During the decisive battle between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan,

Although on the frontal battlefield,

Yuan Shao won a decisive victory.

However, just as he led all his subordinates,

When the boundary bridge celebrates this great victory,

Bad news suddenly came from his old nest Yecheng,

Liu Shi and Colonel Zuo led the rebellious soldiers,

besieged Yecheng, with tens of thousands of people,

Yecheng fell in two days.

After Yuan Shao's subordinates heard the news,

There was an uproar, demanding that they immediately return to the army to rescue Yecheng,

However, Yuan Shao did smile indifferently at that time,

Calmly and calmly state to everyone,

dispelled the anxious mentality of his subordinates,

At the same time, he ordered the three Liu Bei brothers, who had recently surrendered,

Led 10,000 elite soldiers back to Yecheng.

Yuan Shao himself sat in Yecheng himself,

Prepare to continue to lead the army to Yijing,

Carry out the work of recovering the entire territory of Youzhou.

Yecheng, the famous capital city in ancient times.

The scope of the site includes the western part of present-day Linzhang County, Hebei Province, and the northern suburbs of Anyang City, Henan Province.

There are two cities in the Ye that later generations said.

Yecheng during the Three Kingdoms period was called Yebei City by later generations.

Seven miles from east to west, five miles from north to south, north to Zhangshui,

This is Yuan Shao's base camp,

But now it's a haven for the rebels.

Liu Shiben is a member of the Montenegrin Army,

However, he has always been at odds with Zhang Yan,

Therefore, when Zhang Yan took over the helm of the Montenegrin Army,

Liu Shi led his subordinates eastward to Jizhou,

and the Yellow Turban General Zuo Colonel here, join forces,

The two of them participated in the Yellow Turban,

Rather than for the sake of ideals to overthrow the rule of the Han Dynasty,

It's better to say that it is for promotion and wealth,

After the two fell into the grass in Jizhou,

The greedy and tyrannical nature is revealed,

led his subordinates to do all kinds of evil.

This time, taking advantage of the opportunity for Yuan Shao to lead the army,

I heard that Yecheng is rich,

The bold two took tens of thousands of subordinates,

Come and attack Yecheng.

Yecheng only has a few hundred defenders,

With the high walls of the city,

After holding out for two days, he finally fell,

After tens of thousands of thieves entered Yecheng,

burning, killing, looting, and doing all kinds of evil,

made the originally rich Yecheng,

All of a sudden, it became a purgatory on earth.

In the northern suburbs of Yecheng,

There's a detachment of men and horses stationed there,

This is 10,000 elite soldiers led by Liu Bei,

On the order of Yuan Shao, he came back to recover Yecheng,

Liu Bei and others arrived here this afternoon,

The march in winter is extremely difficult,

Liu Bei ordered the generals to camp and rest,

Prepare for the siege on the second day.

In the big tent of the Chinese army,

A charcoal fire was raised early,

Liu Bei sat on the main seat,

With a glass of warm water and wine in his hand,

Looking at the rising mist of water and wine in the glass,

Lost in thought.

At this time, the door of the tent was opened,

A bitter cold wind blew in,

pulled Liu Bei back from his contemplation.

Liu Bei raised his head,

Seeing that the person who came in was Jian Yong,

Hurriedly put down the wine glass and said:

"Xianhe, come into the house and warm up."

Jian Yong didn't answer, nodded as a greeting,

While rubbing his hands with anger,

While running to the fire,

When the pale face has regained a little ruddy,

Only then did he exhale comfortably and said:

"Whew, I didn't expect Jizhou to be so cold, not much stronger than Youzhou."

Liu Bei took a sip of his wine glass and said:

"Hehe, the northern country is bitterly cold, and this secluded Ji is adjacent, so naturally there is not much difference."

Jian Yong nodded,

did not continue on this topic,

He asked:

"The second and third generals are still reorganizing the army?"

Nodding, Liu Bei explained:

"At the beginning, thousands of elite soldiers were deployed to me, making up 10,000 of them. However, if you want to attack the city, these horses need to be further trained and run-in. Fortunately, the two virtuous brothers are capable people, and these soldiers have been trained almost during the march, and it should be no problem to attack these bandits. ”

Jian Yong smiled and said:

"The lord and the two generals are all the best among the people, although these bandit troops are numerous, they are just chickens and dogs."

Thousands of wear and don't wear sycophants,

Liu Bei is not exempt from vulgarity,

Hearing this flattery from Jian Yong,

Liu Bei smiled.

Jian Yong walked to Liu Bei's small table,

Pick up the flask on the table,

Poured himself a glass of warm wine,

Drink it all in one gulp,

Then he walked to the side of the seat,

"My lord, then this man will be firmly in our own hands in the future."

Liu Bei smiled and nodded,

"It's nature."

After a pause,

Liu Bei opened his mouth and asked:

"How's the contact with Shopkeeper Su?"

Hearing Liu Bei's inquiry,

Jian Yong's expression was straight, and then he replied with a smile:

"Fortunately, I got in touch with the shopkeeper Su, and someone from the Mi family in Xuzhou also came."

"Oh?" Liu Bei's face showed joy,

"Who's coming?"

"It is the eldest son of their family, Mi Zhu Mi Zizhong."

Liu Bei's eyes couldn't help but widen,

I was so excited that I didn't even know that the wine in the glass was spilled.

"He actually came in person?"

Jian Yong nodded and said:

"That's right, it was he who came in person, but he was afraid of too many people, so he didn't come to visit the lord. I would like to ask me to convey my greetings to the Lord on my behalf. ”

"Good, good."

Liu Bei said three good words with a face,

The excitement in my heart is hard to overcome.

Jian Yong also took the opportunity to say at this time:

"Lord, it seems that the Mi family attaches great importance to this cooperation. And Mi Zhu personally said that the cooperation with the Su shopkeeper this time is not only for horses, but also for comprehensive cooperation in weapons and private salt. ”

"Is that true?" Liu Bei was shocked again,

Leaning forward, he asked, incredulously.

Jian Yong nodded and replied:

"It's true! The Mi family has been in Xuzhou for many years, originally started with private salt, and now I heard that the shopkeeper Su is serving the lord, so he decided to vigorously support the lord. It was the name of benevolence and righteousness that spread when the lord was in Fangcheng, so that many people knew about it, and there would be such a result. ”

"Hahahaha! God help me! ”

Liu Bei stroked his palms happily and laughed,

looked at Jian Yong, and hurriedly added:

"Xianhe, thanks to your reminder. If it weren't for you, I would have lost out on it. ”

Jian Yong smiled proudly when he heard this:

"Where, where. Everything is the work of the Lord. ”

The laughter stopped, and Liu Bei suddenly said in his heart:

"Xianhe, don't you think this matter is a little too easy?"

Jian Yong tidied up his beard,

Calmly opened his mouth and replied:

"Lord, I investigated this matter long before I contacted the Mi family. Although the Mi family is a big family in Xuzhou, but the business Jia is looked down upon, although the power in Xuzhou is huge, but it is limited to ordinary people, compared with the real Shi family, they still have a big gap, now they want to go further, but although Xuzhou Tao Gongzu relies on the Mi family a lot, but has not really led it as a confidant, his Mi family can only rely on external forces, and the lord is now weak, but the Tiger Prison Pass is famous, and the governance of Fangcheng is the name of benevolence and righteousness. Their refuge at this time is tantamount to sending charcoal in the snow, and it is the best time for him and us. ”

Liu Bei nodded when he heard this: "What Xianhe said is very true. ”

Jian Yong took a sip of wine,

Moistening his throat, he continued:

"The second reason is that their development is now restricted. The Mi family started by selling illicit salt, although the court now exists in name only, but selling illicit salt is also something that the princes and officials everywhere can't tolerate on the surface. ”

"That's right, I'm also afraid of whether this is a trick or not, so I made a trap for me."

Liu Bei frowned slightly and asked.

Jian Yong shook his head and smiled:

"In the past few years of turmoil in Xuzhou, Tao Qian needed the financial resources of the Mi family to stabilize the situation, which made the Mi family prosperous, but now Xuzhou has gradually settled down and is thriving under the governance of Xuzhou. At this time, the Mi family, which started by selling illicit salt, became a hot potato, so now the status of the Mi family in Xuzhou is also very embarrassing and delicate. In addition, in the past two years, the Zhen family in Zhongshan, with the support of Lu Bu, has expanded rapidly, which has made the business of other aspects of the Mi family deteriorate. Therefore, the Mi family also wants to contact us to open up the private salt channel outside Xuzhou, so as to maintain their existing status of the Mi family, and maybe even go further. ”

After listening to Jian Yong's explanation,

Liu Bei smiled at this time,

"I see, so we hit it off? Hahahaha. ”

After Jian Yong laughed a few times,

Somewhat uneasy, he added:

"My lord, but this matter still needs to be kept secret from the second general."

Liu Bei's laughter stopped abruptly,

Nodding a little heavily, he said:

"I naturally understand this."

Although I trust these two righteous brothers very much,

They are also unconditionally incapable of themselves,

But especially Guan Yu,

The heart is still relatively upright,

Selling illicit salt,

I'm afraid he will find it difficult to accept it for a while,

simply hide it from him first,

Wait until the raw rice is cooked in the future.

He could only accept it.

Silent for a long time,

Jian Yong spoke again and broke the silence and said:

"Lord, do we really want to capture Yecheng and send it to Yuan Shao?"

Liu Bei nodded and said:

"This is nature. Not only do it, but do it quickly and well. This can also be regarded as our entry into Yuan Shao Group, and only in this way can we gain a firm foothold in Jizhou. ”

Jian Yong asked puzzled:

"Lord, when we left Gongsun Zhan, we won a lot of territory for Yuan Shao, isn't it enough?"

Liu Bei shook his head and said sarcastically:

"Yuan Benchu is a person who is generous on the outside and suspicious on the inside. Although I offered a lot of Youzhou land at the beginning of my service, in his opinion, this is just a natural thing, and it is not enough to become our capital based in Jizhou. This time, Yecheng was attacked by bandits, but it gave us a chance, and Yuan Shao sent me here to test me. ”

"Temptation?" Jian Yong asked suspiciously.

Liu Bei smiled faintly and said:

"Hahaha, Xianhe, arguing and negotiating with others, no one can be on your right, but if you say that this platoon of troops marches to fight, you are a lot worse. Although Yuan Shao was caught off guard by the capture of Yecheng, the fourth and third princes of the Yuan family were not idle, not to mention others, that is, there were not a few private soldiers of the major families in Yecheng, plus Xianhe, don't forget, Yuan Shao still has a large army in the south. ”

Jian Yong was slightly stunned,

immediately understood what Liu Bei was talking about.

In response to Cao Cao's crusade against Yuan Shu,

Yuan Shao specially sent a large army,

Although it has not yet been conquered,

However, the army of 150,000 has always been stationed on the front line of Henan.

It's much closer to Yecheng than the boundary bridge.

Normally,

It is much easier to dispatch this force to regain Yecheng,

But Yuan Shao is reluctant to seek the near and far,

Send Liu Bei back to help,

and also made up for Liu Bei to 10,000 horses,

Although Jian Yong is not good at scheming military aircraft,

But he's not stupid,

I instantly understood the joints.

Let out a long breath,

Jian Yong opened his mouth and said:

"I didn't expect this Yuan Benchu to be so scheming. If our army violates the yang and yin, I am afraid that Yan Liang and Wen Chou will immediately wave their troops north, not only to recover Yecheng, but also to pocket our army. ”

Nodding,

A smile appeared on Liu Bei's face and said:

"That's right, there is no vanity under the fame. Yuan Benchu was not only born in a famous family, but he also had considerable ability, otherwise how could he suppress his sister-in-law Yuan Shu for decades as a concubine. ”

Jian Yong fully understood,

took another sip of wine,

"My lord, what should we do?"

"Siege tomorrow morning!"

"Siege?" Jian Yong looked at Liu Bei in great surprise.

Liu Bei has a weak foundation due to the scarcity of soldiers,

Every campaign always retains as many soldiers as possible.

So it's almost a law.

Also on the other hand,

gave Liu Bei a good reputation for cherishing soldiers,

In the past few years, I have been recuperating at Gongsun Zhan,

finally accumulated nearly 3,000 soldiers and horses,

This is also Liu Bei's entire family background,

I cherish it tightly on weekdays.

However, what I didn't expect was that

This time, in order to help Yuan Shao regain the lost ground,

Liu Bei spared no expense,

Ordered the siege of the city.

You know, since ancient times,

Siege warfare is extremely heavy for the besieging side.

Now Liu Bei's military strength is less than those bandits,

If the city is forcibly attacked,

It is very likely that all of Liu Bei's family wealth will be buried here,

This kind of behavior that is not a day,

But it almost never happened to Liu Bei again.

"That's right, it's the siege."

"But in this way, won't our army suffer heavy losses?"

"It's because you have to lose a lot. If you can get a bad victory, it will be the best result. ”

Liu Bei drank a glass of wine shallowly,

Said incomprehensibly.

Jian Yong looked at Liu Bei suspiciously.

Putting down the wine glass, Liu Bei slowly explained:

"As I said just now, this battle is our vote. We must let Yuan Shao see that we are sincere, and at the same time, we must not make him jealous. ”

Jian Yong frowned and thought for a while,

I vaguely understood what Liu Bei meant.

Liu Bei then explained:

"Although the thieves are powerful, they are just a group of rabble, lured into the wilderness, but they can win in a battle, but it will definitely cause Yuan Shao's jealousy. Therefore, it is necessary to attack the city, and exchange the sacrificed soldiers for Yuan Shao's trust, and since we want to gain his trust, then our descendants must rush to the forefront. ”

Jian Yong looked at Liu Bei, who was talking eloquently,

I couldn't help but feel a chill rise in my heart.