Half a day later, when Liu Bei walked out of the dense forest under the guidance of Fazheng, they were surprised to find that the front of them turned into a vast plain.
Countless acres of fields are lined up there, farmers are doing farm work, and the countryside is filled with smoke.
Unknowingly, tears fell from Liu Bei's eyes.
"The Kingdom of Abundance is the Kingdom of Abundance!"
The people behind Liu Bei came out cheering. They were laughing and jumping for joy. It was really difficult to escape from Jiangxia to the south of Wuling, then cross the Wuling and enter Yizhou.
Liu Bei held Fazheng's hand and cried bitterly: "Thank you so much for Xiaozhi coming to look for him, otherwise I don't know how long it would have been before I could get out of these five mountains."
Fazheng smiled and said: "Millions of people in Sichuan are eager to see your envoy arrive."
Liu Bei's expression froze, and he heard a different flavor from these words.
Fazheng then approached him and said: "Your Majesty, Liu Jiyu is not the hero. I have contacted several people to work together for a great cause!"
"this……"
Liu Bei was in a daze for a while, but found that everyone around him was looking at him firmly.
Liu Bei hesitated for a long time and did not make up his mind. He just said: "Xiaozhi, please take me to Chengdu first."
Regret flashed across Fazheng's expression, and he had no choice but to lead Liu Bei away.
After they left, an old man staggered over and stared at the direction they left.
It is already strange that such an old body can travel through the five mountains. What is even more strange is that he actually arrived very early, but Fazheng and others did not notice him at all.
"Liu Bei must take control of Yizhou, and no one can stop him."
The old man counted with his fingers and muttered to himself.
…
In Jiaozhou, Cao Wu's troops were stationed by the Baiteng River on this day, cleaning up the battlefield and picking up the mess.
Cao's army also suffered heavy losses, but Cao Wu's move made the surviving soldiers feel it was worth it.
The general who had the power to open the palace personally paid homage to the dead soldiers and made a great wish. On top of the original pension from the court, all the fallen soldiers would receive a pension from the Beifu. Living soldiers with meritorious service would also be rewarded. .
These soldiers came all the way to Jiaozhou for rewards. With these promises, not only was there no sorrow in the military camp, but the atmosphere was warm.
The Cangwu soldiers on the east bank also arrived on the west bank. Compared with Cao's army, their rewards were much smaller, which made them want to hone their skills and achieve more results.
At night, Cao Wu hosted a banquet for the generals. Everyone was very happy. Halfway through the banquet, someone announced that Mu Manchong had arrived in Jiaozhou.
Man Chong came with Zhuge Liang. The two of them got the confidence that Cao Jun would win and immediately rode their fast horses.
As soon as Man Chong entered the camp, the generals were startled.
I saw this old minister, bare-chested and carrying several thorns on his back. He came in and bowed down to Cao Wu.
Cao Wuzheng was drinking, so he immediately stood up and helped him up.
Zhuge Liang, who was standing next to him, said sarcastically: "Zhou Mu insists on doing this, and I didn't persuade him to stop."
Man Chong said: "I have underestimated the general for everything in the future. I hope the general will forgive me for all the shameless things I did before!"
Of course he was referring to the matter of impeachment.
Cao Wu was not a holy mother. Although Man Chong impeached him out of public motives, he was punished by being exiled to the foreign state. The matter was settled in Cao Wu's heart.
Today, Man Chong mentioned it again, which made Cao Wu feel a little embarrassed.
He asked his left and right men to give Man Chong a seat, and personally untied the thorns from Man Chong's back.
"In the future, Jiaozhou will still have to rely on Zhou Mu. I hope you don't take it to heart because of the previous rift!"
Cao Wuqian asked Man Chong to sit down, but Man Chong refused. Cao Wu went to a pair of armor standing by the banquet, took off the armor, took it over and put it on Man Chong, and said: "Mr. Man is the guardian of the emperor. , we should overcome all obstacles and govern Hongjiaozhou, and we must not let Jiaozhou fall into the hands of thieves again!"
This sentence touched Man Chong's heart. This critic with a background as a cruel official finally accepted Cao Wu's arrangement and sat down on Cao Wu's left hand.
The generals in the hall, Man Chong, regardless of seniority or official position, sat in the position second only to Cao Wu, and no one had any objections.
Next, Cao Wu placed Zhuge Liang on his right hand.
Many generals looked at this scene and were a little jealous, but no one had any objections.
Lu Xun stood up and said: "Brother Zhuge determined Jiaozhi with one plan, and all four counties were tied. He deserves the first credit this time. When we went south, the two of us made a bet, and Jiaozhou would determine the outcome. Now it seems that I lost!"
This time, Lu Xun commanded the West Bank battlefield, but in fact if Zhuge Liang had not used Jiuzhen and Ninan's barbarians to capture Zhou Yu's troops deployed on the sea ships, the West Bank might also have been defeated.
Zhuge Liang only used one month to resolve the situation in Jiuzhen and Rinan counties, and even planned to target Jiaozhi. He did not take many actions and was not on the frontal battlefield, but he made the greatest contribution.
Everyone here knew about this. They had admired Lu Xun's military formation before, but now they saw that Lu Xun admired Zhuge Liang a lot, and they couldn't help but think more highly of Beifu's strength.
Zhuge Liang said a few words of humility, but Lu Xun raised his glass and drank heavily. He drank all the wine in the glass and turned the glass upside down. Not a drop of wine came out.
Everything was said without saying anything, and Zhuge Liang was no longer modest. He didn't like drinking by nature, but he still raised his glass and drank it all in response.
"good!"
Cao Wu raised his glass and said: "Today I received a message, which is called dragon going out to the sea, phoenix falling on the mountain, blood staining the river, southeast changes. Now it seems that the phoenix chick, Pang Tong falls on the mountain, and the crouching dragon Zhuge has really returned from the sea!"
Everyone savored the details of the speeches, raised their glasses and drank, and the atmosphere of the banquet was high.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Cao Wu explained the remaining matters in Jiaozhou to Man Chong.
There were originally three forces in Jiaozhou, a large city. After this battle, 10,000 of the 30,000 Cangwu soldiers were left, and 20,000 of the 70,000 Jiaozhi soldiers were left. 10,000 of them were taken away by Lu Meng and disappeared.
The entire Jiaozhou military force is actually empty.
Considering that Li Dian was wounded and unable to return north, Li Dian selected 5,000 Cao troops to be stationed in Jiaozhou. When Jiaozhou had its own strength, Li Dian's Cao troops could cooperate with the situation in the Central Plains and set out from Jiaozhou as a large army to attack Jiangdong.
When Li Dian heard that he had the opportunity to attack Jiangdong and make achievements, he readily agreed, but he felt that his minor injury would not prevent him from returning north.
Jingnan generals Liu Xian, Bao Long, and Chen Ying also stayed with them. Each of them received a reward. Jingnan was close to Jiaozhou, which would facilitate future exchanges between the two places.
With the army as a base, Man Chong's face became much rosier and he actually persuaded Cao Wu to drink.
This old Zhou Mu was really good at drinking. He was still awake when everyone in the room was drunk.
He looked around. Only Diao Chan behind Cao Wu and Zhuge Liang, who had not drank much, were still awake. He then said to Cao Wudao, who was also awake: "General Beifu, Mr. Zhuge is here. I know that the Shixie family has been expropriating people. The land is stable, but the wealth of the whole state is in the hands of one family. Now that Shi Xie and Wu Ju are gone, Jiaozhou can finally breathe. On behalf of the people of Jiaozhou, thank you!"
Cao Wu raised his glass and touched it with him, saying, "I'll leave Jiaozhou to you sir."
Man Chong nodded heavily.
For this gentleman, he has been operating in Jiaozhou for more than 20 years, and has managed Jiaozhou to be as prosperous as the north.
With him in the south, no matter how critical the Central Plains is, there is no need to consider the betrayal of Jiaozhou.
Because of the word "Man Chong", there is no Nantian Little China in this world, because Nantian is China.
When he was as old as Shi Xie, he returned to the capital and became the third prince.
However, this is a matter for the future.
Right now, Cao Wu still has another place to go, which was decided before the war.
