Seeking common ground while reserving differences is a method of thinking and behavior created by Zhou Gong, a later diplomat, for China to deal with complex relations and resolve complex contradictions. This is not just a literal dialectic of "finding common ground and retaining different opinions", but also includes the dialectical method of seeking common ground in differences, seeking common ground without seeking differences, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and treating the same realm while reserving differences. Implementers must have a strong heart and a strong will, so that they can be far-sighted and not be blinded by self-interest. Therefore, seeking common ground while reserving differences is not the goal, but what to do after seeking common ground while reserving differences is the most important thing.

Just like at this moment, Sun Ce and Cai Ji have their own objections on the issue of the choice of the new capital and the ownership of Guangling County. Sun Ce wanted to divide one side and set up his own gate, and before the Son of Heaven divided the princes, it was natural to occupy as many cities as possible. Cai Ji has always taken the unification of the world as her own responsibility, and dividing the princes is only an expedient measure for her. Therefore, Cai Ji, who focuses on the overall situation, will not care too much about the gains and losses of one city and one place. However, in line with the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences, the two sides can put aside their differences of opinion for the time being, and while grasping the key points, they can find out the common ideas, common demands, and common interests of both sides, and finally reach a united front. At present, the biggest common interest of the two families of Sun Cai is the "division of the princes".

Therefore, in the face of Zhou Yu's inquiry, Cai Jichengzhu said aloud in his chest, "The Chinese language has clouds, and the real creatures are not the same." It is human nature for all the princes to have their own thoughts and plans. Ran Ji thought that today's plan was great, because it was important to welcome the edict. He also asked Wu Hou to put the overall situation first and put aside the controversy for the time being, so as not to miss the opportunity to divide the seal. ”

Lu Su sat behind Sun Ce, watching Cai Ji talk and smile without changing his face under the repeated pressure of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, and couldn't help but be deeply impressed by the extraordinary bearing of the woman in front of him. Especially when Cai Ji proposed to "seek common ground while reserving differences". Lu Su couldn't help but applaud in his heart. In other words, the current reality of the Qi army, Cai Ji, can talk to Sun Ce about how to divide the Cao family's territory. But who would have thought that Cai Ji not only did not cater to Sun Ce, but persuaded Sun Ce to put the overall situation first, not to lose big because of small things. In Lu Su's view, Cai Ji's behavior is in line with the sentence she quoted, "Harmony with real creatures, the same is not continued".

"And the real creatures. The same is not continued" from the mouth of Shi Bo, a famous scholar in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The original meaning of Shi Bo's sentence is that different things can be combined with each other to produce a hundred things, and if the same is added to the same, not only can no new things be produced, but also the world will become dull and boring. It is not possible for all members of the same alliance to have the same idea and the same view on any issue. Therefore, only by accommodating different opinions as heaven and earth tolerate all things, can we win the factors that can be fought for and the strength that can be united. From Cai Ji's point of view. Only by winning the united front of Sun Ce, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei at the same time can she achieve her "Bu Du Dingding and return to the Son of Heaven." Divide the princes, and use the sixteen-character initiative of the feudal Ping Han".

Cai Ji's flexible and atmospheric diplomatic skills gave Lu Su a deeper understanding of the art of vertical and horizontal. It's a pity that Lu Su's current identity can't come forward to participate in the negotiation for the time being, so at this time, he can only secretly pray that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu can get back to business and stop testing Cai Ji's bottom line.

Of course, Zhou Yu knows the truth of going too far. What's more, at this moment, he is also full of admiration for Cai Ji's amazing expression. In fact, for the reaction of Guo Jia, Xin Bi and other strategists, Zhou Yu had already prepared. But I didn't expect that the real tricky object would be Cai Ji himself. So after some temptation and confrontation. Zhou Yu finally bowed to Cai Ji convincingly, "Qi Hou is well aware of the trend of rigidity and softness, and he is familiar with the art of vertical and horizontal shutting, Zhou admires it." ”

"Zhou Du has also won awards." Cai Ji smiled shyly, and then changed the tone and said, "The Son of Heaven summoned Meng Degong, Xuande Gong, Wu Hou and Gu to escort and move the capital together, and then Meng Degong and Xuande Gong confronted each other in Jingzhou. Lone thought that it was the current trend, but Wu Hou and Lone went south hand in hand. can mediate the siege of the sun. ”

After hearing Cai Ji's analysis, Zhou Yu nodded thoughtfully. Indeed, whether it is the Son of Heaven moving the capital to pro-government. Or their group of princes divided the countries, and they all had to fish Cao Cao out of the mud pit in Dangyang first. Otherwise, Cao Ang would not let the Son of Heaven leave Xu Du. If the Son of Heaven does not restore his free body, it is impossible to talk about separation. Thinking of this, Zhou Yu couldn't help but turn around and exchanged glances with Sun Ce.

At this time, Sun Ce had already been whetted by the word "separation" proposed by Cai Ji. After all, compared to Guangling County, dividing the countries is the real purpose of his trip. So after making eye contact with Zhou Yu, Sun Ce immediately laughed and said, "Haha, Qi Hou is reasonable. The choice of the new capital is not discussed for the time being, I don't know when Qi Hou plans to go south? ”

Sun Ce's laughter was full of sunshine and vitality, completely lacking the aggressiveness of the previous dispute. makes people have to sigh that every prince is a natural actor, and the speed of turning his face is faster than turning a book. Of course, Cai Ji was already surprised by this, so he saw her raise her eyebrows slowly and said, "In order to avoid having too many dreams at night, the sooner the better." ”

"Long nights and dreams? Qi Hou is really witty. Sun Ce recalled the new words that came out of Cai Ji's mouth, and then adjusted his sitting posture, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, "It's okay for Gu and Qi Hou to go south to save Cao." I am afraid that the night will be long and dreamy, and Xu will change. ”

Sun Ce's "long nights and many dreams" here refers to Cao Cao's reaction after he was freed from the predicament. After all, if it weren't for Cao Cao being in prison, Cao Ang would not have pinched his nose and released the Son of Heaven to cater to Cai Ji's sixteen-character proposal. And once Cao Cao is out of danger, it is difficult to guarantee that the eldest prince Cao will not cross the river and tear down the bridge.

In the face of Sun Ce's current learning and sale, Cai Ji responded quietly, "Marquis Wu doesn't need to worry too much, Mr. Fengxiao will enter the capital on behalf of Gu Miansheng and explain to the imperial court the reason why we went south." ”

To put it bluntly, the so-called Entering Beijing is to discuss with Cao Ang and the Qian Peiwu people who supported the Cao family and the Yingchuan family how to exchange Cao Cao for the Son of Heaven and how to realize the bright prospects of dividing the princes together. So as to ensure that Cao Ying will still stand on the same front with Cai and Sun after Cao Cao is freed.

At this moment, seeing that Cai Ji sent his confidant Guo Jia to envoy Xu Du to contact Cao Ying, Sun Ce was unwilling to be left behind. However, considering that he had to mediate the dispute between Liu Bei and Cao Cao with Cai Ji after going south, Sun Ce was reluctant to send Zhou Yu to Xu Du. After all, vertical and horizontal is never what he is good at.

And just when Sun Ce was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard Lu Su Mao behind him recommend himself. "I wish to send an envoy to Xu Du on behalf of the lord."

Thinking that Lu Su had crossed the sea to find Sun Quan despite the hardships and dangers, and then actively campaigned to promote today's alliance, Sun Ce nodded and promised. "Please entrust Qing Ye to enter Beijing."

Don't look at today's Huimeng Lu Su only acted as a spectator behind Sun Ce throughout the whole process, but Cai Ji knew that this seemingly unknown Mr. Zijing was a master comparable to Zhang Yi and Su Qin in this era. Lu Su may not be as talented and elegant as Zhou Yu, but he is quick thinking, good at grasping people's hearts, and has an extremely keen judgment of the situation in the world. It was with these characteristics that Lu Su contributed to the Sun-Liu alliance in the original history, which was talked about by later generations. Cai Ji believes that with Lu Su and Guo Jia joining forces, this trip to Xudu will definitely be able to get twice the result with half the effort. And she can also free up her hands to concentrate on mediating the siege of Dangyang.

However, Liu Bei, who is far away in Jingzhou, is not as well-informed as Cai Ji and Sun Ce in the Central Plains. When Cai Ji and Sun Ce reached a consensus on going south to save Cao, Liu Bei, who was kept in the dark, was worried about Cao Ren, who was approaching Dangyang. In other words, Cao Ren's troops are actually not much, and the scale of the full battle is about 20,000. However, Xu responded to the sentence "The mourning soldiers will win". The Cao army led by Cao Ren was full of morale and high morale. In contrast, the siege battles for several months left Liu Bei's subordinates physically and mentally exhausted and their morale low. In addition, the thousand acres of swamp left behind after the flood receded also became a natural barrier between Liu Beibu and Dangyang City. In this way, the defenders of the city are protected from being attacked in disguise.

Some people may think that it is a bit inconceivable that Cao Cao relied on a small city like Dangyang with three or four thousand men and horses to block the attack of Liu Bei's 100,000-strong army. However, in the history of China, there have been more incredible war examples. If Cai Ji had not entered this time and space, according to the development of the original history, Zhuge Liang would have led 100,000 people to attack Chencang City, which was guarded by Cao's general Hao Zhao, twenty-six years later, in 229 AD.

At that time, Zhuge Liang thought that he had 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the defenders in Chengcang City only had more than 1,000 soldiers. It is also estimated that the rescue troops from Cao Wei from the east may not be able to arrive. Then he ordered to march and attack Chengcang. Zhuge Liang, who is good at the art of organs, first attacked the city with an improved cloud ladder, and Hao Zhao, who had ever wanted to defend the city, was also a strange person. Hao Zhao ordered people to tie linen cloth stained with oil, sulfur and other flammable materials to the arrowhead, ignited it and quickly shot out, not only burning Zhuge Liang's ladder in one fell swoop, but also leaving a record of the first use of "rockets" in the history of Chinese warfare. Seeing that the ladder was burned, Zhuge Liang immediately sacrificed his car and attacked the city gate of Chen Cang. Hao Zhao tied a stone mill with a rope and threw it at the Han army's rushing car. With the car being destroyed, Zhuge Liang ordered people to make a hundred-foot-high tic-tac-toe wooden fence overnight to shoot arrows into the city. Fill the moat with clods of earth and try to climb the city wall. This time, Hao Zhao chose a method similar to Liu Ye to defend the city. That is, to build another wall in the city. The Shu army, who finally climbed over the city wall, found that he was sandwiched between the two city walls, unable to advance or retreat, and squeezed into a ball for a while, becoming a live target for the Cao army. The well fence of the Shu army was blocked behind the first city wall, and the head could not shoot to the second layer of the city wall. Zhuge Liang, who couldn't make a plan and had another plan, soon sent soldiers to dig tunnels, wanting to enter the city through the tunnels. Hao Zhao's countermeasure was to dig a horizontal tunnel in the city to intercept it. As a result, when the Shu army pierced the last layer of thin soil, they were greeted not only by the sunshine, but also by the Cao army, who was waiting for the rabbit.

In this way, the two sides attacked and defended each other day and night for more than 20 days, and Zhuge Liang finally had to withdraw due to the lack of food. It is no wonder that later scholars regarded the Battle of Chengcang as Mozi. The actual combat version of "Public Loss" said that "Kong Ming does not reduce public loss, and Hao Zhao does not reduce Mo Zhai." However, Hao Zhao ran out of oil because of the war, and died at the age of thirty-eight.

It can be seen that the offensive and defensive battle around the city is by no means a simple competition of forces, but a contest of wisdom and will. At present, Cao Cao held Dangyang with tenacious will and old experience, and finally waited for Cao Ren's reinforcements to arrive. Liu Bei was not willing to give up. After all, since he came to Rong, he had never achieved such a big advantage over Cao Cao as he did in Dangyang. Therefore, Liu Bei ordered Guan Yu to lead his troops north to Changbanpo to block Cao Ren, and on the other hand, he recruited his subordinates into the commander's tent to discuss the next round of countermeasures.

Since Zhuge Liang had tried various siege methods before, but failed to break through the Dangyang City garrisoned by Cao Cao, Liu Bei's staff, who felt that his donkey skills were poor, began to brainstorm from other directions. At this moment, I heard Liao Lijin, a famous man in Jingzhou who had recently joined Liu Bei, say, "Can you go out of the city with Cao Mengde in the name of peace, and then wipe it out!" ”

"No, you can't. Cao Mengde is suspicious by nature and will not take risks to get out of the city. Liu Bei shook his head and denied Liao Li's suggestion. As Cao Cao's old opponent, Liu Bei knows very well that according to Cao Cao's old fox temperament, the more you take the initiative to invite him out of the city, the more he will not go out of the city.

"Or the other way around!" A clear voice interrupted Liu Bei's thoughts.

Liu Bei raised his head and met Zhuge Liang's dark eyes. Although Zhuge Liang failed to take the opposite Dangyang City in the past two months, this did not affect Liu Bei's trust in him. Because Liu Bei firmly believed that the young strategist sitting opposite him was the talent of Wang Zuozhi, who was given to him by God. So Liu Bei hurriedly asked Zhuge Liang, "What do you mean by Kong Ming's words?" ”

"Cao Mengde is unwilling to go out of the city to negotiate peace, and the lord can release Liu Ziyang and Yang Dezu to Dangyang and let him pass on Cao Mengde." Zhuge Liang said this, and said with a leisurely smile, "It is said that the food of the Liu battalion has been exhausted, and the lord wants to retreat to Jiangling." ”

Liu Bei listened to what Zhuge Liang said, and suddenly his eyes lit up. Indeed, since Cao Cao was suspicious by nature, he did the opposite to make him think that he was afraid of him going out of the city. Anyway, Cao Apu's goods are a donkey temper of "not leaving, fighting backwards". But how can I get Liu Ye and Yang Xiu to speak for me? I can't just tell those two that I have no food and want to withdraw from the army. Liu Bei lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and finally fixed his gaze on Liu Yan.

Liu Yan, whose name is Weishuo, is a native of Lu in Yuzhou, and defected to Liu Bei when Liu Bei served as the assassin of Yuzhou. This person is dignified and good at talking and discussing, so he is deeply treated by Liu Bei, and often follows Liu Bei as a guest to socialize. In history, this old minister who had followed Liu Bei for many years was suspected of having an affair with the queen mother for more than a month after entering the palace, and his wife Hu had an affair with the queen Liu Chan, so he lynched his wife and expelled him from the house. Hu sued Liu Yan for this, and as a result, Liu Yan was imprisoned by the latter and abandoned the city and died. But that's all for another time. At this moment, Liu Bei decided to make good use of Liu Yan's communication skills.

"Weishuo, you and Zizhong will hold a banquet tonight to entertain Cao Envoy." (To be continued......)