Cheng Yu said: "When Liu Bei was the shepherd of Yuzhou, I asked him to be killed, but the prime minister refused to listen. Now he sends troops to him. This is putting the dragon into the sea and the tiger back into the forest. It will be very difficult to restrain him in the future." It's difficult." Guo Jiadao: "The Prime Minister cherishes talents, and it is understandable that he can't bear to kill Liu Bei, but he really shouldn't let Liu Bei go, and give him soldiers and horses. The ancients said that if you indulge the enemy for one day, it will be a disaster for all generations. , I hope the Prime Minister will understand clearly."
After everyone's advice, Cao Cao realized the seriousness of the problem, so he sent Xu Chu with 500 soldiers to chase Liu Bei back.
Liu Bei and others were still marching forward. Suddenly they saw dust flying behind them and said to the people around them: "This must be Cao Cao's pursuit. Let's deal with it carefully."
So he turned around to greet him and ordered Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to each hold weapons and stand beside him, while Yu Yi stood behind him.
From a distance, he saw Cao Cao's tiger general Xu Chu, leading a team of a hundred people. When he saw Liu Bei preparing his troops, he dismounted and went to the camp to find Liu Bei. Liu Bei greeted Liu Bei and asked, "I don't know why you are here." ?”
Xu Chu said: "I followed the Prime Minister's order and came here to invite the general back. I have some things to discuss."
Liu Bei said: "I will be away, and I will not accept your order. I went to see the emperor and said goodbye to the prime minister. I have nothing else to do now. You can go back quickly and help me report to the prime minister."
Yu Yi also helped: "General Xu doesn't know something. I recently received information that Yuan Shu has organized his team and is about to set off. If he returns to Xu Du at this time, Yuan Shu will pass through Xuzhou smoothly. Then the two Yuan Shu will join forces. , things will be out of control, please also inform the Prime Minister of this situation."
Xu Chu thought for a while and said: "The Prime Minister often invites Liu Bei for drinks during this period. The two of them have always been on good terms, and this time he asked me to find Liu Bei. He didn't want me to fight. He just asked me to come back to him. Now the other party also said Well, I will reply to his words and let the Prime Minister make a final decision."
So he resigned from Liu Bei and led his troops back to see Cao Cao.
Looking at Xu Chu's back, Yu Yi fell into deep thought. He originally thought that Liu Bei was a stubborn old antique who only lived in the Han Dynasty and had no grand ambitions. Now it seems that Liu Bei is just good at hiding himself. It is really inappropriate to choose to leave at this time. A clever chess move, firstly, it allowed Cao Cao to leave without realizing it, and secondly, if the matter of the dress order was exposed, it would not bring disaster to himself.
After Xu Chu met Cao Cao, he reported what Liu Bei and Yu Yi had said. There was nothing unreasonable in it. Cao Cao thought of Liu Bei's previous state and looked down upon him, so he hesitated.
Cheng Yu and Guo Jiaqi said: "Liu Bei's refusal to come back at this time shows that he has hidden evil intentions."
Cao Cao said: "I have Zhu Ling and Lu Zhao by my side. I don't think he will act rashly. Moreover, I have already sent him on an expedition, so I cannot recruit him back without any reason. In addition, Yuan Shu has already started to take action. If it delays the opportunity of fighting, If the two Yuans are united, the disaster will be even greater."
After hearing this, the two counselors had no better words to remonstrate, so they did not pursue Liu Bei.
When Ma Teng saw Liu Bei leaving like this, the information he sent was very urgent, so he returned to his Xiliang.
When Liu Bei returned to Xuzhou, the people came to welcome him. The governor Che Zhou personally greeted him outside the city and held a banquet. Sun Qian, Mi Zhu and others also came to pay homage to him one by one.
After the banquet was over, the first thing Liu Bei did was to find his family, and then sent someone to inquire about Yuan Shu's whereabouts.
Information was quickly obtained. It turned out that Yuan Shu's life was too luxurious, which aroused public outrage. Lei Bo and Chen Lan both defected to Songshan. Now Yuan Shu's power was very weak, so Yuan Shu wrote a letter to himself. Brother, I hope to pass the imperial title to him and return the jade seal to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao also sent people to pick up Yuan Shu, so Yuan Shu started to pack up the people, horses and imperial belongings, and was already on the way to Xuzhou.
Yu Yi knew Liu Bei's thoughts and suggested: "Now that Yuan Shu is at the end of his strength, we should let him go and meet Yuan Shao."
Liu Bei looked at Yu Yi and said, "Why is this?"
Yu Yi said: "Although Yuan Shao is very powerful, he is not as capable as Cao Cao. If Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao are allowed to cooperate, then Cao Cao's crisis will be greater. By then, he will not have the energy to deal with us, so we will have enough This is the strategic period to recruit troops." After saying that, Yu Yi took out a map, pointed at Yunnan and said: "I think the eldest brother can use Yunnan as the foundation, use Cao Cao's 50,000 horses to slowly march forward, and then take the east. If Sichuan takes advantage of the decisive battle between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao to seize the Central Plains, then the great cause will be successful."
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "Yuan Shu used the jade seal for personal use and is a traitor to the Han Dynasty. If I let him pass, wouldn't I be infamy?"
Yu Yi said: "Those who have achieved great things since ancient times should not stick to trivial matters. In the past, Duke Wen of Jin Dynasty, Chong'er, also stationed in many places, suffered a lot of hardships, and finally achieved great achievements."
After hearing this, Liu Bei became even more angry and said: "If we don't talk about friendship, what's the difference between us and animals? Don't talk about it anymore."
Yuyi knew that no matter how much he tried to persuade him, it would be fruitless, so he left.
When Yuan Shu approached, Liu Bei came out with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhu Ling, and Lu Zhao's 50,000-strong army. They happened to meet Ji Ling, the opponent's vanguard. Zhang Fei hadn't fought for a long time. His hands were itchy and he didn't speak. Take Ji Ling directly.
Zhang Fei fought with Lu Bu many times, and his martial arts also made great progress in the fight. He fought with Ji Ling for less than ten rounds. Zhang Fei just shouted and stabbed Ji Ling to death. Others saw this They all fled in defeat.
Yuan Shu personally led the soldiers to fight. Liu Bei divided the 50,000 troops into three groups. Zhu Ling and Lu Zhao were on the left, Guan and Zhang were on the right. He led his soldiers in the center, met Yuan Shu, and scolded loudly in the formation: "You are a treasonous person. Now I have obeyed the emperor's edict to attack you! If you are wise, please dismount your horse and surrender. Maybe your sins can be alleviated."
Yuan Shu laughed loudly and said: "You are just a commoner who weaves mats and sews small shoes. What right do you have to look down on me!" So he rushed over with his troops and horses. Liu Bei temporarily retreated, and then sent two armies on the left and right. Kill them out.
Unexpectedly, Liu Bei still had soldiers, but they were killed by the opponent with corpses all over the field and rivers of blood. The other Yuan troops lost their fighting spirit and fled one after another. Countless people were trampled. On the way back, they were attacked by the troops stationed in Songshan Mountain. Lei Bo, Chen Lan and other generals robbed money and food, and were about to return to Shouchun. They found that the city had been occupied by bandits, so they had to temporarily retreat to Jiangting. They sent people to count the number of people, and found that there were only more than a thousand people. And they are all older people, so they probably can’t run.
