During the Mid-Autumn Festival, although the weather in the north is getting colder and colder, the nights are getting brighter and brighter.
The round moon hangs in the night sky, and its silver light shines on the earth.
Chen Mu was sitting cross-legged on the porch, playing a chess game with Ju Shou.
Everything in heaven and earth is a chessboard, and the princes in the world are chess pieces.
Jushou held the black piece, casually deployed a back move, and said with a smile: "Zigui, yesterday the Military Intelligence Department sent an official document to Huai County?"
"Um."
Chen Mu nodded: "I sent it."
"Transfer Lu Bu away?"
Ju asked.
Yan Zhong is over sixty years old and is in poor health due to his age. He has retired to Qingzhou for his retirement.
In addition, Tai Shici has separated from the intelligence system and transferred to the military, and is not in the Military Intelligence Department system.
Therefore, their positions in the Military Intelligence Department have been replaced by Ju Shou and Xun Yu. Both of them are good at strategic analysis and are more suitable for the current situation.
Chen Mu said: "Yuan Shao can't hold on for long, it's time to make plans for the south."
"It's a wonderful move to drive a tiger and swallow a wolf."
Jushou sighed.
Chen Mu said with a smile: "Yes, I placed the Sun family in Yuzhou originally to restrict Cao Cao's development, but now the Sun family's development has exceeded my expectations, and Cao Cao must be allowed to restrict them in Huainan."
Jushou pondered and said, "Aren't you afraid that they will unite?"
Chen Mu raised the sky with his left hand and said softly: "There is still someone who is suppressing him now, and Cao Sun dares not fight among himself, but once that person is gone, what do you think will happen? How can we allow others to snore on the side of the bed?
There is no natural barrier between Yuzhou and Yanzhou, they are both plains. Do you think they can unite?"
"That's true."
Jushu nodded, held the chess piece in his hand and rubbed it for a while, then slowly dropped a piece.
Both Cao Cao and Sun Jian were openly loyal to the imperial court. There was still an emperor in the imperial court, so there was a sense of righteousness. Once Liu Yu was gone and the new emperor did not ascend the throne, Sun Jian and Cao Cao could still be harmonious, but the ghosts would come.
Just like the end of the Western Han Dynasty, when Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty died and Ru Ziying had not yet ascended the throne, Wang Mang directly usurped the throne. The order immediately collapsed and the world was in chaos.
In fact, the world of the Eastern Han Dynasty is also in chaos now. However, the remote places of Youzhou, Xiliang, Yizhou, Jiangdong, Jingzhou, and Jiaozhou are full of separatist forces. The place near Luoyang is at least a little more peaceful.
The reason why the place closer to Luoyang is slightly better is because if a prince disobeys the court, those princes who pretend to be the court's righteousness will gather together to attack them.
For example, Tao Qian also obeyed the imperial court in his early years, but he became ambitious for a while, and was eliminated by Cao Cao and Liu Bei in the name of the imperial court.
Therefore, once Cao Cao and Sun Jian dare to rebel against the imperial court, the surrounding forces will not mind being ordered to punish the thieves and take action on them.
In this way, the forces around Luoyang, except for the ambitious Yuan Shao, will basically maintain a superficial peace.
But once the emperor of Luoyang dies and order collapses, it will be another story.
The emperor is gone, so what kind of righteousness is there to fear?
Cao Cao or Sun Jian directly accused the other party of plotting to rebel and usurp the throne, and just attacked first.
As long as Henan is unified, plus the Huainan and Huaibei regions, in terms of overall strength, we will still be able to compete with Hebei.
But the beauty of Chen Mu's strategy is that he has been stirring up the muddy waters in the south, making it impossible for the Sun and Cao families to grow.
First, they occupied the northern part of Xuzhou and planted a nail of the Qingzhou Group in Huaibei.
Then he sent Lu Bu to Huainan to join forces with Yuan Shu and constantly harass Sun Jian and Cao Cao.
After Sun defeated Yuan Shu and marched into Huainan, he transferred Lu Bu away, allowing Cao Cao to get part of Huainan.
Use Sun Jian to suppress Cao Cao, then use Lu Bu to suppress Sun Cao, and finally use Cao Cao to suppress Sun Jian.
Such divisions, conflicts, and interlocking forces have kept the South in a state of war and cannot be unified by any force.
Although everyone knows that lips are cold and teeth are broken, Cao Cao and Sun probably couldn't understand that once Liu Bei took charge of Hebei, facing a loosely structured south, he would be unstoppable.
However, it was impossible for them to unite together, because the reason is the reason, but why did Sun Quan still stab Liu Bei in the back later? Didn't the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty know that uniting with the Jin Kingdom to destroy the Liao Kingdom, and uniting with Mongolia to destroy the Jin Kingdom was a bad strategy?
But there was no way. If Sun Quan wanted to dominate, Jingzhou had to be in his hands. The Northern Song Dynasty was because he was stupid, and Song Huizong turned himself into a joke. The Southern Song Dynasty was because the Jin State was pressing harder and harder during the Jin Xuanzong period.
The national policy of "compensating the Song Dynasty" forced the Southern Song Dynasty to embark on a path of allying with Mongolia to destroy the Jin Dynasty.
So again, unless the Sun and Cao families have no desires and have 100% trust in each other, it will be impossible for them to rely on each other and unite to fight against Liu Bei.
Now that the Sun family has acquired part of the Huainan area such as Jiujiang, Lujiang, etc., this will inevitably lead to a situation where Sun is strong and Cao Cao is weak. In order to balance them, Cao Cao must also gain control of another part of the Huainan area in Pi Guangling. Therefore, by transferring Lu Bu, it becomes
The best choice.
Once Liu Yu is dead and Liu Bei occupies the north, he can naturally sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, watching Cao Cao, Sun Jian and Liu Biao beat each other and argue with each other. When the three parties are fighting to the death and the dog's brain is about to come out, the north will naturally sweep down, and a
A tidy up.
The plan was perfect. Even if the Sun and Cao families knew it was a trap, they could only bravely jump into it.
Only Lu Bu is a problem.
Lu Bu always thought that he was assigned by the imperial court to be in Xuzhou, and fully expected that the imperial court would recruit him back to serve as a high official. If he knew that the man behind the scenes was Chen Mu, who was the Liu Group who beat him to the point of vomiting blood, there is no guarantee that this guy would not
What kind of storm will it cause?
Jushou naturally thought of this problem and asked: "If this is the case, how do you plan to arrange it, Lu Bu? This is a fierce tiger."
Chen Mu laughed: "Tiger? It's just a jackal. I asked him to go east, but he didn't dare to go west. I asked him to chase dogs, but he didn't dare to crush chickens. A brave man can only kill a hundred people in battle, so what? When he arrived in Luoyang
Summon him into the city. According to the law, the army cannot enter. If you just ambush five hundred swordsmen and axes, he will be killed."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "You want to kill him?"
Ju asked.
Chen Mu held a chess piece and hesitated for a moment. After a moment, he gently dropped it and said, "That's not the case. If Lu Bu is obedient, he can save his life. Then I will have someone recommend him as the shepherd of Bingzhou, so as not to take it away in the future."
These northern tribes in the world are jumping out to cause trouble for me."
Jushou thought for a while, pointed at Chen Mu and laughed: "Zigui, Zigui, what a fox. Let Lu Bu go to Bingzhou, not only can it help you block the northern tribes, but also clean up the remaining high-ranking cadres and cut off Yuan Shaobei.
The idea of fleeing to unite the states and Xianbei Huns and other Xiongnu tribes and go south is another trick to drive away tigers and devour wolves. This trick is so true that you can understand it."
Chen Mu smiled and said nothing. The inventor of the strategy was Xun Yu, but he was the one who carried it forward. Sun Cao's balancing strategy itself is similar to the Emperor's Mind Technique and Dai Ying Wan's continental balance strategy. The difference is that Dai Ying only has this size.
, the land area is not as good as that of the island country on the east coast, and even if it has industrial advantages, it can't do anything.
And our Yangyang Huaxia is very large. We use a balancing strategy to first keep Sun and Cao at an average level, and no one can do anything about them. When Liu Bei annexes Hebei and is several times larger than Sun and Cao, Sun and Cao will join forces.
Cao Cao no longer had the ability to resist, and his army moved south, so he had no choice but to surrender.
Then send Lu Bu to Bingzhou, first deal with the remnants of high-ranking cadres, and then deal with all Xiutu tribes. Even if Lu Bu has not beaten the Xianbei and Huns, it doesn't matter. Anyway, Lu Bu is not on his side. Let them go dog-eat-dog, etc.
In the future, when Sun Cao is dealt with, Liu Biao is defeated, and Yizhou is attacked from Guanzhong and Jingzhou at the same time, and the Han Dynasty is conquered, it doesn't matter if we deal with the north again.
Therefore, Chen Mu's strategic layout was to prepare for the army to go south in the future. Because the Sun family did not go to Jiangdong, Liu Biao was old and weak, and there were naval forces in Jingzhou and Qingzhou. Therefore, after Liu Bei annexed the north, his strength was stronger than that of Chibi.
Cao Cao was still strong before the war. As long as there was no more burning Red Cliff, it would be unrealistic to want to divide the world into three parts.
Now, for Chen Mu, the only thing left is to wait until Yuan Shao is overthrown and Liu Yu dies.
.......
.......
Luoyang.
The howling north wind blew the hills, and the two-hundred-kilometer-long Mangshan Mountains were already a withered, yellow, and dead world.
Except for maple leaves and some evergreen trees, many plants have begun to wither.
The world in Luoyang has been very cold recently, with continuous heavy rains.
Although the Taihang Mountains in the north block most of the north wind from the grasslands, the Qinling Mountains in the west and the Funiu Mountains in the south create the characteristics of the Luoyang Basin.
Therefore, in later generations, Luoyang became a rainy season every summer. Especially in summer and autumn, the weather was very sultry, with the highest temperature reaching more than 30 degrees. In spring and winter, the weather became even colder, with the lowest temperature in January reaching
More than ten degrees below zero.
But don’t forget that this was in later generations. The Han Dynasty was in the Little Ice Age. Summers would only get hotter and winters would get colder. And autumn happened to be the period from hot to cool. There were still 20 or 30 degrees during the day.
The temperature drops suddenly to more than ten degrees at night, and the temperature difference between day and night is huge.
In this case, it is easy for ordinary people to catch a cold, let alone the elderly with weak constitutions.
So when we look at history, we often see that many historical celebrities died of illness in the spring or summer.
certainly.
Some people may have questions, why do people get sick in winter and not die until spring or summer?
That's because historical celebrities are often high-ranking officials who have precious medicinal materials to prolong their lives. If ordinary people are likely to die of illness within two days, how can they survive until the second year?
Moreover, people’s physiques are also different. In ancient times, there were no antibiotics, and many diseases could only be fought by one’s own body.
You will get sick in winter, but you may not die in winter.
For example, Cao Cao fell ill in the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an and died that month. Sun Quan fell ill in winter and November of the first year of Taiyuan, and did not die until summer and April of the first year of Shenfeng the following year.
Therefore, winter is indeed a season when it is easy to get sick. This is also very common in later generations. However, in later generations, everyone has cold medicines, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory drugs, so that a small illness will not kill people.
However, there were no such things in the late Han Dynasty. Once you catch a cold, if you don't take medicine and take a good rest, it will lead to pneumonia or other acute inflammations, which can kill you immediately.
What Liu Yu had was not a cold, but his body was getting older and his body constitution and resistance were declining. Especially after the cold he had suffered a few years ago, his health was getting worse and worse.
Not everyone can live as long as Zhao Qi. With the medical level of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, it is still very difficult to ensure that a 60-year-old man can be free from illness and disaster.
During this autumn rain, Liu Yu relapsed and fell on the hospital bed.
In the West Palace, the residence of the Emperor, and Liu Yu's bedroom, a strong smell of soup overflowed.
After visiting the emperor who was already in a comatose state, Zhao Wenshi, Sun Rui and others walked out of the palace and came to the outer hall.
The Imperial Physician of the Outer Palace was already waiting for them. When he saw them coming out, he hurriedly greeted them.
Previously, doctors from the Imperial Medical Office and several palace maids and eunuchs were accompanying him. After the ministers came to visit His Majesty, they were asked to come out first. Unfortunately, the Emperor did not wake up.
Zhao Wen asked: "Mr. Wu, how is your Majesty's condition?"
The imperial doctor shook his head: "Your Majesty's old illness has relapsed. In addition, your body is already weak and the autumn and winter are freezing. I'm afraid your dragon body won't be able to hold on for long."
"How long can I last?"
Zhao Wen is also sixty-two years old. So many old friends have died of illness one after another, so he is tolerant of life, old age, illness and death. However, the country is now unstable, Yuan Shao has not been destroyed, and Hejian is still in chaos.
A few days ago, Yang Biao took great risks and set out to Jizhou to select the emperor's heir. He has not yet been selected. If Liu Yu also dies of illness, who will inherit the throne?
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The imperial physician Ling said awkwardly: "This is something I cannot know, but looking at the current situation, I am afraid it will be difficult to survive this winter."
"This winter?"
Zhao Wen muttered to himself and glanced at Shisun Rui. Both of them slowly closed their eyes, their faces full of unwillingness.
Now that His Majesty's body is in this state, they have no choice but to hope that Yang Biao will make progress as soon as possible. Otherwise, the country will not be without a master for a day. At that time, it will be difficult to issue central government orders, and the prestige will not be able to subdue the four parties. I am afraid that the Han Dynasty will be difficult to maintain.
How long.
"Take good care of Your Majesty. Don't stop the medicine. We will come to visit Your Majesty tomorrow."
Shi Sunrui made an explanation before leaving.
After the minister left, a young eunuch in his thirties who was waiting on the side suddenly asked the imperial physician: "Mr. Wu, can your majesty really not be able to hold on for much longer? Your majesty is such a good person, why doesn't God let him live longer?"
What about ten years?”
The imperial doctor smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty is kind-hearted, and I also hope that your Majesty can live a long life, but God cannot grant your wish."
"well."
The other two imperial physicians around, Ling Cheng, also shook their heads.
"I see."
The young eunuch also had a bitter look on his face.
The imperial doctor's order warned: "Your Majesty is sleeping today and may wake up in the middle of the night. If your Majesty wakes up, send someone to the Imperial Medical Office. We will keep boiling the soup and give it to your Majesty at any time."
"Um."
The eunuch nodded, turned around, opened the bead curtain and entered the emperor's palace.
Liu Yu was lying on the couch. There was only a middle-aged palace maid and an old eunuch serving and accompanying Liu Yu in the palace.
Nowadays, the maids and eunuchs in the entire palace tend to age. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there were thousands of maids and eunuchs in the palace.
During the Shi Changshi Rebellion, Yuan Shao led his men into the palace and killed countless eunuchs and maidens.
Later, during Dong Zhuo's rebellion and the capital was moved to Chang'an, the palace maids and eunuchs experienced a lot of life and death. When Chen Mu brought the ministers back, only a few hundred palace personnel were left out of the thousands.
When Liu Yu became the emperor, he dismissed many eunuchs and maids, gave them some property, and let them make a living on their own. There were dozens of people left. The youngest eunuch who entered the palace at the age of twelve is now more than thirty.
The age-old Wang surname is "Little Eunuch".
The old eunuch was Liu Yu's only regular servant. He was already very old, even older than Liu Yu. This man was Lu Qiang who was saved by Chen Mu. He was an upright man, but he was very old. Wait.
As the sun gradually set and the only sound of wind and rain could be heard outside, he had already dozed off.
Time slowly reached midnight, and Liu Yu slowly woke up.
"Your Majesty is awake."
The middle-aged palace maid said in surprise.
The young eunuch said quickly: "Keep your voice down. Don't disturb His Majesty and Changshi Lu. The imperial doctor ordered that if Your Majesty wakes up, go to the Imperial Medical Office to call them. They have boiled the decoction. You can quickly bring the medicine."
"Hey, okay."
The palace maids knew that it was their palace maids who had been doing the job of serving soup and medicine. After all, eunuchs were careless and easy to make mistakes, so they did not become suspicious and turned around and went out.
After she left, the young eunuch surnamed Wang slowly walked to Liu Yu, glanced at Lu Qiang who was napping not far away, and then looked at Liu Yu who was gradually waking up. After hesitating for a moment, he knelt down before Liu Yu.
In front of the bed, he shouted softly.
"His Majesty."
"What's wrong?"
Liu Yu had already woken up and looked at him with slightly dull eyes.
There was a candle on the table next to it. The candle reflected the little eunuch's body, and the shadow trembled like chaff in a sieve.
he said.
"The late emperor, King Chenliu, and your majesty's son, request your majesty to abdicate the throne to Liu Bei and Liu Xuande!"