"What does Yuan Long mean?" Liu Bei asked in shock.
"Cao Cao's initial move may be intended to force the emperor, but after taking Peixian County without any blood, he will definitely attack Pi in one go. Xuzhou is a flat river. If the emperor continues to stay here, once Xiapi is lost, the emperor will definitely be defeated. There is no way to escape death. For the current plan, only if you lead the troops south to seize Guangling and unite with Liu Biao, Liu Yao and other Han clan members, Cao Cao will not dare to continue the persecution!"
"But Gongzu (Tao Qian's name, the former governor of Xuzhou) handed over Xuzhou to Bei, and it was so easy that it was captured by Cao's thieves in just one spring and Autumn period. How can Bei..."
Before Liu Bei finished speaking, another messenger arrived.
"Report...Cao Cao's generals Cao Chun and Cao Ren, leading 30,000 tiger and leopard cavalry, have assembled in Pei County and may march to Xiapi at any time!"
"Wow! That's too much to bully. Brother, give me 20,000 soldiers and horses, and I'll go meet the Cao family kid for a while!"
"No! The tiger and leopard cavalry are well-equipped and good at fighting. Even if the three generals are one against a hundred, they can't defeat the opponent's overwhelming numbers. What's more, Xiapi is currently isolated and helpless, and both Liu Biao and Liu Yao are beyond their reach. Moreover, the opponent uses family matters as an excuse. The tiger and leopard cavalry dispatched are also private troops of the Cao family. There is no reason for the public or private troops to send troops! For the current plan, as Yuan Long said, the best choice is to go south to Guangling." Zhang Miao persuaded. .
Seeing that Liu Bei was already wavering, Chen Deng continued to persuade: "The envoy can gather all the troops and horses in the city and take all his cronies with him to go south to Guangling. Deng's father is old and cannot travel long distances, so he will not go with the envoy." , Cao Cao’s occupation of Xuzhou is a small one, and the main purpose is to deal with the envoy. Please rest assured, just stay here and do your best to deal with Cao Cao!”
Liu Bei saw that there was no other better way, so he had no choice but to do this. In the end, most of the officials under Tao Qian's account, including Mi Zhu, Mi Fang, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, etc., were willing to follow Liu Bei south, not to mention the new recruits Zhang Miao, Chen Gong and others!
As the saying goes, soldiers are expensive and fast, so everyone did not waste much time. They went home and packed up their belongings and went south together with Liu Bei. Liu Bei and Zhang Fei led 30,000 soldiers and horses to go south first, and Guan Yu led 10,000 soldiers and horses to follow!
What Liu Bei didn't expect was that after the people in the city learned about this, many people were willing to follow him with their families. Chen Deng couldn't help but sigh that Liu Bei's personality charm was really impressive. Tao Qian had been running Xuzhou for more than ten years, but he was not as good as Liu Bei. Liu Bei gained public support in just a few months. It's a pity that Liu Bei was born at the wrong time, I hope he can have a good ending...
In the end, Liu Bei couldn't resist the goodwill of the people, so he had no choice but to agree to follow.
...
On the morning of the third day, smoke and dust billowed outside Xiapi City, and the violent sound of horse hooves shook the city walls as if they were shaking.
'If Cao Cao had trained such elite troops two years earlier, I wonder if Xu Yuanzhi would have had the confidence to hold on to Wudu...'
Chen Deng, who had received the news early and stood outside the city gate, couldn't help but sigh while looking at the majestic cavalry in the distance.
Soon, Hubao rode close to Xiapi City. The leader shouted: "Stop!" The troops gradually slowed down their horses, and after a few breaths, they stopped neatly about a hundred meters in front of Chen Deng.
The first general drew his horse and stepped forward slowly, came to Chen Deng and stared condescendingly into Chen Deng's eyes.
"But Sikong is sitting down in front of Cao Chun, who is sitting on a tiger and leopard horse riding guard? I wonder why you came to my place in Xiapi?"
Chen Deng clasped his fists and said doubtfully.
Seeing that the other party had a calm temperament and was neither humble nor arrogant in the face of a large army, Cao Chun couldn't help but think highly of him. He cupped his fists and said, "Sir, you have good eyesight. A certain family is Cao Chun. I wonder where Liu Shijun is? When you see the imperial envoy, why don't you welcome him?" ?What do you want?"
After hearing this, Chen Deng did not panic, but showed a puzzled expression and asked in surprise: "Why do you say this, sir? Master Sikong ordered Liu Shijun to go south to attack Yuan Shu. Liu Shijun did not dare to neglect after returning to Xiapi. Reorganize the troops and horses, march southward at starry night to attack Yuan, and calculate the time, and we should arrive in Shouchun territory by now."
Cao Chun narrowed his eyes and stared at Chen Deng closely.
"Who are you? Can you make the decision?"
"I am Chen Deng, the captain of Xuzhou Diannong School. Liu Shijun said before leaving that Deng will be fully responsible for everything in Xuzhou." Chen Deng bowed and said.
"Oh? Are you Chen Deng, Chen Yuanlong?"
As he spoke, Cao Chun turned over and dismounted from his horse. There was a bit of excitement in his words, which made Chen Deng quite puzzled.
Cao Chun didn't think too much. He directly grasped the opponent's hands and said excitedly: "I've heard Yuanlong's name for a long time. Last year's harvest was not good. Thanks to Chen Deng of Xuzhou, he planted the grains properly and went to the fields to supervise the autumn harvest. Not only did the people under Xuzhou live and work in peace and contentment, , and even donated excess grain and grass to surrounding states and counties. This prevented our Central Plains from suffering a large-scale famine!
Before leaving, Master Sikong once said that if he sees Chen Yuanlong in Xuzhou, he must thank Mr. Gao Yi on his behalf for saving tens of thousands of people in the Central Plains! "
After saying that, Cao Chun took two steps back and bowed to Chen Deng. Behind him, the sound of dismounting with ropes tethered could be heard. Tens of thousands of tiger and leopard riders knelt on one knee and shouted loudly: "Thank you Mr. Yuanlong for your righteousness. Save tens of thousands of people in the Central Plains from fire and water!"
The sound shook the surrounding areas, causing birds and beasts in the forest to fly. The few remaining people in the city also looked here in surprise, wondering what had happened.
The person involved, Chen Deng, was at a loss. When he came to his senses, he could only smile and shake his head, and walked a few steps to help Cao Chun who was standing up.
At this moment, he naturally understood that both he and Chen Gong were being plotted and controlled by Cao Cao, or rather by Guo Jia, the so-called genius behind Cao Cao.
Not to mention whether Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, died in Xuzhou, such a quick raid on Peixian County clearly showed that he had already seen the layout of Xiapi, Peixian County, and Guangling that he had envisioned before.
Previously, they were reorganizing their troops in Peixian County and were ready to raid Xiapi at any time. Now I think that the attack was fake, and the real purpose should be to force Liu Bei to go south to Guangling.
In Chen Deng's opinion, the reason why the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry took nearly two days to arrive at Xiapi was probably to give Liu Bei time to take away all the people who were loyal to him! In this way, you can easily get a Xuzhou without any worries!
As for whether Liu Bei will join forces with Liu Biao and Liu Yao after he goes south to Guangling, that is another story. At least for the current Cao Cao, he will directly face the more powerful Jingzhou and Yangzhou! It would be better to face Liu Bei who has insufficient self-protection.
The reason why Cao Chun treated him so politely may have been Cao Cao's favor, but in Chen Deng's view, it was more about finding a reason not to pursue Liu Bei!
'Living in this troubled world, anyone who can become a giant is indeed no mediocre person. This is the case for King Hongnong, the same for Yuan Shao, and the same for Cao Cao! '
Thinking of this, Chen Deng felt much calmer! Even more chatting and laughing with Cao Chun!
Three days later, Chen Deng returned to Xuchang with the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Needless to say, Cao Cao praised him again. Since Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, resigned from his post, Cao Cao directly appointed Chen Deng as the prefect of Chenliu!
Another day later, news came from the scouts at the front that Liu Bei did not attack Yuan Shu as promised before, but went directly south to occupy Guangling, which had become a land without one. This made Cao Cao quite annoyed, but Liu Bei thought about it. For the sake of Your Majesty and his loyalty to the imperial court, Cao Cao ignored the past grievances and just removed Liu Bei from the post of governor of Xuzhou and appointed him as the governor of Guangling.
Subsequently, Cao Cao appointed Lu Zhao as the magistrate of Peixian County, Zhu Ling as the governor of Xiapi, and Che Zhou as the governor of Xuzhou. At this point, Cao Cao still captured Runan and Xuzhou successively despite Yuan Shao's troops. After He Sian received the news, he was deeply impressed!
Among the many princes, the area occupied by Cao Cao may not be as vast as that of He Sian and Yuan Shao, but in terms of overall strength, it has far exceeded the Yizhou occupied by He Sian, and even suppressed Yuan Shao, becoming the strongest prince in the world!
Guangling
Since Liu Bei brought many people with him, it was already ten days after arriving at Guangling. Ironically, the eunuchs responsible for delivering orders to Cao Cao had already been waiting here for Liu Bei for more than three days!
Cao Cao's move was obviously deliberate, intended to humiliate Liu Bei for being so smart, but Cao Cao had everything under his control!
This made Liu quite embarrassed when he was granted the title. Although Chen Gong and others behind him were angry, they were helpless.
Fortunately, Chen Gong, Zhang Miao, Mi Zhu, Jian Yong and others are not from the same group. Now that the matter has come to this, there is no need to think about right and wrong. And for Liu Bei, instead of worrying about it all day in Xuzhou, it is better to stay in Xuzhou. Guangling comes at ease.
Soon, with the help of Chen Gong, Liu Bei carried out a series of measures!
First, Sun Qian and Jian Yong were ordered to send envoys to Jingzhou and Yangzhou respectively, indicating that they were members of the Han clan and should work together in the same boat. Liu Biao and Liu Biao also agreed with Liu Bei's views. Although the three parties were not in alliance, they did not dare to act easily in the eyes of outsiders. Move any one of them, after all, we are not stupid people, and we still understand the truth of death and coldness.
Then everyone performed their duties, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Chao, Mi Fang, etc. were responsible for rectifying the military; Zhang Miao, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, Mi Zhu, etc. were responsible for internal affairs such as farming and farming; Chen Gong served as the first officer under Liu Bei's account The duty of a counselor is to lead the overall situation.
Guangling had already gone through the wars and plunders during the Yuan Shu period, and the people left behind had been tortured. Naturally, they welcomed the new arrival of the famous Ambassador Liu. In addition, with the people who went south together, they were all united for a while. , the dilapidated Guangling County was actually managed by Liu Bei in an orderly manner, and the momentum was far greater than before!
Xuchang
Since Guo Jia returned, he continued to perform his duties as the military sacrificial wine of Sikong Prefecture as if without any influence. Not only did he make a plan to drive Liu Bei away and take Xuzhou by surprise! He even tried his best to help Cao Cao with his plans.
If it was just like this, it wouldn't cause too much controversy, but Guo Jia's next move made everyone stunned!
Guo Jia is twenty-seven years old, and he can be considered a real older youth in this era. Although he often hangs out in brothels, he has no intention of marrying a wife or taking concubines. Everyone has long been accustomed to it!
However, after returning this time, Guo Jia unexpectedly announced that he was going to marry his wife, Dong Cheng, the daughter of the prisoner Dong Cheng he had met in a brothel. He married eight concubines, all of whom came from brothels...
