Xin Pi, the servant, came out and said: "The land in the Central Plains is very open. If you prepare to use troops, you may not be able to gain any advantage. For the current plan, it is better to raise troops and farm in the fields for ten years, and then make plans after the food is abundant. Then the Wu Kingdom and Shu will be destroyed." Cao Pi was very angry after hearing this, and said: "This is a pedantic argument! Now that Wu and Shu have become an alliance, they will definitely attack the Central Plains sooner or later. How can there be a chance to wait for ten years!" So he immediately ordered an attack on Wu.
It turned out that Sima Yi and Jia Xu were rivals in a secret fight. Now that Jia Xu has passed away, Sima Yi is even more confident. He gives full play to his wisdom and immediately leaves the mission, saying: "The state of Wu has the Yangtze River as a natural barrier. It cannot be crossed without ships. Your Majesty must If you want to lead a personal expedition, you can choose large or small warships, enter the Huaihe River from Cai and Ying, capture Shouchun, go to Guangling, cross the river mouth, and attack Nanxu. This is the best way to attack Wu."
Cao Pi agreed and started working day and night to build ten dragon boats. Each boat was more than 20 feet long and could hold more than 2,000 people and more than 3,000 warships.
In the autumn and August of the fifth year of the first year of the Wei Dynasty, the generals of all sizes were gathered together. Cao Zhen was assigned to the front, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Wenpin, and Xu Huang were the senior generals. Xu Chu and Lu Qian were the guards for the middle army. Cao Xiu was the rear guard, and Liu Ye and Jiang Ji were the rear guards. The staff officers, with a total of 300,000 land and naval forces, set up troops on a certain day, appointed Sima Yi as Shangshu Pushe, and guarded Xuchang. All major national affairs were decided by Sima Yi.
This incident was quickly reported to the State of Wu. After hearing this, the ministers panicked and hurriedly reported to the King of Wu, saying: "Now the King of Wei, Cao Pi, personally rides a dragon boat and carries more than 300,000 land and water troops. From now on, When Cai and Ying leave Huaihe, they will definitely cross the Yangtze River from Guangling and attack Jiangnan. The situation is very critical."
Sun Quan was very surprised after hearing this, and quickly gathered all the civil and military officials to discuss. Gu Yong said: "Since the Lord has agreed to an alliance with Western Shu, he can write a letter to Emperor Yu Yi of Shu, asking Shu to raise troops to attack Hanzhong, and Wei can Weakened the strength of Cao Wei, and then sent a general to Nanxu to resist the attack of Cao Wei's troops."
Whenever he was in a panic, Sun Quan always thought of Lu Xun and said to everyone: "It seems that only Lu Xun can handle this matter personally."
Gu Yong said: "Jingzhou is an important town and is guarded by Lu Xun. It cannot be changed easily."
Sun Quan said: "Of course I know about this, but in this situation, there is no capable person in front of me!" As soon as he finished speaking, a man came out from the squad and said: "Although I don't have much talent, I hope I can lead a group of troops to resist the Wei army. If Cao Pi crosses the Yangtze River in person, I am willing to capture him and offer him to His Highness. If he does not cross the river, I will lead my troops and kill most of them so that the Wei army does not dare to attack Soochow again. Have some ideas.”
Sun Quan saw that the man was Xu Sheng, so he was very happy and said: "If you can be sent to guard the Jiangnan area, what do I have to worry about?" So he named Xu Sheng General Anton, Governor Jianye, and Xu Sheng paid homage to the soldiers and horses of Nan Xu, and withdrew with gratitude. He ordered the officers and soldiers to prepare some equipment and make plans to protect the river bank.
At this time, another person stepped forward and said: "Now that the king has entrusted the important task to the general, he is preparing to defeat the Wei army and capture Cao Pi. Then why not let the troops cross the river early and fight the enemy in the territory of Huainan, and wait until Cao Pi's troops If we arrive, I’m afraid it’s too late.”
Xu Sheng looked back and found that it was Sun Shao, the nephew of King Wu. His courtesy name was Gongli, and he was awarded the title of General Yangwei. He once guarded Guangling. He was young and had some courage and bravery.
Xu Sheng said: "Cao Pi has brought many troops and horses this time, and is very powerful. There are also some famous generals as vanguards. If we cannot cross the river to fight, we will concentrate the ships on the north bank. I will naturally have a plan to defeat the enemy."
Sun Shao said: "I also have three thousand soldiers and horses under my command, and I know the geographical situation of Guangling. I volunteer to go to Jiangbei and fight to the death with Cao Pi. If I cannot win, I am willing to serve as a military commander."
Xu Sheng refused to listen, but Sun Shao insisted, but Xu Sheng just disagreed. Sun Shao tried to leave again and again, but Xu Sheng said angrily: "How can I restrain the generals if you don't obey orders like this?" Then he scolded the warrior and pushed him out. After beheading him, swordsmen and axemen pushed him outside the camp gate and erected a soap flag. Sun Shao's general reported the situation to Sun Quan. After Sun Quan learned about it, he immediately went to the rescue. By the time the warrior was about to execute the execution, Sun Quan had already arrived, and he drove away the sword and axe, and saved Sun Shao.
Sun Shao cried: "I have been stationed in Guangling in previous years and I am very familiar with it. If I didn't fight Cao Pi there, if I wait until they reach the Yangtze River area, there will be no tomorrow for Soochow."
Sun Quan entered the camp, and Xu Sheng came out to greet him and said: "Your Majesty appointed me as the commander-in-chief to lead troops and horses to resist the Wei State. Now Sun Shao, the powerful general, does not abide by military laws and should be beheaded. Why did your Majesty pardon him?"
Sun Quan said: "Sun Shao is a hot-blooded man. He accidentally violated the military law. I hope you can forgive him."
Xu Sheng said: "The military law is not stipulated by me, nor is it stipulated by the king. It is the basis for governing the country. If you can pardon at will just because you are a relative, how can you convince everyone?"
Sun Quan said: "Sun Shao broke the law and should have been left to the general's disposal. However, although this man's surname is Yu, my brother likes him very much and gave him the surname Sun. He has also done some credit to me. If he is killed like this, I am afraid he will let me down." Brotherly love."
Xu Sheng said: "Then for the sake of your Majesty, I can put down the death penalty."
Sun Quan asked Sun Shao to go and thank him, but Sun Shao refused to do so and said sternly: "According to my idea, I will lead my troops to defeat Cao Pi. Even if I die, I still won't accept your opinion!"
Xu Sheng didn't look good after hearing this. Sun Quan dismissed Sun Shao and said to Xu Sheng: "Even if we don't have this kid, we won't lose anything. Please don't use him again in the future." After that, he left.
At night, a soldier reported that Sun Shao had secretly crossed the Yangtze River with 3,000 troops. Xu Sheng was afraid that Sun Shao was in danger and would look bad to the King of Wu, so he called Ding Feng and secretly told him the plan. , crossed the Yangtze River with three thousand soldiers and horses to respond.
Wei Emperor Cao Pi rushed to Guangling in a dragon boat. Cao Zhen had already lined up his troops and horses on the bank. When they were reviewing, Cao Pi asked: "How many troops and horses are there on the other side of the river?"
He replied: "We sent people to look at higher places, but we didn't see a single person, nor did we see any camps or flags."
Cao Pi said: "There must be a conspiracy. I will go and see the truth in person." So he opened the river, and the dragon boat entered the river and stopped on the bank. There were dragons, phoenixes, sun and moon flags on the boat, surrounded by yiluan, shining brightly. , Cao Pi was sitting in the dragon boat, looking across from him, but saw no one. He turned back to Liu Ye and Jiang Ji and said, "Do you think you can cross the Yangtze River?"
He replied: "The troops and horses are only insubstantial. They saw our army arriving and did not make any preparations. Your Majesty cannot act easily. Wait three to five days to see what happens, and then let the vanguard cross the river to have a look."
Cao Pi said: "Your idea is in line with my thinking."
