"Kong Ming once said that Jingzhou occupied Han and Mian in the north, benefited from the South China Sea, connected Wuhui in the east, and connected Ba and Shu in the west. This is a country that uses force, but its owner cannot defend it..." Xu Shu recalled Zhuge Liang's statement. , and then said, "Liu Jingsheng is indeed a household dog, but he is the lord of Jingzhou after all. Although my lord has intentions, he has no imperial edict and no reputation for righteousness. This Jingzhou is undesirable. Liu Jingsheng and I My lord Xuande is regarded as a brother. My lord is benevolent and cannot bear to seize the inheritance of the same sect and be a ruthless person. This is the undesirable thing in Jingzhou... But I don’t know if Kong Ming has a good plan to save my lord. Can reputation and friendship allow my lord to secure his position in Jingzhou?!"
To put it simply, Liu Bei is currently weak and will definitely not be able to defeat him if he fights hard.
Liu Biao, the Jingzhou shepherd, was appointed by the imperial court. He occupies a great position, and at least in name he is a brother of Liu Bei and shares the same clan. If he turns against Liu Biao and seizes Liu Biao's inheritance, Liu Bei's reputation will inevitably be affected.
The foundation of Liu Bei's life in these troubled times is benevolence and righteousness. If he loses this foundation, the consequences will be very serious.
But Zhuge Liang disagreed.
Liu Bei is indeed benevolent and righteous, but his benevolence and righteousness are for the people and those who support him, and are not unconditional for everyone.
After all, Liu Bei is still a prince in this troubled world, not a holy mother.
Liu Bei has benevolence and righteousness, but he also lacks ruthlessness and decisiveness.
Under the current situation, Liu Bei only needed the support of the Jingxiang family. It didn't matter whether he had a so-called court appointment or not.
Cao Cao can say that he "serves the emperor's orders but refuses to serve as a minister", and Liu Bei can also say that he "serves the emperor with orders to fight against thieves." It's not difficult to find an excuse.
Furthermore, when Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, did he really rely on the edict of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, or did he rely on the seal of Jingzhou Mu? !
Those are just things on the surface. Liu Biao really gained a firm position in Jingzhou because he relied on the support of the Cai Kuai family and his ruthless methods to trap and kill dozens of leaders of wealthy clans.
Without these support, Liu Biao would not be able to secure his position in Jingzhou.
In the same way, if Liu Bei wanted to secure his position in Jingzhou, it didn't matter whether he was appointed by the court or not. He only needed to have a good relationship with the Jingxiang family and get the support of the Jingxiang family.
In Zhuge Liang's opinion, Xu Shu's question was just a deliberate attempt to find trouble.
"Can this matter also trouble Yuan Zhi?!" Zhuge Liang smiled slightly and said, "Now that Liu Jingsheng is old, if there are changes in Jingzhou in the future, General Zuo will sit idly by and ignore it?!"
Some things need not be said so clearly that everyone understands them.
Zhuge Liang meant that Liu Biao was getting older now. Everyone in Xiangyang City knew in the past two years that Liu Biao's appearance time was getting less and less, and he probably wouldn't be able to last much longer.
Once Liu Biao passes away, Jingzhou will definitely be unstable. At that time, Liu Bei will have an excuse to maintain Jingzhou's internal stability and send troops to Xiangyang. If the operation is good, he can directly take over Jingxiang in the "brother-to-brother" method.
At the worst, Liu Bei can also support Liu Biao's son to ascend to the throne. When the time comes, whether Liu Cong or Liu Qi ascends the throne, in order to repay Liu Bei, Liu Bei will definitely be entrusted with important tasks, and if Liu Bei gets the support of the Jingxiang family at this time... ...Does he still need Zhuge Liang to teach him what to do next? !
Everyone is smart, and they naturally understand some words by heart. Xu Shu also plans to let this go and start the next attack.
But Zhang Xi couldn't help it anymore and asked, "What if Cao Cao in the north hears about changes in Jingzhou and takes advantage of the situation to go south...what should he do?!"
Xu Shu's eyes suddenly lit up.
I have just been eyeing this three-acre land in Jingzhou. Indeed, Cao Cao's reaction in the north must also be taken into consideration.
Sure enough, the decision to bring Zhang Xi to see Kong Ming this time was the right one.
Xu Shu raised his eyes and looked at Zhuge Liang, meaning how do you plan to answer this question.
Zhuge Liang was also slightly silent, thinking for a long time, and then said, "Although the two sons of the Yuan family in the north are dolphins, the Yuan family has favored the powerful in Hebei. It may take some time for the Cao thieves to pacify Hebei... ....”
Zhuge Liang meant that Cao Cao would not pacify Hebei so quickly.
But Zhang Xi was anxious... It was not easy for those crooked people in Hebei to delay Cao Cao for so long.
"Sir, what you said is wrong!" Zhang Xi shook his head and said, "Since last year, the Cao thieves have defeated the high officials, accepted Zhang Yan, defeated Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, intimidated Yuan Tan, and expelled Wuhuan from Liaoxi. Now, the second son of the Yuan family has At the end of the road, they defected to Wuhuan outside the Great Wall, and Cao Cao’s thieves even planned to personally march outside the Great Wall to wipe out Wuhuan... Why waste time?!"
Zhuge Liang stayed in Jingzhou and was not in the core management of Jingzhou. The news he received was somewhat delayed.
Although Zhuge Liang also knew that Cao Cao had defeated the high official Zhang Yan, he did not know that the second son of the Yuan family had been defeated so quickly and defected to Wuhuan in desperation, nor did he know that Cao Cao was so bold that he directly planned to conquer Wuhuan himself.
Although the barbarians from all directions in these days were all weaklings, Cao Cao actually wanted to lead a large army to fight in an away game outside the Great Wall, intending to solve the northern border troubles in one fell swoop... Zhuge Liang really didn't expect this.
At this time, Zhuge Liang was not the later Prime Minister Zhuge who worked so hard, and he would not have thought that one day he would "cross Lu in May and go deep into the barren area."
"It wouldn't be a bad thing if Cao Cao really conquered Wuhuan himself!" Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and said, "Although it can achieve great achievements through an expedition, it will also easily lead to fatigue of the soldiers and lack of food and fodder... What's more, Hebei is newly settled and people's hearts are not attached. Cao Cao's thieves will not dare to leave Hebei and go south to Jingxiang. If this is the case, Xuande Gong will have enough time..."
"What if the Cao thieves really defeated Wuhuan and then went south?!" Zhang Xi couldn't wait to interrupt Zhuge Liang's words and said.
Zhuge Liang was slightly dissatisfied. It was very impolite to interrupt someone else's conversation these days.
But Zhuge Liang still thought about it seriously and said, "At the end of this powerful crossbow, it cannot penetrate Lu Jier'er, so what is there to fear?!"
"What if Liu Jingsheng dies at this time, Jingzhou is in turmoil, Cao's thieves join forces to defeat Wuhuan, and his army goes south... What will happen?!" Zhang Xi continued to ask.
Zhuge Liang was stunned by this question.
And Xu Shu couldn't stand it anymore.
Although Zhang Xi was brought here to confront Zhuge Liang, Zhang Xi's aggressive behavior now seems to be a bit out of touch with the rules.
"Yuan Chang is overly worried!" Xu Shu came to the rescue and said, "How can such a coincidence happen in the world?! Furthermore, the land of Jingxiang is full of outstanding people. Even if Liu Jingsheng is not here, is there no way to deal with the enemy? ?!”
Zhang Xi wanted to speak again, but after thinking about it, he could only sigh.
Zhang Xi knew that what he said was true, and it was something that would definitely happen in the future... But when he said it now, it really seemed like he was messing around.
Who would have thought that Cao Cao would not even take a break after defeating Wuhuan. As soon as he returned to Xudu, he planned a southern expedition and even killed Kong Rong, a famous scholar who opposed the southern expedition.
Who would have thought that just halfway through Cao Cao's army, Liu Biao had already died of illness, leaving Jingzhou without an owner. After internal fighting among the aristocratic families, they decided to elevate a teenage boy to the position of lord of Jingzhou.
Who would have thought that these Jingzhou aristocratic families had served under Liu Biao for many years. When they heard that Cao Cao was coming, not a single person advocated resistance. They even ignored old grudges and forced Liu Cong to surrender on the spot, even fearing Liu Bei's objection. Liu Bei, who was on the front line, was not even informed of Liu Biao's death.
Originally, Liu Bei planned to fight in Fancheng to support Cao Cao, but Xiangyang behind him surrendered first. What a waste.
If Sun Qian hadn't come to inform him of the situation, Liu Bei wouldn't have even known that he was betrayed by this group of Jingxiang aristocratic families.
Everyone said that it was easy for Liu Bei to conquer Xichuan, but they didn't know that it was really easy for Cao Cao to conquer Jingzhou. It was so easy that he only had to lead his army in a parade and directly captured Jingzhou without fighting a single battle.
All these outrageous things were added together. If it weren't for the foresight, Zhang Xi himself wouldn't believe it was true.
Xu Shu didn't believe that Jingzhou could surrender so neatly, nor did he believe that Cao Cao was so lucky. Liu Biao died when he went south, and Jingzhou was in turmoil... But Zhuge Liang believed it.
Zhuge was always cautious in his life.
Although Zhuge Liang did not believe that Cao Cao's luck could be so good, Zhuge Liang would not give up considering any possibility.
Although Zhuge Liang in the novel is so wise that he is almost a monster and feels that nothing can be hidden from him, this is not the case with Zhuge Liang in reality.
He just considers things more comprehensively than others and prepares more complete plans.
Although the possibility proposed by Zhang Xi is indeed low in Zhuge Liang's opinion, it has to be said that it would be quite troublesome if it happened.
Zhuge Liang knew the face of the Jingzhou family very well, and he also knew that the priority of these people was always their own family, and then their lord.
If Cao Cao really cooperates with the victorious army and personally leads the army south, and Liu Jingsheng happens to die of illness at this time... Zhuge Liang will know what these families will choose after just thinking about it.
They would not choose Liu Bei, who had been defeated repeatedly under Cao Cao. Instead of taking the risk of betting on Liu Bei, who was defeated by Cao Cao, it would be better to surrender directly to Cao Cao.
Anyway, their family interests are all in Jingzhou, and Cao Cao's core interests are always in the Central Plains. In the north, surrendering to Cao Cao will not affect their family interests too much.
And if by that time, Jingzhou is occupied by Cao Cao... Cao Cao will occupy two-thirds of the entire world. As long as Jiangdong is pacified, the general trend of the world will be completely in Cao Cao's hands.
This is what Zhuge Liang doesn't want to see.
It's not that he doesn't want to end this troubled world, it's mainly because Zhuge Liang, like Liu Bei, has a hurdle in his heart that he can't overcome - to help the big man.
For more than 400 years since the founding of the Han Dynasty, in the hearts of many people, it is the orthodoxy of the world and the destiny of the people.
Although this orthodoxy sometimes weakens and sometimes gets sick, there are always Han nobles who stand up to clean up the old rivers and mountains - Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu is the best example.
When Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, there was a lot of trouble, but in the end, it was still the emperor of the Liu family who truly unified the world.
This made the Han theory of destiny deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in this era.
People in this era are not like later generations. They have not experienced "if they are divided for a long time, they will unite and unite for a long time." The concept of great unification was established during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. It has been more than 300 years until now. The world has always been the world of the Han Dynasty. Many people feel that The Han Dynasty will still continue to rule.
But what is Cao Cao? !
After being called Cao Shen of the Prime Minister, his grandfather was a eunuch.
Although he was a minister of the Han Dynasty, he bullied all the officials and held the emperor hostage to order the princes. He did not take the Han Dynasty seriously at all.
Even if we go back a thousand years, Cao Cao's approach is quite rare... The Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period all needed the seal and recognition of the already weak Emperor Zhou to count, and what they call "respecting the king and rejecting the barbarians" is not Hold the emperor hostage to order the princes.
Zhuge Liang did not agree with Cao Cao's behavior and believed that it was not a way to end troubled times and respect etiquette.
That's why Zhuge Liang came up with the idea of "Longzhong Dui" and wanted to find a Han nobleman who could fight against Cao Cao.
In the end, everyone knew that Zhuge Liang chose Liu Bei.
