On the eleventh day of the first month of the first year of Yanxing, Yuan Shao of Jizhou also sent an envoy to Chang'an as a response to the Eastern Campaign against Gengcang.
The envoy was Guo Tu, who was engaged in the governance of Jizhou. He said in the court that Jizhou had fought for one year last year, and it was not until November that it was possible to call a truce. The soldiers were exhausted and needed a rest. At the beginning of the year, the counties of Wei and Zhao were invaded by the Black Mountain bandits from time to time, causing the people to run away and the fields to be deserted. The herdsmen of Jizhou did not dare to be careless. They could only focus on suppressing the bandits and reassuring the people. If they were unable to send a large army to help, they could only One hundred thousand husks of rice and flour were transported to be used as food and wealth for the imperial court's eastern expedition.
There were no weapons, armor, horses or ships, and only one hundred thousand rice noodles. Although Chen Chong had been prepared in advance, he could not help but be disappointed at this time. After all, the most indispensable thing for the Eastern Expedition was food and grass. There were not many people and horses going out, so Rice noodles will only become a burden.
After Guo Tu left, Liu Bei said to Chen Chong: "Yuan Shao is quite shrewd. In this way, it seems that he has given something, but in fact he has given nothing, and there is no way to catch him."
Chen Chong said: "Looking at the bright side, whether it is used for this year's spring planting or to prevent famine, it has some use."
On the 17th, the reinforcements from Youzhou passed through Jizhou and the news that they were about to arrive at Heqiao reached Guanzhong. Liu Bei immediately sent an order to Guan Yu, asking him to first send people to Luoyang to meet the Youzhou army, and then he would reorganize the army. arrive.
Compared with several previous expeditions, Liu Bei's troops this time were not large, with only more than 20,000 in number. However, this was a last resort. After all, after the war, there were some considerations in various places that had to suspend troops. For example, the Hun knights traveled around with Liu Bei every year, and the battle in Longshouyuan was broken again, so there were some complaints among the tribe. For another example, Jinyang and other places were also invaded by the Black Mountain Army, and the fields were in need of personnel to guard and cultivate. There are also rumors that the Xianbei leader Ke Bineng has risen rapidly in recent years, replacing the original Xianbei chanyu Jianman, and there are signs of re-sending troops to merge with the state and capture Pingcheng. Therefore, it is difficult for Liu Bei to mobilize the Yanmen Army.
However, since entering the capital, all the elites of the imperial court have been included in Liu Bei's hands. Although the number of soldiers is sluggish, there are as many good generals as there are and as many advisers as there are, which is extremely impressive and is slightly better than before. Among them, the famous ones are:
General Du Liao and Hou Zhangfei of Puzi County were under his command.
Under the command of the partial general and Changpingtinghou Duan Xuan,
Under the command of Zhang Yang, the Grand Administrator of Shangdang and Marquis of Guannei,
The governor of Xihe and the lord of Guannei, Qin Yilu,
The governor of Hongnong and the lord of Guannei, Shejian,
Jing Zhaoyin and Guannai Hou Sima Fang were under the command,
Under the command of Dongping Xiaowei and Dongtinghou Liu Deran,
Zuo Shangshu Pu She and Xi Tinghou Xun You were under his command.
After Liu Bei opened the General's Office, at the suggestion of Chen Chong, he set up two positions: admonishment officer and military adviser. Most of them were selected from the younger generation. The lineup became very prosperous for a while. Among them, the famous ones in the prefectures and counties include:
Fuzheng Fuzheng, Meng Da, Geng Ji, Tai Yangmi, Dunhuang Zhang Meng, Anding Huangfu Jianshou, Jingzhao Weikang, Hongnong Dong Yu, Feng Yi Guo Kai, Kuaiji Zhu Hao, Henan Zhongshao, etc.
In addition, Tuoba Xianbei's handsome young man Tuoba Pigu also joined. In the tribe, he could not compete with Tuoba Liwei for the position of Shan Yu, so he gave up the idea of inheriting the throne. So he wanted to lead 800 tribesmen by himself and join Liu Bei's army to lead some achievements. This is naturally welcome.
Even Liu Bei himself had never expected that today's military personnel would be so rich. He was overjoyed about this and boasted to Chen Chong: "How can the country's heroes gather together, how can the old Yellow Turban army be comparable? When I go to Guandong, I will definitely Drum and regain lost ground!”
Chen Chong knew that he was very satisfied and in high spirits at this time, so he did not bother him, but he still felt uneasy. This is because after occupying Chang'an, someone must be in charge of the overall situation in the court. It is probably difficult to repeat the scene of two people riding in the army at the same time and commanding the same battle as before. The final division of labor was that Chen Chong stabilized the rear in Chang'an, while Liu Bei was responsible for the battle outside.
Although the decision was made, Chen Chong was still a little worried about success or failure.
So before Liu Bei left camp, Chen Chong called Xu Shu to the small building and asked him, "Yuanzhi, how long have you been with me?"
Hearing this, Xu Shu knew that Chen Chong was going to have a heart-to-heart talk, so he solemnly sat in front of Chen Chong, nodded and said, "I studied with the teacher when I was fifteen years old. It has been eight years since then."
"What have you learned over the years?"
"Teacher taught me history, Confucian classics, arithmetic, geography, astronomy, military science, famous studies, and Mohist debate. Although the student dare not say that he has mastered them all, he can say that he never slacks off." After Xu Shu said this, he looked up at Chen Chong He glanced at her and said, "But what I learned the most from my teacher is the humanistic approach."
Chen Chong was very satisfied when he heard the next few sentences. He knocked on the table and asked Xu Shu: "What is the humanistic way?"
Xu Shu rectified his speech for a moment and replied word by word: "It's nothing more than eight characters. Technique is the use of Tao, and Tao is the foundation of technique. Technique has no right or wrong, but Tao has it. People in the world think that Tao is not technique, or that technique is not Tao, which are all fallacies. And the people of the world Everyone thinks that Teacher Zang disapproves of the teachings of Confucius and Mencius, but they don’t know that Teacher Zang appreciates the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. If Confucius and Mencius can be resurrected, he and Teacher will also be close friends."
After saying that, Xu Shu lowered his head and listened to Chen Chong's evaluation.
Chen Chong was obviously very happy. He took a piece of jade from his waist, put it in Xu Shu's hand, and said to him: "I bought a piece of jade eight years ago. Because of its clear jade material and flawless body, I keep it with me all the time." . But because the jade material is extremely soft, I was afraid that the craftsman would make a mistake and damage the piece of jade, so I dared not let anyone carve it. But if jade is not carved, it is just jade after all. I made up my mind yesterday to carve this piece of jade. The stone is carved into a jade sculpture and is given to you today."
Xu Shu looked at the jade in his hand and saw that the emerald green jade surface was carved with a dragon and clouds. The style was exquisite and beautiful, which made him fall in love with it. What moved him even more was the high expectations in Chen Chong's words. He choked up for a moment and didn't know what to say. Chen Chong smiled and said: "From today on, you will be the military advisor of the General's Mansion."
On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, Chen Chong and all officials went to the Wei Bridge to see Liu Bei off.
The carriages and horses were rustling, the spring breeze was intoxicating, and most of the snow on the plains had melted away, but there were no green buds in the exposed black soil, but some apricot flowers on both sides of the bank had already bloomed. Chen Chong stood in front of the officials on the west side of the Wei Bridge and listened to more than 50 people playing "Soldiers' Formation Song" in unison beside the bridge.
Different from the flute playing, here there are bells and drums sounding in unison, like layers of iron cavalry coming on the ground. Birds are frightened, beasts are frightened, and blood is flowing. Everyone listened carefully to the tune, which had the charm of Xirong, because it was a military song handed down from the ancient Qin army.
Liu Bei led his new staff through the official road and shook hands with Chen Chong. Liu Bei's hands were strong and rough, the marks left by long-term use of knives, bows and arrows. Behind Liu Bei were all energetic young people. For a moment, Chen Chong felt a little old. But he immediately felt relieved that the country would have a better future if it had more young people.
Before leaving, Chen Chong warned: "If we can surrender them, surrendering them should be the priority." He took out a gray-yellow silk cloth from his chest and handed it to Liu Bei with both hands. There was a red-black color on the silk cloth. The traces were obviously written in blood.
Liu Bei knew that this was the Huang Tianfu written in blood by Zhang Jiao before he surrendered. He quickly recalled the time when he fought with the Yellow Turbans, and his expression was a little dazed for a while. He solemnly accepted it, nodded and said, "I know." Then he asked Chen Chong, "Ting Jian, when we parted in Julu, you wrote a poem as a gift. I liked it very much. Can you still write it today?"
Chen Chong was not interested at this time, but he knew that Liu Bei liked him, so he casually recited a famous line from Bao Zhao of the later Southern Dynasties as a gift: "The two swords are about to part, and they first sing in the box. The mist and rain are approaching the evening, and from then on they are fractal. One is the separation of heaven and earth, How can it be limited to Youming? Gods and objects will never be separated, and they will be reunited after thousands of journeys."
Liu Bei was extremely satisfied. He got on his horse, turned the horse's head, shook the reins, and was about to ride the horse. He turned back and said loudly to Chen Chong: "Wait for my victory report!" After saying that, he turned back and rode away. When Zhang Fei and Xu Shu passed by, He also waved to him and led 20,000 horses onto the Wei Bridge and ran to the north. Chen Chong stood there for more than an hour, until everyone disappeared at the end of the dim world, and then he led the officials back to Chang'an.
Although the number of people in this Eastern Expedition is small, it will definitely not be short, and Chen Chong knows this well. The reason why Zhang Jiao was able to surrender within half a year was because the opponent's rebellion was hasty and had no foundation at all. Chen Chong only had to seek food and grass to cut off the enemy's supplies. Even if there were less than ten thousand people, the Yellow Turbans could be extremely embarrassed.
But today's Geng Cang Army is different. They had been wreaking havoc in Qingzhou for many years. They had a deep foundation and then reorganized the system. They had enough supplies and people's hearts. It can be seen that they are definitely not an opponent that can be eliminated in a short period of time like the Red Eyebrow Army. At worst, they should be the first-class ones like Wei Xiao Gongsun Shu. But fortunately, there are Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan in Guandong to help, so Liu Bei will not suffer.
But thinking of this, Chen Chong also felt that he was thinking too far. What Liu Bei had to do at this time was to follow his previous strategy and go to Liu Biao's place in Xiangyang to deceive troops.
Starting from the 23rd, the military information of the Eastern Expeditionary Army gradually reached Chang'an, and the progress was very smooth.
On the 25th, General Liu Bei led his army to Luoyang and joined the reinforcements from Youzhou. However, this time the commander-in-chief of Youzhou was not Gongsun Zan, but a special chariot sent by Liu Yu to work in the field. He had 5,000 cavalry and more than 10,000 infantry. But Liu Bei was not disappointed, because he also brought eight thousand more war horses. Tian Chou showed no secret and gave all of these horses to Liu Bei.
After reorganizing his army for a while, Liu Bei followed Chen Chong's plan and led his army southward via Yique and Guangcheng. On the third day of February, he suddenly entered Nanyang County. He did not attack the city or plunder the slaves' wealth along the way, but passed Luyang and Bowang in a dignified manner. , Jiyang, Yuyang, Xinye, Chaoyang, Deng County, until the foot of Xiangyang City. When the cities along the road learned that this army was the imperial army, they all had doubts and did not dare to stop them at all. They only kept reporting to Xiangyang.
Xiangyang was confused about this. After all, the court had not notified them in advance and they were unprepared. If it is said that the imperial court is going to send out a large army to attack, but judging from the behavior of the large army, a lone army goes deep into the territory, which goes against the common sense of military strategists, and it does not seem like a big war. But if it is said that the imperial court is not hostile, but it is sending troops to enter the country after all, how can it not make people wary?
But in the end, at Kuai Liang's suggestion, on the sixth day of February, Liu Biao led all the state staff to cross the Han River and held a banquet on the north bank of the Han River to reward Liu Bei's entire army.
