"My lord, with the current strength of our army, Cao Cao let us go, and we are not sure that we will fight for Yanzhou or Xuzhou from the current Cao Cao, if we want to fight against Cao Cao and solve the dilemma we are facing now, we must ask for help from other forces." Liu Ye said solemnly.

"I also know this, didn't we negotiate with Lu Bu before, okay? But now Lu Bu is unable to protect himself, how to help our army. Liu Bei smiled bitterly: "Yuan Shao is also preparing for Jizhou now, and most of them are making small moves in Qingzhou to compete with Cao Cao for food." Who can we ask for help now? ”

Liu Ye looked inexplicably and said softly: "Lord, in addition to these two people, isn't there another person?" ”

"Who else?" Liu Bei was puzzled: "Gongsun Zan is thousands of miles away from us, Yuan Shugang fought a battle with us and was hostile to our army, who else can we rely on?" ”

"Yuan Shu." Liu Ye looked directly at Liu Bei and said word by word.

"We were calculated by Yuan Shu just now, and we lost tens of thousands of elites, plus there were many frictions before, and countless soldiers under a certain command died in Jiangdong. Alliance with Yuan Shu? How is this possible? Liu Bei was surprised.

Liu Ye bowed and said solemnly: "Lord, there is no eternal enemy between the princes, especially us and Yuan Shu, although there are many grievances between the two sides, they are not mortal enemies. At this time of survival, why should the lord let go of those inconsequential hatreds? ”

"It's not that so-and-so won't let go, where is the dead soldier in this way? What kind of face does a certain have to see the soldiers under his command? Although Liu Bei's heart was a little shaken, he hesitated when he thought of the soldiers under his command who had just escaped from the sea of fire.

"My lord, those who achieve great things are not informal. The general trend is like this, and everything else can be put behind for the time being. Only by solving the current crisis can we find another way, and the people under our command can be slowly pacified, but if this fighter misses, I'm afraid we really don't have a chance! The lord has already missed it once, and now he wants to miss it again? Liu Ye said angrily. Cao Cao is even more difficult to deal with than Yuan Shu, if Cao Cao is allowed to take Qingzhou like this, then they can really only wait for death.

Liu Bei looked at the perseverance and madness in Liu Ye's eyes, and sighed slightly in his heart. If I had made up my mind earlier, how could I have ended up in today's situation? The evasion and hesitation at that time created the evil consequences of today.

"Ziyang, can this really alleviate our current predicament?" Liu Bei said bitterly: "Yuan Shu's power is so great, will he really form an alliance with me, a weak enemy, to deal with Cao Cao?" As you said, even if we win, it's just a wedding dress for Yuan Shu, what can we gain? ”

"Harvest a little bit of life!" Liu Ye said firmly.

"We can give up Si Li and even Nanyang to Yuan Shu, after all, these places are simply tasteless for us, and we will be able to break free from the current cage and seek a glimmer of life!"

"It's easy to say, Yuan Shu is so powerful now, and we are so laissez-faire, aren't we killing ourselves? Cao Mengde's oppressive power on us is far less than Yuan Highway! Now that Yuan Highway has won Xiliang again, we and Cao Mengde may not be able to protect ourselves by reporting to each other for warmth, and then fighting infighting is not self-defeating? Liu Bei said soberly. No matter how stupid he is, he is still very clear about the current situation, Yuan Shu is like the Qin State during the Warring States Period, if he and Cao Cao are infighting, then they can only watch Yuan Shu sweep the world.

Liu Ye sighed lightly: "Lord, what you said is right, but you didn't expect that Cao Mengde also thought like this, that's why he was so fearless." Keep us out of Tongguan. ”

"If we occupy not Yuzhou, but Yizhou or Jiangdong, the lord's approach of joining forces with the weak and resisting the strong is naturally right. But don't forget, the lord should not forget that we are in Yuzhou, where there is no danger to defend and the land of four wars. With the situation in Yuzhou, it may not be possible to defend Cao Cao together, not to mention that Cao Cao, an ally, is also coveted by us, and we have no way to retreat, even if it is impossible to divide one side. ”

Although Yuzhou was once the first state of the Han Dynasty, it was indeed not a good place in this troubled era, and it was a place of four wars without danger to defend, which was a rich version of Yanzhou. Just think about the ending of Yuan Shu being the emperor here in history, there are enemies on all sides, and there is no way to escape.

Cao Cao's Yanzhou was burned to the west with no princes to settle in, and Yuan Shao to the north was blocked by the Yellow River and was an ally of each other, so he only had to face enemies on the other two sides, and Yuzhou, where Liu Bei was located, was now a real enemy on all sides.

"The lord has no way to retreat, our army is based on Yuzhou, and the starting point is very high, but there is no way to retreat, only to expand outward to survive. But where can we expand now? Yuan Shu in the south relied on his invincible naval army and the danger of the Yangtze River, and was simply unable to defeat him. We can only choose Cao Cao. Liu Ye was extremely bitter in his heart, a Yangtze River directly cut off all his calculations and hopes.

"I knew that I was fighting with Cao Cao for Xuzhou, in order to guard against Yuan Shu, I thought that I had made a lot of money by taking advantage of the fisherman, but now I think about it is still too naïve. A certain effortlessly obtained many Danyang elites and two counties, but although Cao Cao lost many soldiers and horses, he completely controlled the general trend of the Central Plains! Liu Bei regretted again.

"The lord doesn't need to be upset, the lord's choice was not wrong, it was indeed the best choice. Yuan Shu's threat is far stronger than Cao Cao's, and as long as he is not allowed to take Chang'an and Xiliang easily, we will have more room to maneuver. Liu Ye comforted.

"But now Yuan Shu still occupies Xiliang?"

"It's man-made, how could we have thought that Yuan Shu would be so decisive and ruthless, leaving no room for anything. The burning of Chang'an is indeed amazing! Liu Ye said with a hideous face.

"But now that things have happened, my lord, we have to accept the reality, and we must see the general trend clearly. Cao Cao took advantage of the situation to take the lead again, but we were completely calculated and got nothing, but fell into Cao Cao's trap. ”

"Okay, call the second and third brothers over, let's discuss it together!" Liu Bei sighed lightly.

"In addition, send people to contact Chen Qun and Chen Dao, so that they can get ready, assemble the army, be ready to attack Yanzhou and Xuzhou at any time, and prepare the corresponding supplies." Winter operations are more difficult than those in spring and autumn, and if you don't prepare your supplies, the wind, snow, and temperature alone may lead to a large number of losses among your men.

"Lord, do you want to contact Yuan Shu earlier? Whatever the decision of the lord, it is always good to give him notice in advance. Liu Ye suggested.

Liu Bei was silent for a moment: "Okay, you can send a messenger to contact you first." ”

"No!"