"Lord, great joy!" Luoyang, General's Mansion.

As soon as Chen Mo came to the hall, he saw that the four strategists Li Ru, Xu Shu, Xun You, and Yang Xiu had gathered, and Yang Xiu even got up and hugged his fists.

"What's the matter, the Yuan brothers are at war?" Chen Mo sat down and asked with a smile.

"The lord is clever, I admire it." Yang Xiu nodded.

Chen Mo naturally knew this news first, such a big thing, it was impossible for everyone under his command to know about it, and he was the last to know, but he still made a look of surprise on his face and said, "It's faster than I expected." ”

In fact, Chen Mo was indeed a little surprised when he got the news, Xu You left, he thought that the two brothers had to at least brew it, who knew that it was only less than half a month, and the two brothers had just started a fight in winter.

"But this is the case, Yuan Tan has already fought with Gao Lan, a general under Yuan Shang, in the area of Wei County three days ago." Yang Xiu smiled.

"Let's talk about Jizhou's deployment." Chen Mo nodded and looked at Xu Shu.

Xu Shu nodded, got up and ordered the guards to hang up a topographic map of Jizhou, so that everyone could see it, this topographic map of Jizhou is based on the results of detailed exploration over the years, naturally it is impossible to be as detailed as the map that Xu Yu dedicated to Cao Cao, but the distribution of cities, mountains and rivers is basically the same.

"Now although Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan are at war, but in the deployment, but quite cautious, Zhang He led his troops in Muye, Chaoge area, in order to defend our army from Hanoi to kill, the veteran Han Qiongtun in Zhongshan, guard against the Taishi General and the Montenegrin army, don't look at this person is nearly fifty years old, but this person has the old gun king, in the past years under Yuan Shao to guard Youzhou, the shock of the north, the gun pressure Liaodong, regardless of the martial arts, still on the four court pillars, that Han Meng is his nephew, although there is no true biography, but there are few fierce generals, in addition, there is another person to pay attention to, This person's name is called, brave and strategic, and decisive, and now he has replaced Han Qiong to garrison the Gongsun clan in Liaodong, and this person's ability is no longer under the four court pillars. ”

Yuan Shang fought Yuan Tan this time, and the reason why his troops were not as good as Yuan Tan was because Yuan Shang still had to worry about the Quartet, and Zhang He, Han Qiong, and Zhao Zhao these generals had their own tasks, and to defend the Quartet for him was to prevent Cao Cao and Chen Mo from attacking.

Xu Shu introduced: "These four people are the generals of Yuan Shang's subordinates, and they cannot be taken lightly, but in addition, there are also generals Jiang Yiqu and Wei Yuanjin, who are also quite prestigious, these two are stationed in Liyang and Puyang, guarding against Cao Cao, and Gao Gan is the nephew of Yuan Shao, and now they are stationed in Yecheng, which is considered to be Yuan Shang's cronies." ”

"In other words, now Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan are fighting, but in fact, Yuan Shang only sent Gao Ran to send troops, and did not do his best?" Yang Xiu was a little surprised.

"That's right, Yuan Shang's son is quite fatherly, and he can take care of the overall situation, from this point of view, he is indeed more suitable than his brother Yuan Tan to be the lord of Jizhou." Xu Shu nodded, Yuan Shang is so thoughtful in his deployment, there are basically no loopholes, even if he competes with Yuan Tan now, it is not easy for Chen Mo and Cao Cao to break into Jizhou, but in this way, there are not many troops that can be taken out to pacify Yuan Tan.

"More importantly, according to our army's detailed report in the Central Plains, Cao Cao had already begun to mobilize troops and horses to Juancheng and Qingqiu as early as half a month ago, and the Qingzhou area has not received news for the time being, but it is thought that it will be deployed." Xu Shu saw that everyone had no doubts and continued.

Cao Cao's reaction was expected. Xun You said with a smile: "However, I thought that Cao Cao would not move troops in Qingzhou at this time, but gathered troops and even joined forces with Yuan Tan to attack Yuan Shang together, and even Jiang Yiqu and Wei Yuanjin's defense line was useless, Cao Cao was afraid that he would directly attack Jizhou through Yuan Tan." ”

Chen Mo glanced at Xun You, nodded and said, "Yes, Yuan Tan is brave and unscrupulous, Cao Cao only needs to persuade his advisers to persuade Yuan Tan." ”

The strategists under Yuan Tan's command are basically Yingchuan scholars, and now the two sons of the Yuan family are turning against each other and attacking each other, and the Yuan family has lost the opportunity to compete with Chen Mo and Cao Cao, and they can even persuade Yuan Tan to surrender to Cao Cao.

What's more, there is Xu You as a lobbyist, and in this regard, Cao Cao has already taken the advantage.

"My lord, in this way, hasn't our army lost the opportunity?" Yang Xiu frowned and said, Cao Cao has a lot of help, and he can even join forces with Yuan Tan, and he can easily enter Jizhou, but on their side, they have to break through many defenses before they can attack, even if they finally occupy some cities, but in terms of troops, it may be difficult to compete with Cao Cao, and they have already fallen into disadvantage.

"Not necessarily." Chen Mo said with a smile: "First, since we have lost the lead, we are not in a hurry to use troops, and Cao Cao's goal is Jizhou, while our goal is only Yecheng." ”

"Yecheng?" Everyone looked at the map, puzzled by what Chen Mo meant.

"Yecheng is an important place in Jizhou, not only is its imperial court located, but more importantly, if this place is occupied by our army, even if Cao Cao gets Hejian and other places, our army can also send troops to cut off his way back." Chen Mo explained with a smile.

Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, in this way, if Cao Cao did not withdraw his troops, he might be directly cut off by Chen Mo at any time, and at the same time, Chen Mo's soldiers and horses could also send troops from Xingyang to attack the land of Yanyu, so that the situation would develop in a direction favorable to Chen Mo.

"The lord wants to form an alliance with Yuan Shang?" Everyone present is not stupid, and they quickly understood Chen Mo's intentions, since they can't strike first, then they will accumulate strength, and if they don't make a move, they will make Cao Cao's accumulated advantage disappear in an instant.

"It's not an alliance, it's just a temporary non-attack." Chen Mo shook his head, there is no point in forming an alliance at this time, with Yuan Shang's person, it should be guarded against or prevented, and when the time comes, tearing his face will easily make the other party have the heart of a trapped beast, it is better to ignore it first, secretly plan and plan, and plan against the generals, and wait until the critical moment to kill with one blow.

"My lord." Xu Shu frowned and said: "Cao Cao has Xu You's investment, we can see such things, how can Xu You not know?" ”

"Yes, I'm talking about the smooth state, Cao Cao is likely to go down to Yecheng first and then plot, but this is also more in line with me, so I will compete in Yecheng!" Chen Mo smiled.

No matter how many cities there are, they will only divide the troops, so the most important thing is Yecheng, Chen Mo estimates that his brother will never disperse his forces to attack those irrelevant cities, once he defeats Yuan Shang, I am afraid that he will immediately take Yecheng, and this time, what is determined is the general trend of the Central Plains in the next ten years, and even the future trend of the entire Central Plains, whether it is Chen Moqiang or Cao Caoqiang, so this battle is impossible to stop whether it is Chen Mo or Cao Cao.

"Pass my military order, transfer Yu Sheng to the lieutenant of Si Li, Governor Heluo Defense, Cui Geng stationed in Xingyang, Bao Geng stationed in Chenggao, Shi Geng stationed in Yique, Bai Bi, Han Kai as partial generals, into Yu Sheng to listen to the order, Wu Yi went to Hanoi to gather troops and horses, Gao Shun, Xu Huang, Ma Chao, Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu, Pang De led the troops to gather in Hanoi, I will come to the front line in this battle!"

"Whoa!" Everyone looked solemn and bowed to Chen Mo.

Early the next morning, Chen Mo took his ministers to the court, and Liu Neng said as in the past: "Zhuqing has something to play, and there is nothing to retreat from." ”

"Your Majesty!" Chen Mo took a step forward, bowed to Liu Neng and said, "The minister has something important." ”

"Oh?" Liu Neng hurriedly sat upright, looked at Chen Mo and said, "I don't know what happened to the general?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the brothers Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan in Jizhou are fighting, the chaos in Hebei has appeared, and the minister asks for the order to lead the troops to the expedition to recover the land of Hebei, and I hope Your Majesty will approve it." Chen Mo saluted.

"Is the general sure?" Liu Neng looked at Chen Mo and asked.

Although Chen Mo has the right to mobilize the world's soldiers and horses, but this time is different from the past, Chen Mo this time is the first large-scale conquest since Liu Neng succeeded to the throne, if it fails, Liu Neng is worried that his throne is not guaranteed, although he is a puppet under Chen Mo, but Chen Mo has not treated him badly, if he loses the throne, he will return to the previous days, Liu Nengke is unwilling.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, this Jizhou turmoil, the second son of the Yuan family is not to worry." Chen Mo smiled and said, there is naturally no way to win a war, but at this time in the court, Chen Mo naturally can't say frustrating words.

"General." When Yang Biao heard this, he was out of the ranks, frowned and saluted Chen Mo and said: "Jizhou is in turmoil, Cao Mengde in the Central Plains may not let go of this opportunity, if Cao Mengde comes to attack Luoyang, but the general leads a large army to the battle, how should the DPRK and China defend it?" ”

"This battle, Cao Mengde has been planning for Jizhou for a long time, and recently he has also transferred troops to the area of Dongjun, the minister will garrison Hanoi, if Cao Mengde sends troops to Jizhou, he will compete with him in Jizhou, if he dares to invade my borders, the minister will wave his division to fight back, in addition, the minister has ordered Yu Sheng to be the captain of the division, this person is good at guarding, with him, Luoyang is as stable as Mount Tai." Chen Mo smiled.

"In this way, wouldn't the general miss the opportunity?" Yang Biao frowned.

"In this battle of Jizhou, the three princes are afraid that there will be hundreds of thousands of people, and the opportunity for a while will not determine the outcome of the victory." Chen Mo smiled.

"In this way, if the general is not here, who can assist me in presiding over the government?" Liu Neng said with a look of embarrassment.

When the ministers heard this, they were all silent, and their eyes looked at Chen Mo, this topic is relatively sensitive, and if they are not careful, they may make Chen Mo unhappy.

"The ministers have made arrangements, Shangshu ordered Li Ru to decide the affairs of the court, and in addition, the court lieutenants are full of favor to restrain the ministers, with these two people, they can ensure the peace of the court." Chen Mo bowed slightly, and said calmly.

He led the troops to the battle, and the court naturally had to have people who could be trusted and had enough ability to sit in the rear for themselves, Li Ru and Man Chong, one can preside over the government, the other can deter the ministers, plus the people in charge of the army in Luoyang, all of them are Chen Mo's generals, with these people, they can naturally ensure that the court is fine.

Liu Neng's eyes flashed with a look of disappointment, but the smile on his face did not change in the slightest, and he said with a relieved face: "Since the general has made arrangements, I will be at ease, I wish the general a great victory this time, and raise the prestige of our court!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Chen Mo bowed, and the matter of the Eastern Crusade was decided.