mu stopped talking. There is nothing you can do. Many times, even if the strategy you formulate is correct, it is not in line with the values of the ancients, and others will naturally not do it.
It was as if Cao Cao had gained control of the situation and controlled most of the north. His ministers urged Cao Cao to advance, but Cao Cao was still unwilling to depose Emperor Xian and establish himself on his own, saying: "If fate is mine, I will be King Wen of Zhou."
This is actually a manifestation of the values of the ancients.
Because Cao Cao positioned himself as King Wen of Zhou who supported the Han Dynasty, he still wanted to retain his reputation even if his position as a minister had reached the extreme. Even if he knew what Cao Pi would do after his death, as long as he did not usurp it during his lifetime, then he
He is still a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, and there is no stain on his loyalty to the Han Dynasty.