The cold spring period has passed, the weather is gradually getting warmer, and Xiaopei is gradually becoming more alive.
In the prefect's mansion, Liu Bei was concentrating on making thick-soled cloth boots. At this time, two people hurriedly opened the door and walked into the room without saying hello.
"Brother, why are you still doing this?"
A rough voice rang in the room.
Hearing the sound and recognizing the person, Liu Bei had a smile on his face. He turned to face the two people who came in and said.
"Xuzhou is not rich either. We can save whatever we can to reduce the burden on the people."
As he said this, Liu Bei put down the cloth boots in his hands, picked up the two pairs of boots that had been made on the side, took a look at them, and handed them to the two of them respectively.
"Second brother, third brother, this is for you."
Guan Yu took the shoes with both hands and said softly: "Thank you, brother."
"Hey, that's a great feeling! Thank you, brother."
Zhang Fei's voice suddenly became cheerful when he saw that he still had his share. He quickly took the boots and put them on immediately.
As Zhang Fei took off his old boots, a smell of sweat spread in the room, but Liu Bei and Guan Yu didn't even raise an eyebrow. Instead, they happily watched Zhang Fei put on his new boots to show off.
"How about it?"
"Okay, okay, okay."
Are the boots made by Brother good?
Guan Yu first rolled up his boots and put them in his arms, and then he continued.
"By the way, brother, Wei State has sent a secret envoy to see you."
"At this time? What's going on?"
Liu Bei was a little surprised.
Zhang Fei recovered from the joy of receiving the gift and laughed at Liu Bei.
"This morning, we announced our alliance with Sun Ce. Cao Cao is afraid! He must be here to seek peace."
The strange thing is that we just announced this morning that Cao Cao's envoy arrived in Xiaopei a few hours later. Cao Cao is far away in Xuchang, and I'm afraid he hasn't received the news yet.
Then why did this emissary come? He must have known about the Chu-Han alliance along the way, but he still came to see him.
"Second brother, do you think I've seen you or not?"
Liu Bei frowned and couldn't help but hesitate.
Guan Yu stroked his long beard. He knew that his elder brother was hesitating whether to avoid suspicion, but.
"It doesn't hurt to meet him and see what new tricks he can come up with."
"Yes, yes! It's his grandma's. Back then, a hundred thousand troops came with great force and wanted to swallow up Xuzhou. Now I want to see his face begging for mercy."
Liu Bei laughed and ordered the two of them.
"Invite Commander Xu and Commander Zhuge to come. Let's meet this secret envoy in the side hall."
······
In the side hall, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Guan Yu, and Zhang Feihuan were sitting on it. There was no one else around, and a man walked in from the door.
Liu Bei was a little surprised. He didn't expect Cao Cao to appoint such a young person as a diplomatic envoy. The young man bowed deeply and said.
"Sima Yi, the general staff of the Wei State Army, pays homage to the King of Han."
When Han and Wei were at war, it was natural that they did not dare to send important ministers as envoys, but they did not want to send only one military staff officer. Are you afraid that my big man will kill the envoy? Cao Cao is the only one who can do this. He clearly uses the heart of a villain to judge the heart of a gentleman!
Guan Yu was full of contempt for Cao Cao and smiled coldly.
"The King of Wei seems to have no sincerity, so he sent one of your military staff here to beg for mercy?"
Unexpectedly, Sima Yi also laughed.
"No, no, the foreign minister is not here to ask for mercy, but to give a great gift to the King of Han."
Zhang Fei looked Sima Yi up and down with his big eyes, full of disbelief, and sneered.
"Hu Wai Wai Wai! Your hands are empty, how can you give us gifts with just one mouth?"
Sima Yi laughed several times and finally stopped. His eyes became sharp and edgy.
"The State of Wei is willing to send 100,000 troops to help the King of Han destroy the main force of the Chu army and kill Sun Ce. Then our army will withdraw from the south and give the entire Kingdom of Chu to the King of Han! How about this great gift?"
Help Xu Han annex the Chu Kingdom? !
Everyone in the hall was shocked and deeply shocked by this courage.
Zhang Fei's eyes almost popped out of his head, and Guan Yu frowned. Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang's faces became serious, their eyes were like a ball of beating flames, and they were thinking about various changes rapidly.
However, Sima Yi did not give up and continued speaking.
"In order to express my previous apology to the King of Han, since I set out from Xiaopei, General Xiahou has led the army to retreat, and Dongping and Rencheng have been returned to Xuzhou. In addition, the three cities of Pengcheng, Shouchun and Wujiang have been returned to Xuzhou. How about making amends to the King of Han?"
Even Liu Bei couldn't help but look shocked at this moment.
Cao Cao already knew about their alliance, and even knew that Sun Ce would attack Shouchun and form an alliance with him in Xiaopei, so Cao Cao proposed such a plan.
The huge benefits are exciting.
Cao Cao's move seemed to be a big loss, but in fact he only lost Shouchun, who was bound to be lost, but it collapsed the siege on three sides and directed the disaster to Sun Ce, while he could concentrate on dealing with Dong Zhuo.
But Liu Bei is not at a loss. If Cao Cao joins forces with him to annihilate the main force of Chu and kill Sun Ce, the land east of Jiangdong will be swallowed up by Xuzhou in an instant. It is too much to say that the entire Chu Kingdom is a bit exaggerated. After all, there are still 80,000 soldiers and horses of Tai Shici in Jingzhou, but there are only 20,000 defenders scattered throughout Jiangdong. Who can stop Xu Han's army after Sun Ce's death?
The rich Jiangdong is much better than the war-torn Yanzhou and Qingzhou.
It looks like a devilish fruit, exuding an alluring fragrance.
There was silence in the hall for a long time, and Liu Bei narrowed his eyes and said.
"I understand Wei Guo's sincerity. Sir, please go back and rest first. I will discuss it before replying to King Wei."
With confidence in mind, Sima Yi bowed deeply and said goodbye.
After Sima Yi left, Liu Bei glanced at everyone and asked.
"Let's talk about it, what do you think?"
"Brother, I'm a rough guy and don't understand these things. I'll do whatever you say!"
Zhang Fei didn't think much about it. Anyway, the eldest brother, second brother and the two military advisors were much smarter than him, so he just listened.
Guan Yu stroked his beard and frowned.
"Brother, although the benefits promised by Wei are great, I feel it is inappropriate. We have previously agreed to Sun Ce's covenant, and it is not a moral act to break the covenant for the sake of profit."
Liu Bei nodded thoughtfully and looked at Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang.
"What do the two military advisors think?"
Both of them were silent for a long time, and Xu Shu had a bitter look on his face. The alliance between Han and Wei and dividing the world into two was his national policy for Liu Bei.
To the north are the most powerful princes Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo, both of whom are strong-willed! Xu Shu meant to leave it to Cao Cao to gnaw. They only helped Cao Cao when Cao Cao couldn't hold on. Liu Bei, on the other hand, conquered Yuan Shu in the west, went south to Jiangdong, and then defeated the weak Liu Biao and Liu Zhang. By then, Liu Bei's great cause will be mostly successful.
But who would have thought that Cao Cao's 80,000 troops could overthrow Yuan Shao's 400,000 troops overnight. Then the Yuan brothers turned against each other, allowing Cao Cao to reap the benefits and unify the north, becoming a behemoth with 300,000 troops. When facing the three targets of Dong Zhuo, Sun Ce, and Liu Bei, it is obvious who will become his next prey.
The fragile friendship between Han and Wei was easily torn apart, and the two families fought against each other.
As Guan Yu said, how could he swing the butcher's knife forward to help Liu Bei deal with Cao Cao's Sun Ce? Even though Xu Shu knew that Sun Ce only wanted revenge and weakened powerful enemies, he didn't really want to help Liu Bei.
"I agree with what General Guan said."
Seeing Xu Shu's answer, Zhuge Liang sighed.
In terms of strategy and tactics, Xu Shu may not be much inferior to him, but he is prone to being emotional and even giving up the most beneficial policy. It should be noted that for the country, the most important thing is interests, not feelings. This is why the teacher ranked Pang Tong above Xu Shu.
"My lord, Liang thinks we should agree to cooperate with Wei."
Everyone's eyes instantly fell on Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang was put in high regard when he first arrived in Xuzhou, and Xu Shu highly praised him. Zhuge Liang also proved himself in the battle with Xiahou Dun. But in the hearts of everyone, Xu Shu's status is probably higher. This is probably the so-called preconception.
At this moment, seeing Zhuge Liang's suggestion of "seeing benefits and forgetting one's righteousness", Guan Yu couldn't help showing a cold look in his eyes.
Zhuge Liang could also feel this pressure. He knew this would happen before he spoke, but he still said it. This is his mission and his loyalty to the king.
"Lord, if we cooperate with Sun Ce to defeat Cao Cao, how will the situation in the world change?"
He took out the map from the side and hung it up, then continued.
"No matter how powerful Cao Cao is, he will never be able to stop the siege from Qin, Chu and Han on three sides. What my eldest brother said when he went to Xiapi as an envoy to divide the three families into Wei is definitely not a lie."
"We will get Yanzhou and Qingzhou then, but what's the next step?"
Zhuge Liang pointed at the map and looked around the crowd and said.
"Next step, we must compete with Dong Zhuo for the four states of Hebei. With Dong Zhuo, who has the best cavalry in the world, fight for the four states of Hebei in the north of the vast plains?!"
"If we don't compete with Dong Zhuo for Hebei, and we don't attack Jiangdong and Yuzhou, we can only attack Sili Prefecture. To the west of Yanzhou is Hulao Pass. It was only the Eighteenth Route princes who conquered Dong Zhuo's Hulao Pass. Now we have to Attack on your own.”
"The worst-case scenario is that Dong Zhuo takes the four states of Hebei, and Sun Ce takes Shuchuan and Hanzhong. We will be crushed between the two great powers."
Except for Xu Shu, everyone's expressions became solemn, and Zhuge Liang continued.
"Of course, this game of chess is not without moves. After we capture Yanzhou and Qingzhou, if Sun Ce attacks Shu, we will abrogate the alliance and help Shu in the name of attacking the Han clan clan. If Qin attacks Hebei, we will Join forces with Cao Cao to fight against Dong's thieves."
"Although there is no way to move, this is a backwater."
If all parties try to restrain themselves, it is likely to return to the predicament of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Is it really necessary to continue fighting for hundreds of more years until the next "Qin Shihuang" comes to reunify China?
Everyone fell into deep thought.
"Now, Cao Cao is willing to give in and make this game of chess come alive!"
Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei's eyes met, and he finally proposed a new national policy to Liu Bei at this time.
"The first step is to put Sun Ce's main force into Xuzhou, let Cao Cao cut off his retreat and attack us from both front and back, annihilate Chu's 100,000 troops, and kill Sun Ce! Once Sun Ce dies, Jiangdong will definitely fall into our hands."
"In the second step, Sun Ce is killed in battle, Jiangdong is completely devastated, and there will be chaos in Jingzhou and Jiaozhou. Taking advantage of his army's uncertainty, we quickly send troops. We are 70% sure that we can defeat it in one battle and capture all the Chu territory!"
"The third step is to take Shuchuan and Hanzhong from the west. The lord's foundation will be as stable as a rock."
"Finally, we can wait for the world to change and send out troops from Hanzhong, Jingzhou, and Xuzhou to fight for the world and achieve imperial hegemony."
Liu Bei relied heavily on Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang. He knew that both of them were great talents, but only now did he understand why Xu Shu admired Zhuge Liang so much, and even gave Zhuge Liang the position of military advisor offering wine when recommending Zhuge Liang to him.
He couldn't help but sigh.
"Liu Bei is so lucky to have the help of Kong Ming and Yuan Zhi! Kong Ming's words made me suddenly enlightened, but it's a pity that I can't agree."
"Does my lord really want to give up the dominance that is within reach for the sake of morality?"
Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang's confused eyes, then looked around at everyone, and said.
"Cao Cao is impatient with others, but I am kind to others; Cao Cao is violent to others, but I am kind to others; Cao Cao is weird to others, but I am sincere to others. He is always the opposite of me, so people all over the world call him a hero. And call me a wise king; that's why Tao Gong gave Xuzhou to me, so that I could separate myself to one side; that's why countless heroes from all over the world came to join me, a weak prince. This is the foundation of my life, if I betray for the sake of profit How can morality and justice be faced by the people of the world?"
