Jiangxia County, Xiakou City.
The candlelight flickered, and Liu Bei, the Han general of the left, had a night conversation with a man holding a candle, his face full of excitement.
This man has thick eyebrows and a raised nose, a dark face and a short beard. He has a strange appearance and is quite arrogant in his speech.
In the official system of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, General Zuo was second only to Jiuqing, which was already a very high official position. However, Liu Bei leaned forward from his seat and was full of respect for this man.
Liu Bei said: "According to what Mr. Jiang said, Jiangdong is by no means monolithic. Where should we start?"
The man opposite said: "I have been in Jiangdong for many years, and I have long seen through Jiangdong's hidden problems. Jiangdong seems to be full of talents, but in fact it is a mess. If you ask me, there are three reasons why Jiangdong's monarchs and ministers are alienated."
Liu Bei listened with his big ears.
The man continued: "One is the battle between civil and military officials. The civilian officials said that the military attachés were too aggressive and could not win a Jiangxia in eight years. The military attachés thought that the civilian officials were too big to lose, and the supply of grain, grass and boats was insufficient. This was a battle over vision. Everyone only cared about themselves and did not look at the situation. Big picture.”
"The second is the dispute between the old and the new. Sun Jian, Sun Ce, and Sun Quan each have relatives and friends in the three generations. Cheng Pu and Huang Gai are Sun Jian's veteran generals who are disobedient to discipline. Zhou Yu and Dong Xi are Sun Ce's remaining troops in their prime. Lu Su and Lu Meng , is a direct descendant of Sun Quan, who wants to ascend to the throne. This is a struggle for power, and the generals have different names, so there is real discord and it is difficult to unite as one."
"The third is the battle for surrender. Cao Cao's thief is a lion looking at Jiangxia. He pitied the officials in Jiangdong. They thought that Cao's thief would go back after defeating the general and would not continue to advance. However, they did not want to think that if they were just for the general, why bother to march? Millions, thousands of warships? Sun Quan, a purple-bearded rat, has difficulty deciding on national policy, swaying from side to side, and the officials deceive the subordinates and hide the superiors, each with their own agenda. This is a life-and-death struggle that cannot be broken."
What he said was clear and logical, Liu Bei nodded frequently, but he could hear Cao Cao looking at Jiang Xia with a sad look on his face.
Compared with official positions, he competed in the Central Plains, and he once gained such a great reputation, much bigger than Sun Quan, a prefect. However, compared with his luck, he envied Sun Quan for having his own territory and being able to manage it for a long time.
He has many warriors such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, but they don't have the sea-fixing needle like Xun Yu and Zhang Zhao.
He had always admired Nanyang Zhuge and visited the thatched cottage three times, but was told by a sharp-tongued little girl that he was ashamed and could not ask for anything.
Unexpectedly, as time passed, the third brother Zhang Fei's soul turned around a few days ago and brought back Mr. Pang Tong.
It turns out that that day, after Mi Zhu died, Mi Fang found a marked place, buried her elder brother, gritted her teeth and ran away, and finally met Zhang Fei. The two of them met together, and on the way to Jiangxia to escape, they saw an ugly man. tall man.
Although Zhang Fei was rude, he was a man who treated scholars very well. After talking with the man, he found out that this man was Mr. Feng Chu, Pang Tong, who was as famous as Mr. Wolong Zhuge Liang.
Zhang Fei and Mi Fang were overjoyed. The two of them worked hard and finally passed through the area controlled by Cao Cao and returned to Jiangxia. They were connected to Xiakou by Guan Yu on the Yangtze River.
When he heard that Mi Zhu, the earliest minister of Conglong, had died, Liu Bei cried so hard that he fainted. Later, when he woke up, he was also filled with grief and remained silent day and night. Mrs. Mi also felt sad and shed tears every day, but she did not dare to mention brother Nai's name in front of Liu Bei again.
On the other hand, the arrival of Pang Tong boosted Liu Bei's spirits.
Since Pang Tong arrived, Liu Bei consulted with Pang Tong day and night. Pang Tong commented on the heroes of the world, often focusing on the reality of the characters, and he was even more penetrating when discussing the general trend.
He had been an official in Jiangdong for a long time, but because of his ugly appearance, he was rejected by the Soochow people of the Appearance Association and was unable to exert his abilities.
Now that he is appreciated by Liu Bei, he is very happy. In just a few days, he has regarded Liu Bei as his Ying Zheng and Liu Bang, and he as Li Si and Zhang Liang.
Seeing that Liu Bei agreed with him, he concluded: "For the current plan, the general can only unite with Sun Wu, but this alliance should always be wary of all kinds of intrigues in Jiangdong. I am willing to go to Jiangdong for the general to mediate the many conflicts in Jiangdong. , let them unite as one and overcome the difficulties together with the general."
Liu Bei was reluctant to let Pang Tong go, and was afraid that Pang Tong would never come back. However, in the current situation, with the power of his Jiangxia County, there was absolutely no possibility of resisting Cao Cao, and he could only drag Jiangdong into trouble.
In fact, he has sent many envoys to Jiangdong, but they all turned into mud and did not reply.
Now that Lu Su had just returned to Jiangdong, asking Pang Tong to go back with him was his last chance to persuade Sun Quan to join the war.
Thinking of this, Liu Bei stood up and bowed down and said: "Mr. Gude, you are like a fish in water. Today, I am in danger alone. I am so lonely that I can't help but shed tears of gratitude and have nothing to repay."
Pang Tong was finally moved by the obeisance of the well-known Zuo General. He stood up, solemnly took Liu Bei's hand and said, "Jiangdong treats me like a servant, and I will repay you like a county official. Ming Gong treats me like a country official, and I treat him like a country official." The world will retaliate. Ming Gong will be in Jiangxia, waiting for my good news!"
After saying that, without any hesitation or tidying up, he went straight to Jiangdong on horseback.
Liu Bei grabbed him, gave him his mount Lu, and then pulled Zhao Yun over. After some explanations, he asked Zhao Yun to escort him to chase Lu Su's motorcade.
After Pang Tong left and the funeral was over, Mi Fang had time to tell Liu Bei the details of Longzhong's relationship.
Liu Bei was so shocked that he proposed Longzhong that he went to pay homage to Mi Zhu. On the other hand, he also put aside his thoughts of fighting to the death. Pang Tong knew nothing about it on the way.
…
At a post station outside Xiangyang City, Zhuge Liang, Ah Liu, and Deng Ai, this strange combination, had successfully blended into the advancing motorcade.
The name he used turned out to be Beifu General Cao Wu.
Ah Liu had Beifu's token in her hand, and she took it to find the person in charge of the motorcade.
When young Cao Zhi saw that it was his uncle's token, he immediately thought that his good-for-nothing brother had just been defeated by Cao Wu, so he let Cao Wu join the convoy without hesitation.
His original intention was to inform the entire convoy that General Beifu had also come to the front line to work for the army, but Ah Liu kept Zhuge Liang's teachings in mind and said: "So that the young master will know that my husband collided with Da Ru in Yecheng a few days ago. This time before Come on, don’t dare to say anything, please help me hide it.”
Cao Zhi also heard about the fact that Cao Wu broke up a phalanx of more than a hundred Confucian scholars in Yecheng. Since General Beifu did not want to make it public, it was not a big request, so he agreed and simply let them follow. next to myself.
Therefore, in the entire convoy, only Cao Zhi and a few personal guards knew that General Beifu was also in the labor force.
The mighty group heard that Cao Cao's army had set out and immediately accelerated their pace.
After passing Xiangyang, I heard that the warlord Zhao Yan and others had already fought against the fleet of General Jiangdong. All the literati were eager to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy chief Gan Ning.
So, that afternoon, they stopped at the post station outside Xiangyang City to discuss how to recruit troops.
Cao Zhi, who was only 16 years old, as a great figure in the literary world, made impassioned speeches and argued against all opinions. He decided to return to Xiangyang and hold a scribes conference in Xiangyang. There was a banquet for many literary giants. Everyone worked together to write several articles. A shocking article for Cao Cao's main force and Zhao Yan's Seventh Army.
After hearing this result, Ah Liu curled his lips and said: "I obviously didn't dare to go any further, for fear of actually reaching the battlefield, but yet I said it so righteously. What a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites!"
Deng Ai nodded: "Yes."
Zhuge Liang said: "Are you sure that our target is Sima Yi?"
Ah Liu said: "It's sure. Third sister has sneaked into Xiangyang City in advance, looking for an opportunity to ambush this Sima Yi. But we have to follow him closely and don't let him get away."
Zhuge Liang's eyes were glaring. He had already heard Ah Liu's story about Sima Yi's three-pronged attack on suspicion of failure and his use of Cao Zhi's name to go south. He knew that this man was not a simple man.
It is almost impossible to kill Sima Yi at a banquet, but in peacetime, Sima Yi is always with Cao Cao's youngest son Cao Chong, and there is no chance to kill him.
This requires some careful consideration.
Before he came out of the cottage, he had always deduced various strategies by himself, but this was the first time he implemented it himself. Even though he had a calm personality, he couldn't help but be eager to try it.
The best way is to kill people after the banquet when everyone is drunk, but can Sima Yi give them such an opportunity?
Just as he was thinking about it, Deng Ai suddenly said: "Become famous!"
Zhuge Liang immediately understood what Deng Ai meant and blurted out: "What a plan!"
