Yuan Shu's envoy Han Yin walked into the hall. There were only three people in the hall, Lu Bu, Zhang Yang and Wei.
Han Yin bowed his hands to them and said, "Han Yin has met Mr. Lu."
Lu Bu sneered and said: "Yuan Shu deceived me, but you still have the guts to come? Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?"
Han Yin pretended to be puzzled and said: "Your Majesty, my Ming Gong is an upright man. Why did he deceive you?"
"snort!"
Lu Bu stood up, pointed at Han Yin and said, "We originally agreed to attack Cao Cao together, why did we stand still?"
Han Yin explained: "Your Majesty, this is an injustice to my Ming Gong. He indeed sent troops and horses to the north. However, there have been heavy rains in Huainan for days and the roads are blocked, making it difficult to pass."
"oh?"
Lu Bu was doubtful: "Really?"
He only knew that Yuan Shu held his troops in Huailing and Liu Yao was attacked and destroyed, but he did not know the specific situation.
"Absolutely true!"
Han Yin swore and swore: "If you don't believe me, you can send someone to ask casually, and you will know whether there was a heavy rain in Huainan last month. If Yin tells a lie, I am willing to let you do it."
"Can't we march when it rains?"
"The Xiapi area of Guangling is located on the Huaihe River. There are continuous heavy rains and monstrous floods. The entire county is submerged in water. How can we march?"
"Then why didn't you go and beat Sun Jian, but turned around and beat Liu Yao?"
Lu Bu was still suspicious.
Han Yin shook his head and said: "Let me think about it carefully. My Ming Dynasty has more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. It was just a casual thing to attack Liu Yao. How could we not have the troops to go north? At that time, we divided our troops into two groups and marched all the way from Xiapi
After going north and attacking Liu Yao all the way east, we went north from Guangling, but it was raining heavily and it was really impossible."
"How can we attack Liu Yao in heavy rain?"
Lu Bu asked again.
Before Han Yin came, Yuan Shu had already thought up all the excuses and excuses, and said with a smile: "I don't know what you know, but the war in the south is not a multi-step battle, but a water battle. The Guangling area of Danyang Wu County is located in
Between the Dajiang River and the Huaihe River, there are complex water systems with countless rivers and lakes. The first route of our army is the infantry going north. The road is muddy and flooded, so it is impossible to advance. However, the second route is the navy. By boating south, we can reach Yangzhou.
"
This explanation was reasonable and reasonable. Lu Bu had nothing to say. In addition, Wei Ji had already persuaded him before, so he could only suppress his anger and asked, "Why did Yuan Shu send you here?"
"There is a happy event happening."
Han Yin said with a smile: "I know that my Minggong only has one son, named Yao. I heard that your daughter is very beautiful and beautiful. They are about the same age. My Minggong is willing to marry your son."
The daughter is the official wife, and she will marry Qin and Jin."
Yuan Shu's son?
Lu Bu thought for a moment and realized that Yuan Shu only had one son, and he was the eldest son. If his daughter married Yuan Yao, then Yuan Shu's heir would be his grandson. This was indeed a good thing.
He turned to look at Wei Jian, who nodded slightly. The order he received was that the more chaotic the south, the better. Now was the opportunity, how could he miss it?
"good."
Lu Bu said happily: "Is there any reason for such a happy event to be inappropriate?"
After Han Yin completed the task, he immediately said: "In this case, the envoy and my Minggong are the sons and daughters of my family, which is very gratifying. Before I came out, Minggong also told me that if the envoy agrees, he is willing to do it for me.
Let me give you a big gift."
"oh?"
Lu Bu asked: "What kind of gift is it?"
Han Yin said with a smile: "Now that my Ming Dynasty has gained Yangzhou, he is about to go north to take the land of Yuzhou and Xuzhou. He invites the envoys to attack together. After Sun Jian is defeated, they will attack Cao Cao together. By then, the land of Yanzhou and Xuzhou will be lost."
Make it yours."
In 196 AD, Yuan Shu was at his most powerful. Historically, he destroyed Liu Yao at this time, and sent Sun Ce to attack Jiangdong, defeating Yan Baihu, Wang Lang and other forces, and captured the entire Yangzhou.
At the same time, the Guangling area was also occupied by Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu was very ambitious at that time and began to plan to proclaim himself emperor in the second year, which was 197.
Everyone knows what happened next. As soon as Yuan Shu became emperor, everyone immediately rebelled against his relatives, suffered attacks from all sides, and his strength was seriously damaged.
At this time, although Yuan Shu's strength was a little worse than in history, because he was plotted by Chen Mu, he never had the opportunity to send troops out of Yangzhou, but the dispute between Cao Cao and Lu Bu still gave him an opportunity to attack and destroy Liu Yao.
, started to gain momentum.
As long as he marries Lu Bu, with Sun Jian seriously injured and Yuzhou leaderless, it will be easy to capture Yuzhou, and then go north to attack Cao Cao or go south to attack Liu Biao.
So now Yuan Shu can generously promise Lu Bu a big gift. As long as he is willing to join forces with him to defeat Sun Jian, he will help Lu Bu regain Yanzhou.
Although Lu Bu was tricked by Yuan Shu, he had indeed reached the end of his rope.
Looking around, Cao Cao is like a wolf and a tiger, and has taken back a large area of Yanzhou including Shanyang East County, Jiyin, and now Lu Bu only has Chen Liu left to survive.
But once he was defeated by Cao Cao and even Chen Liu fell, he would have no choice but to go into exile. Among all the princes in the world, Yuan Shao would not dare to go to him, Liu Bei would not go to him, and the Luoyang court would not go to Guan Yu, so he would not go.
Only Yuan Shu or Liu Biao are left.
Compared with Liu Biao who was far away in Jingzhou, Yuan Shu was already the best choice. Firstly, the two were already married and became in-laws. Secondly, Yuan Shu was powerful and could help him regain Yanzhou.
Therefore, after hearing Han Yin's words, Lu Bu said without thinking: "Okay, then please go back and tell Yuan Shu that I agree."
Han Yin smiled and said: "I will make you wise."
...
...
Liu Bei personally went north to find Gongsun Zan, and discussed temporarily withdrawing troops from Yuan Shao and heading south to resolve Yuan Shu's crisis.
Of course Gongsun Zan was reluctant, but due to Liu Bei's move of Chen Muzhi, which was moral kidnapping, Gongsun Zan didn't want to be seen as unloyal in front of his brothers, so in the end he had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
However, Liu Bei did not let Gongsun Zan suffer. In order to give Gongsun Zan enough strength to resist Yuan Shao's attack after he left, he asked Su Shuang and Zhang Shiping to send another batch of grain, grass and coins to Quanzhou County by sea.
Quanzhou is not the Quanzhou in Fujian in later generations, but Quanzhou County in Youzhou in the Han Dynasty. It is located northwest of Tianjin in later generations and south of Wuqing. Now it has become an important port city between Youzhou and Qingzhou. Trade between the two sides includes cattle and sheep in the north, and cattle and sheep in the south.
All the wine and rice are shipped from here.
Chen Mu just wanted Gongsun Zan to withdraw from the fight for Jizhou and borrowed Yuan Shao's sword to cripple Gongsun Zan. He did not want Gongsun Zan to die, so he should give some support, and he still had to support it. At the same time, even if Gongsun Zan was defeated, he would still be defeated.
tongue.
After convincing Gongsun Zan, Liu Bei once again organized his troops and began to prepare for the march south. It was already July, and 30,000 troops were transferred from the Qingzhou front line, and another 20,000 troops were transferred from Luoyang, for a total of 50,000. The troops were divided into two groups to go south for the expedition.
Yuan Shu.
After Liu Bei left, Yuan Shao of Qinghe State in Jizhou was also discussing matters with many aides in his mansion.
"Ming Gong, Liu Bei has gone south."
Liu Huizhi said to Yuan Shao proudly.
When he returned from his mission, he successfully completed the plan of joining forces with Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, and restrained some of Liu Bei's troops. It was a great achievement for his hard work.
"Zi Hui is really my wife."
Yuan Shao laughed and said.
Now Liu Bei has transferred 50,000 people, and now Luoyang and Qingzhou combined only have 90,000 people. Adding Gongsun Zan's 60,000 people, there are only 150,000 troops around Jizhou. The pressure has dropped sharply, and the balance of strength has been tilted towards Yuan Shao.
Hearing Yuan Shao's praise of Liu Hui, Xu You, who was transferred back from the front line, showed a hint of dissatisfaction in his eyes. Now that Liu Hui has been reused, when will the Nanyang faction rise?
"Please also ask Ming Gong to start the next step of planning."
Liu Hui said.
"Um."
Yuan Shao nodded and turned to look at Xu You: "Ziyuan, I'll leave this matter to you."
Xu You frowned slightly, but still cupped his hands and said, "Okay."
Liu Hui added: "Now that Duke Ming has submitted his petition to the imperial court, and the imperial court has issued an order to confer the title of Duke Ming, as long as Liu Bei is deposed, Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan will be confused, and they will no longer have an excuse to attack Jizhou. At this time
If we send an envoy to Qingzhou again and ask them to return the counties of Qian and Ling, then at least we will have the ability to defend ourselves on the north bank of the river."
"The next step is to attack Gongsun Zan!"
Xu You added.
Yuan Shao glanced at the north with a stern look, and said coldly: "Yes, Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei have been beating me for so long, it's time to recover some of the interest."
"Uncle, I think we can also unite with Kuitou and offer inducements to attack Gongsun Zan from the north and eliminate him as soon as possible."
My nephew Gao Gan, who happened to be busy in Qinghe Country, made a suggestion.
Gao Gan was appointed by Yuan Shao as Bingzhou Mu. Although his actual control area was only Shangdang and Taiyuan counties, and most of the northern area was occupied by the central Xianbei, he had many dealings with the central Xianbei and was familiar with the Xianbei people.
The milk is the mother, and as long as you offer benefits and inducements, you will definitely send troops to help.
"Okay, let Yuan Cai handle this matter."
Yuan Shao asked Gao Gan to handle the matter.
"only!"
The senior officials happily accepted the order.
After formulating the plan, Yuan Shao stood up and looked down at the crowd and said, "Everyone."
"Ming Gong!"
Xu You, Shen Pei, Geng Wu, Xun Chen, Xin Ping, Liu Hui, Li Li, Gao Gan and many others stood up at the same time and looked at him.
"This battle is related to the safety of Jizhou and your life and death."
Yuan Shao looked at them seriously and said: "Please do your best. The future of Jizhou will be entrusted to you."
"I will obey the wishes of Duke Ming!"
Everyone bowed their hands in unison.
The strategy Yuan Shao used this time can be said to be Han Xin's method of building plank roads openly and secretly attacking Chen Cang.
On the surface, he wrote to the imperial court, declared himself a minister and paid tribute, deposed Liu Ye, recognized the emperor of Luoyang, and eased the conflict between him and Liu Bei Gongsun Zan.
In fact, it was just a pretense, and secretly, he had other plans.
When the north is pacified, my Yuan family will dominate the world.
Yuan Shao looked down at the crowd, with a look of tenacity in his eyes.
...
...
In July of the fourth year of Xingwu, that is, AD 196, many things happened all over the world.
Yuan Shu from the south united with Lu Bu to attack Cao Cao, but Cao Cao and Sun Jian teamed up to defeat Lu Bu.
But Sun Jian himself was severely injured by Lu Bu and was seriously injured and bedridden.
Then Yuan Shu began to attack Runan fiercely. Sun Jian was seriously injured and Yuzhou was leaderless. Sun Ce had no choice but to lead his troops and retreat to Gushi in Runan. At the same time, he let Zhu Zhi lead the army and went north to Liang Kingdom.
Yuan Shao wrote to the Luoyang court to declare himself a vassal and pay tribute, deposed the Emperor of Jizhou Liu Bei, and was conferred the title of Marquis of Ye by the court and established as the shepherd of Jizhou, ostensibly surrendering to Luoyang.
After the conferment of Luoyang arrived in Yedu, Yuan Shao immediately sent envoys to go to Gongsun Zan and Chen Mu to discuss peace.
Gongsun Zan had reached an agreement with Liu Bei before, but now that the imperial envoys had given him a chance, he agreed to stop the troops, but he did not agree to return Bohai County.
Chen Mu, on the other hand, was more straightforward. He said that in order to express his sincerity, he returned one-third of the Qinghe Kingdom. The Qingxian, Lingxian, Yimu, Xiuxian and other places currently occupied by Qingzhou were all returned and the troops were withdrawn.
Jizhou, return to the plains.
The army retreated in a mighty manner, and the forward positions such as Lingxian County and Lingxian County were abandoned. Anyway, all the population had been transferred to the plains, leaving Yuan Shao with only a few empty cities.
Moreover, the overall defense layout of the Qingzhou Army did not rely on these cities on the front line, but on the huge water system in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
Therefore, there will be no loss in returning these places to Yuan Shao.
From Yixian County to the plain, the total area is only forty miles. Chen Mu is riding on a horse, with Yan Zhong, Xu Rong and Zang Ba beside him.
Liu Bei went south this time, bringing with him his own troops as well as Zhang Fei, Dian Wei, Qian and Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, a total of 30,000 people. Zang Ba was in the north before, but this time he did not follow Liu Bei south, so he retreated to the plains with his army.
In the evening, as the sun set, Yan Zhong felt the evening breeze and said thoughtfully: "Yuan Shao's move is to retreat in order to advance. It is a good idea to defeat the false emperor of Jizhou and respect the Luoyang court. In this way, we will never have another chance.
Reason to attack him."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Chen Mu nodded: "For Yuan Shao, at least on the surface, this strategy is a good move. These days, although everyone is secretly dirty, but
How can it be shown openly? Whoever proclaims himself emperor will be the target of public criticism. Yuan Shao abolished the emperor and honored the emperor in order to minimize the influence of Wang Fen."
"I heard that Gongsun Zan refused to return the Bohai Sea?"
Yan Zhong asked.
"Yes, Gongsun Zan is strong but not resourceful. If we start fighting now, both sides will lose. Not to mention that Yuan Shao deposed the puppet emperor and showed his favor to the court. Duke Bo'an does not want us to fight, so I changed my strategy and started from the south to the north.
, I also expected that Yuan Shao would do this."
Chen Mu shook his head.
Yan Zhong pouted: "Then Gongsun Zan is about to suffer."
"This is a problem of one's own personality."
Chen Mu looked north. Yuan Shao chose to bow to Luoyang. With the strength of the fourth and third princes of the Yuan family in the court, Liu Yu had no reason to refuse.
When Yuan Shao becomes a minister of the imperial court in name again, then Gongsun Zan's behavior of occupying the Bohai Sea will probably become Yuan Shao's best excuse to criticize him. By that time, Qingzhou will not be able to send troops.
.......
.......
In midsummer in July, there was a wilderness in the Liang Kingdom. Dozens of horses galloped and galloped on the official road. Sun Ce at the front had a tense expression on his face as his horse galloped wildly. He looked as if he was returning home, and his anxiety was almost written on his face.
Next to him was a young man wearing a red robe. He had an extremely handsome face. He looked like he was in his twenties. He had a strong and slender body. He was one of the most handsome men in the world.
From sunrise to dusk, the horses had been running at high speed for an hour, and they were almost exhausted. They had to stop and change horses to rest in the pavilion in front.
Seeing the pavilion by the road in the distance, the group began to slow down. The pavilion chief had already greeted them and replaced them with new horses.
Sun Jian had not been in Runan for a long time, but the Liang and Chen states had been in business for five or six years. The area of the two counties was not large, so the pavilions in various places were fully developed and could assume the functions of post stations in the Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties, providing transportation for public officials.
Provide accommodation and exchange horses.
After changing horses, Sun Ce wanted to set off again, but the handsome man stopped him and said: "Bo Fu."
"What's wrong Gongjin?"
Sun Ce turned to look at him.
This person is none other than Zhou Yu, Sun Ce's good friend back then.
More than ten years ago, Sun Jian launched an army to conquer the Yellow Turbans and left his family in Shouchun.
Sun Ce, who was only ten years old at the time, grew up in Shouchun. Over the years, he made many friends, including Zhou Yu from Lujiang.
Later, Sun Jian occupied Yuzhou, and Sun Ce gradually rose to prominence in the army, so he invited his former partners to start a business together.
Now Zhou Yu is following Sun Ce, and the two have joined forces to resist Yuan Shu on the front line of Runan for nearly a year. Facing Yuan Shu's attack, the young Zhou Yu showed the demeanor of a general, offering advice to Sun Ce several times and defeating Yuan Shu.
It's just that this time their troops were too small, and most of the veterans were taken away by Sun Jian to help Cao Cao. Facing Yuan Shu's massive invasion, with only a few soldiers and few generals, and the lack of geographical advantage, even Zhou Yu had no choice but to advise Sun Ce to stay away temporarily.
Edge, let's go north to meet up with Sun Jian first.
Upon hearing Sun Ce's inquiry, Zhou Yu said: "We have not had a good rest for two days in a row. If we continue like this, we will not be able to hold on. It is getting late now. It is better to take a day's rest today so that we can go to Xiayi tomorrow."
Sun Ce turned around and glanced at the many followers. They all looked tired and their eyes were red. It was obvious that they could no longer hold on. He could only nod and said, "Okay, let's rest in the pavilion today."
The director of the pavilion quickly arranged housing for them.
It's getting late, and it's around 7pm at dusk. It's midsummer in July, and the sky isn't completely dark yet, but the sun has already set, and the whole world is gray.
Zhou Yu washed his face and wiped the dust from his body in his room. The door was pushed open behind him. He knew who it was without turning around and said, "Bo Fu, can't you sleep?"
"Can't sleep."
Sun Ce's eyes were also red. He was not only worried about his father's injuries, but also worried about the situation in Yuzhou.
Yuan Shu is coming with great force. If we cannot defeat him in this battle, I am afraid that the Sun family will no longer have a foothold in Yuzhou.
Zhou Yu smiled and said: "Don't worry too much, hasn't the letter to Qingzhou been sent?"
Sun Ce couldn't help but asked: "Will Liu Qingzhou really send troops to help? He is currently fighting Yuan Shao. How can he still have the energy to go south to help my father?"
"Don't underestimate Dr. Guanglu."
Zhou Yu wrung out the linen towel and hung it to dry. He turned around and saw Sun Ce sitting on the banquet in the room. He said with a smile: "With his wisdom, how could he abandon my uncle?"
"Why?"
Sun Ce was puzzled: "Is it just because my father has a good relationship with Liu Qingzhou?"
Zhou Yu also sat down, shook his head and said, "No."
"That is?"
"It's because Qingzhou needs us in Yuzhou."
"Qingzhou needs us?"
Sun Ce was even more confused. What is this?
Zhou Yu asked with a smile: "Do you still remember Bo Fu? Who asked uncle to come to Yuzhou?"
Sun Ce remembered what his father had told him about this and said, "It was Dr. Guanglu who reported to the court that my father is the shepherd of Yuzhou."
"good."
Zhou Yu thought thoughtfully and said: "Two Yuans, one in the south and one in the north, are powerful. Yuan Shao is extremely difficult to deal with in the north. Although Yuan Shu is not as talented as Yuan Shao, he has inherited the Yuan family's foundation in Runan and has a strong base. If he takes over Yangzhou, Yuzhou and other places
, then there are hundreds of thousands of troops, which is something no one wants to see."
"So the imperial court needs my father to come to Yuzhou. No wonder the imperial court sent troops to assist my father and drive Yuan Shu out of Runan."
Sun Ce gradually realized something.
This is using Sun Jian to curb Yuan Shu's development.
Among the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Jizhou and Yuzhou were the two richest states in the world. In the entire North China Plain, one in Henan and the other in Hebei had the largest population and the largest cultivated land area. The two states combined had a total population of 13 million.
Accounting for a quarter of the Han Dynasty's peak period.
If Yuan and Yuan occupy Henan and Hebei, and Yuan Shu also has Yangzhou, then they will become the two most powerful princes in the world. Unless the other princes unite, they will not be able to compete with them.
Therefore, the imperial court's support for Sun Jian was obviously for the purpose of checking Yuan Shu, and asked him to join forces with Liu Biao to confine Yuan Shu to Huainan and prevent him from going north.
The driving force behind all this was naturally Chen Mu, who was represented by Sun Jian and was the shepherd of Yuzhou.
Zhou Yu followed Sun Ce's words and said: "Exactly, since the imperial court's intention is to let uncle control Yuan Shu's development, and now that Yuan Shu is ready to regain his power, do you think the imperial court will be anxious, and will Dr. Guanglu be in a hurry?"
Are you in a hurry?"
"What does Gong Jin mean?"
Sun Ce asked tentatively.
"If my prediction is correct, I'm afraid Qingzhou's army has already set off long before the letter we sent arrived."
Zhou Yu chuckled and looked outside the door. It was already dark, the moonlight was bright, and the stars were dazzling.