December of the fifth year of Xianning (279 AD), Luoyang Palace.

At this time, it was the middle of winter, and the heavy snow covered Luoyang City with a white coat.

The charcoal burned quietly in the brazier, making the two people in the room feel warm.

Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yan, smiled and looked at the courtiers sitting next to him.

"Gong Shan, when Yuan Kai went to fight Wu, you, Gongzeng, and Gonglu all objected, but neither of them said why, they just blindly persuaded me that the time had not come. Today, I would like to ask Aiqing why she opposes my sending troops. Sima Yan spoke, breaking the silence.

"Does Your Majesty want to hear the truth or a lie?" The courtier asked calmly.

He is Shantao, one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest". Not only that, but he also has a close relationship with Sima Yan, because his grandmother is Zhang Chunhua's mother, that is, the mother-in-law of Emperor Xuan Sima Yi.

It is precisely because of this relationship that in the absence of outsiders, he and Sima Yan talk a lot casually. And Sima Yan used to call him by his alias "Mountain Gong".

"Hehe, I naturally want to hear the truth." Sima Yan laughed.

"Your Majesty and your ministers are not saints, but according to the words of the ancients: only saints can be free from trouble inside and outside. Therefore, the ministers dared to speculate that once the Eastern Wu was destroyed, our dynasty would have internal troubles. Shantao's tone was calm, as if he was telling a story.

"Heh, what does Yishan Gong mean?"

"If you put Dongwu there for the time being, there will be external enemies, and there will naturally be no internal troubles."

"Hahahaha...... Shan Gong, I don't want you to remember the plan of decades ago. But now that my Jin Dynasty is about to be unified, only Eastern Wu is a disaster, and in addition to it, it will be able to create a prosperous era such as the Western Han Dynasty. Sima Yan's eyes flashed, and he said very confidently.

"I hope what Your Majesty said will come true, and the minister is just worrying." Shan Tao slowly got up and said goodbye to Sima Yan.

"Shan Gong." Sima Yan looked at Shantao's back and shouted unconsciously.

"What else does Your Majesty command?" Shantao, who was already over seventy years old, slowly turned around again.

"The situation of the Jin Dynasty today is very different from that of him." Sima Yan said with some amazement.

"Heh, what's the difference?"

Shan Tao turned and left, leaving only these meaningful words and the thoughtful emperor......

————————————————

In the second year of Xingping (195 AD), Yanzhou, Chenliu, Yongqiu.

In the big tent of Cao Jun, there was a one-armed man.

He was carrying a package in his left hand, which had been dyed black and red by its contents, and even if it wasn't opened, everyone knew what it was—a human head.

Duan Xuan sat on Cao Cao's left hand side and looked at him with a cold gaze for a long time before he slowly spoke.

"Zhang Feng, what are you doing here?"

Zhang Feng obviously hadn't had a good rest for many days, and his eyes were bloodshot. Hearing Duan Xuan's question, he replied in a hoarse voice, "I'm here to join General Cao." ”

"Humph! There is no place for you in this world, and now you still want to come here to harm my lord? Come! Get him out! Duan Xuan had completely lost his feelings for Zhang Feng, and said angrily.

"Slow!" Zhang Feng shouted to stop the guards who stepped forward, "I naturally know that you won't believe me, so I specially brought a 'gift' to show my sincerity." ”

As he spoke, he threw the package to the ground, and the head inside was thrown out.

"Meng Zhuo......" Cao Cao's voice was slightly regretful, because the owner of that head was Zhang Miao.

"General Cao naturally recognizes this person, and he is one of the masterminds who rebelled against Lu Bu - Zhang Miao." Zhang Feng said lightly.

"A human head, how to make a 'gift'"? Duan Xuan didn't bother to look at it, so he turned his head to the side and asked him disdainfully.

"General Cao, do you know where I killed him?" Zhang Feng looked at Cao Cao calmly and asked.

"Where?"

"On the outskirts of Gongxian County."

"What!" When Duan Xuan heard this, he suddenly turned his head back and stared at Zhang Feng, his eyes full of shock.

"Presumably I want to ask Yuan Shu for help." Cheng Yu opened his mouth on the side.

"Exactly. If Yuan Shuken sends troops, I believe that General Cao may not be able to hold the state and county steadily, after all, in the past half a year, Yanzhou's grain and grass have been almost consumed. ”

Zhang Feng's analysis is correct, although Cao Cao has basically recovered the entire territory of Yanzhou, due to the war, the people have been displaced, which has seriously damaged the productive forces. The fields are deserted, and it will take a lot of time to recover.

And Yuan Shu has been accumulating strength, if he really agreed to Lu Bu to send troops, then Cao Cao is afraid that he will not survive for a year.

"Although I don't know what your purpose is, since you are kind to Cao, then Cao will definitely repay you sooner or later." Cao Cao said to Zhang Feng with a smile.

"I don't ask General Cao for a reward, I just hope that the general can promise me."

"What?"

"Be sure to eradicate Lu Bu."

"Even if you don't say this, Cao will do it. It's just that I don't know why Your Excellency hates Lu Bu so much? Cao Cao asked curiously.

Zhang Feng touched his right shoulder, and his body trembled slightly, "The revenge of the broken arm must be avenged." ”

Duan Xuan naturally knew about Zhang Feng and Lu Bu's festival, and when Zhang Feng came in just now, he was a little surprised why he lost an arm. At this time, he finally understood that Zhang Feng probably angered Lu Bu, otherwise with Lu Bu's character, he would definitely not do such a thing.

"My lord," Duan Xuan suddenly opened his mouth, "I have a word, I don't know if I should say it." ”

"Zimo said it was okay."

"Now the lord has basically swept away the rebellion, and all the county officials have been replaced. Lu Bu's matter, you might as well put it aside: one is that it is indeed difficult to supply food and grass for our army; Second, if Yuan Shu comes to attack, Yanzhou will be empty, and it will inevitably repeat the mistakes of the past; If the three foreign enemies still exist, there will be no more incidents in Yanzhou. ”

"General Cao, why don't you take advantage of this time to completely eliminate Lu Bu to prevent future troubles?" When Zhang Feng heard Duan Xuan say this, he was a little anxious in his heart.

In fact, Duan Xuan couldn't wait to break Lu Bu's body into pieces immediately, but he knew better that Cao Cao's grain and grass were no longer enough to support another expedition.

"My lord, don't be too anxious."

Although he was also a traitor to Yeyu, Duan Xuan really didn't have a good impression of Zhang Feng, in his opinion, Zhang Feng was just a child. It's just that this time he actually wanted to use Cao Cao to avenge himself, and Duan Xuan absolutely couldn't tolerate it.

"Big brother, what the military advisor said is reasonable, if we go deep into Xuzhou again with the strength of our army now, it is difficult to guarantee that Yuan Shu will not take the opportunity to make trouble." Cao Ren also supported Duan Xuan's opinion.

"Yes, big brother, not to mention that Yanzhou has not all surrendered." Cao Hong also stepped forward and said.

"Wen Ruo, what do you mean?" Cao Cao turned his head to look at Xun Yu, who had been silent.

"It's good for the lord to decide for himself, and Yu doesn't dare to say more." Xun Yu was expressionless, staring down at the ground at his feet and said.

Cao Cao knew in his heart that he was still angry at Juye's massacre of civilians before he was alive.

"General Nie, what do you think?" Even Cao Cao had nothing to do with the angry Xun Yu, so he had to transfer the object of questioning.

"The last general also feels that this matter needs to be considered, not to mention, Yongqiu has not yet been calmed, so it is better to do the things in front of him first." Nie Hong maintained a consistent style, and while expressing his opinions, he could always put forward reasonable suggestions by the way. Cao Cao also admired his calm style, perhaps this is the reason why the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army has been dominating for many years.

"In that case, it's better for me to help General Cao do this, so as to dispel everyone's suspicions." Zhang Feng suddenly took the initiative to ask.

Cao Cao was actually a little distressed about this, first of all, Yongqiu was located in the west of Yanzhou, and there was no major war, so the grain reserves were relatively sufficient. If you besiege the city yourself, you may be consumed first; And if you want to attack strongly, although it will be broken, the casualties will definitely be very large, for the current Cao Cao, this is the last thing he wants to see.

Therefore, when Zhang Feng said that he wanted to help Cao Cao take Yongqiu, everyone, including Duan Xuan, agreed.

"Are you sure?" Cao Cao asked suspiciously.

"Three days later, Kaede greeted the lord inside the city gate."

————————————————

Yanzhou, Taishan County, Hua County.

Lu Bu has stationed his men and horses here for many days, but there is still no news of Zhang Miao.

Today, as usual, he stood on the outskirts and looked south.

There were footsteps behind him, and Lu Bu knew that it must be Chen Gong.

"Fengxian, don't wait. In my opinion, Meng Zhuo is only afraid that he will be more than lucky. Chen Gong said with a solemn face.

"Wait two more days, and in two days the army will set out." As if comforting himself, Lu Bu said in a low voice.

"Alas, if Cao Cao had been killed in Puyang City, how could there be today." Chen Gong was still angry about Lu Bu letting Cao Cao go that day.

"It's Lu Bu who is too pedantic and has affected Mr."

"Feng Xian misunderstood, I just sighed, in fact, even if you don't stop it that day, I may not be able to do it." Chen Gong smiled bitterly.

There was no point in saying anything more on this topic, and the two fell silent.

"By the way, I heard that Diao Chan girl met her lost sister?" Chen Gong felt that the scene was too embarrassing, so he changed the topic.

"Yes, I heard Diao Chan say that the girl is her distant relative, named Ling Yuan." Lu Bu responded.

"Oh, yes......"

"What, sir, do you have any questions?" Lu Bu found that Chen Gong seemed to be speechless and stopped.

"Maybe I'm too careful, but why is there such a chaos, and Miss Ling's family is relieved that she goes out alone? And why did she come to the vicinity of my barracks? Chen Gong said with his hand on his beard.

"Maybe things in this world are so coincidental." All Lu Bu was thinking about now was Yuan Shu's attitude and how to gain a firm foothold.

He didn't realize that compared to Cao Cao, who was far away in Chenliu, this little girl who had been lurking by his side was more threatening.

I believe that if Diao Chan knew Ling Yuan's true purpose, he would definitely guard her closely.

But there are not so many "ifs" in the world.

In this way, Lu Bu led thousands of soldiers and horses to Xuzhou with the greatest threat to himself......