Chen Chong visited Cai Yong twice more in the past ten days. Seeing that Dong Bai's whereabouts were not exposed, he gradually felt relieved and started preparing for the Eastern Expedition.
As for the Eastern Expedition, there was actually not much that Chen Chong and Liu Bei could do.
As early as the beginning of their arrival in Beijing, Chen Chong and Liu Bei had made plans in private. After confirming the victory of the war, the most important thing was the eastern expedition to Linzi. Just how to do it depends on the situation. After all, after such a horrific bloody battle, no matter how brave the people of Bingzhou were to sacrifice, they had to rest and recuperate for a while.
Therefore, when Liu Bei returned to Beijing from Bingzhou, he only brought 30,000 troops. Ten thousand of them will be used as the team to rebuild the Northern Army. There are only 20,000 people who actually follow Liu Bei out of Hangu eastward and serve as the main force of the Eastern Expedition.
Moreover, during the successive wars between Liang and Bin, the loss of war horses was extremely serious, with nearly 60,000 horses lost. So after Chen Chong left the stallions behind, he could only provide Liu Bei with less than 8,000 war horses and only 10,000 pack horses. To the left and right, the scene of nearly 80,000 knights charging back and forth on the Dragon Head Plain will probably never be repeated again. But there is nothing to be done about it. The only good news is that although there are not enough war horses, there is plenty of armor. After distribution, basically everyone preparing for the Eastern Expedition is equipped with armor.
On December 23, after Chen Chong transferred 50,000 hu of wheat flour to the camp in the north of the city, all the grain, grass, baggage, heavy weapons and armor needed by the army were distributed.
As the New Year was approaching, Liu Bei had already promised that once the preparations were completed, the soldiers could go into the city to rest for a while. The soldiers were naturally overjoyed. After counting the supplies, they all went into the city to play one after another. Looking at the empty military camp, Chen Chong, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei had nothing to do for a while, so they simply rode their horses for a walk on the south bank of the Weishui River.
The snow is covered with snow, and the dry branches on both sides are also covered with snowflakes. When the slightest breeze blows, the willow branches will shake off a burst of snow, revealing the unique desolate atmosphere of winter. But the three of them didn't care. They talked about the future development, letting the horses' hooves leave traces on the snow, revealing the dead grass stems and leaves buried deep in the snow. Some ants crawled out, looking up at this great world, which looked like this at this moment. Crystal clear.
When Chen Chong was talking about the idea of taking back the small money and recasting the big money, Liu Bei looked at the deep river ice on the Wei River. He suddenly became excited and rode his horse on it. The horse's hoof stepped on the ice and made a crisp sound. This made Liu Bei extremely excited. With emotion, he said to Chen Chong: "You and I are like carps under the ice. Although we know how to go against the current, we can't see the sun above the ice!"
Chen Chong and Zhang Fei both smiled heartily, knowing that he was thinking about the replies of the Guandong princes a few days ago, so they all rode up to him. Chen Chong pointed his riding whip to the east and encouraged Liu Bei: "As long as the sun still shines, , the ice will definitely thaw."
Liu Bei followed Chen Chong's eyes and looked to the east. The weather was excellent at this time, the sun was shining high, and even the snow seemed to be the color of the sun. The fragrance of snow was everywhere in the mountains and forests, which made him imagine the vast land of Guandong. , is it the same situation?
In the past few days, Taiwei Ma Rixi, Situ Zhao Qi, and the new Yangzhou Mu who were envoys to Guandong have written back to the court, describing what they saw and heard in Guandong. It can be said that they did not go well.
The first was Situ Zhao Qi. He left Huguan from Shangdang and arrived at Ye County. He first had to meet Shen Pei and others who were stationed in Ye County. When the judge learned that the angel had arrived, he did not dare to delay. He immediately sent someone to escort Zhao Qi from Wei County all the way north to Bairen County, where he met Yuan Shao, the shepherd of Jizhou.
At this time, Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao were fighting back and forth at the border of Julu in Changshan. Gongsun Zan used his superior troops to win several battles first, but Yuan Shao had strong troops and did not suffer any serious losses in the end. After several battles, the Jizhou armies became increasingly adept at fighting. Now, Gongsun Zan gradually gained the upper hand, so Gongsun Zan did not dare to make any moves easily. The two sides faced off across the river at Gan River.
After learning about Zhao Qi's arrival, Yuan Shao was as expected by Chen Chong. He treated Zhao Qi with the utmost courtesy. He always addressed Zhao Qi as Duke Zhao and acted as a courtesy. He prepared food and clothing for Zhao Qi, which was considered a luxury.
However, when he learned that the imperial court had ordered him and the two to stop fighting, Yuan Shao finally showed a look of trouble. After all, he had been fighting hard for a year and saw that he had an advantage. Just when he was about to regain the lost territory, the imperial court asked him to negotiate. It was really hard for him to reconcile.
Fortunately, Qi Bijia engaged in Jushu's remonstrance and said: "Ming Gong was originally a county governor, but he was appointed as a prefecture pastor. This is because Ming Gong's trustworthiness is more important than anything else and his reputation for loyalty is widely spread! But when Han Gong died, Chaos broke out, and Gongsun Zan took advantage of the situation to raise troops. We have been fighting until now and have not been able to quell the chaos. Why? It's all because although Duke Ming was supported by the prefectures and counties, he was not appointed by the imperial court after all. If his name is not correct, his words will not go smoothly. There are all these disasters! Now that the imperial court orders Duke Ming and Gongsun Zan to stop fighting, they are actually recognizing Duke Ming as the governor of the state. This is a lifeline, so why did Duke Ming refuse?"
Such an analysis immediately changed Yuan Shao's mind and agreed to peace talks between Zhao Qi and Gongsun Zan. Then Zhao Qi crossed the river to meet Gongsun Zan on the north bank. Gongsun Zan was now in dire straits. After learning the peace talks proposal, he was naturally happy to go there. The two sides met at the Fen River and reached an agreement. Yuan Shao appointed his brother Gongsun Fan as the Prime Minister of Zhongshan and his son Gongsun Zan. He continued to be the Prime Minister of Changshan, and both sides stopped their troops, and no war was allowed without any reason.
But regarding the Eastern Expedition to Gengcang, both parties said they would go back to inventory the supplies before discussing, and would reply to the court after one month.
On the other side, Taiwei Ma Rixi entered Nanyang from Wuguan and followed Danshui to Yin County. When Liu Biao heard about Ma Rixi's arrival, he immediately left Xiangyang to meet Taiwei in Deng County, forty miles north of the city. After the meeting, the two chatted happily, and finally Liu Biao and Ma Rixi sat together and entered Xiangyang City together.
When talking about the peace negotiations with Zhang Jin and the eastern expedition to Gengcang, Liu Biao claimed that Zhang Jin had repeatedly entered the country to plunder, and that he was not the cause of the trouble. Moreover, Zhang Jin had a secret collusion with Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha. The two met in secret to ask for prophecies, and they seemed to have the intention of establishing a separate kingdom and imitating the separation of Qin and Zhao Tuo.
As the governor of Jingzhou, how can I just sit back and watch such a serious harm to the country? It is his duty to eliminate evil and suppress thieves, so he is loyal to the country by fighting against them. If he stops fighting here, it may be detrimental to the country. If the imperial court insists on negotiating peace, please try to eliminate this worry first. Since you have no worries, you will naturally send troops to help in the Eastern Expedition.
Ma Rixi was originally doubtful and planned to go south to Jiaozhou to discuss matters with Zhang Jin. However, he was getting older and could not stand the humidity in the south. When he arrived in Jiangling, he began to fidget constantly. Finally, he fell ill in Xiaoling and could no longer go forward. , so he had to send someone to reply to the court and let the court try to deal with it.
The latest was Zhao Wen's reply. Chen Chong appointed Zhao Wen as the shepherd of Yangzhou. He originally had two plans. One was to make Yuan Shu stop his ridiculous behavior of attacking Yangzhou, and the other was to make Zhao Wen reorganize the order of Yangzhou. It is extremely important for the Eastern Expedition. If Yuan Shu could still take the overall situation into account and turn north to attack Qingxu, Chen Chong could still let him live.
When Zhao Wen arrived in Shouchun via Runan, Yuan Shu was still attacking Yangzhou. Within half a year, he had captured Jiujiang and Danyang counties. At this time, he was attacking Lujiang from the north and south. However, Lu Kang, the prefect of Lujiang, won the hearts of the people and defended the city with all his strength. Yuan Shu actually made no progress for half a year.
Lu Kang boldly said that Yuan Shu was unfaithful and unjust, and his talents were low. He could not conquer a city with ten times the number of people. Such deceivers and robbers were ashamed to be the sons of the Yuan family. Yuan Shu was furious when he heard this, and sent Qiao Rui, Zhang Xun, Sun Bi, Wu Jing, Sun Ce and other troops to continue attacking Lujiang, but they still can't defeat it.
Under such circumstances, as soon as Zhao Wen paid a visit to Yuan Shu, he only had time to mention the purpose of his visit. Yuan Shu then placed Zhao Wen under house arrest in a grand manner, snatched Zhao Wen's state animal seal and the Emperor's Jie Yue, claimed to the outside world that he had been appointed by the imperial court, and ordered his generals to step up the attack. Shu County, Juchao. Zhao Wen had no choice but to write down the situation in Yangzhou in handwriting, print his fingerprints, and send his followers back to Chang'an to report the news. He emphasized in the letter that with Yuan Shu's performance, not only would the war in Yangzhou be difficult to stop, but he himself might not be able to survive.
It should be said that the reactions of Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were in line with Liu Bei and Chen Chong's expectations. Although Liu Biao's matter was unexpected, there was still something that could be done. When it comes to Yuan Shu's actions, it is really speechless. According to Chen Chong's original plan, he planned to take advantage of the undecided public sentiment in Guandong and use the expedition to win over Gengcang to win over people, restore the court's reputation, and gradually regain the prefectures and counties. However, the current situation is still much lower than the two expected. Therefore, when Liu Bei rode his horse to the Wei River, he expressed such emotion.
Liu Bei turned to Chen Chong and asked, "Jizhou Youzhou said they would reply after the new year. Do you think they will send troops to assist?"
Chen Chong shrugged and replied: "Liu Bo'an is a loyal elder. After hearing the edict, he will definitely send troops to help. It's hard to say in Jizhou."
"Yuan Benchu, a man with a good reputation, will not be able to pluck out even a dime of his life."
"Yeah, maybe he can send some supplies and food, but I don't think it's possible for him to send troops to help."
"How will Jingzhou respond?"
"It's not difficult to do." Chen Chong frowned and analyzed: "Liu Jingsheng is unwilling to negotiate peace with Zhang Jin. It seems that he is afraid of Zhang Jin, but in fact he is afraid of Zhang Xian. After all, Jingnan is the heart of the heart, and Changsha goes north to Jiangling. It only takes one day. It is normal for him to have difficulty sleeping peacefully. After all, Liu Jingsheng took office alone, and his friendship with the big families in Jingbei has reached the limit. If he wants to influence Jingnan, he can only use the pretense of war. "
"It's similar to how we planned the Eastern Expedition." Liu Bei admired at first, then hesitated for a moment, and then said: "You mean, we recruit Zhang Xian to the dynasty and give Liu Biao a favor?"
Chen Chong shook his head slightly and said: "Then we are just like scalpers, letting him pierce his nose and go away. Xuande, after you lead the army to Luoyang, go straight south to Xiangyang and show off the Wuhan River. When Liu Biao comes out of the city to meet him, you Promise the conquest first, and then accuse him of the imperial court's righteousness. Only then will Liu Jingsheng realize the force between you and me."
When Liu Bei heard this, he smiled and said, "It's a bad idea." He rubbed his chin and thought carefully, then said slowly: "It's just that Yuan Gongli has no other solution."
"Then we can only give up. What's the pity for the country's rebellion?" Chen Chong thought of the old incident of asking Dong Dong, and suppressed his anger in his heart. He said in words: "Tomorrow I will be the emperor of the emperor. I will first convict and sentence him, and then announce the guilt to the world. Yuan Shu, as foolish as he is, how can he survive without me?"
