Zhou Yu died of illness, Cao Cao moved to Guanzhong, and even the appearance of the Yuan Rong crossbow, everything developed in the direction of Liu Cong's favor, and Liu Cong also felt that the opportunity for his army to move west was ripe.

And the most direct squeeze on the living space of the princes of Guanzhong, Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang is Cao Cao's strategic shift!

The first target Cao Cao wanted to win was Hanzhong, so Cao Cao ordered Zhong Xuan, the commander of the division, to conquer Zhang Lu in Hanzhong County (now Hanzhongdong, Shaanxi). To enter Hanzhong, you must pass through Guanzhong (the ancient name is Guanzhong to the west of Hangu Pass, and the ancient Hangu Pass is in the northeast of Lingbao, Henan), so Zhong Miao entered the Guanzhong.

At this time, Guanzhong was still in a state of division and separation, and the generals were based on one side and did not belong to each other, among which Han Sui and Ma Chao were the strongest. The generals in Guanzhong thought that Zhong Xuan was going to attack him, and they all rebelled for a while, and Ma Chao, Han Sui, Hou Xuan, Cheng Yin, Yang Qiu and other ten generals joined forces with 100,000 troops, and stationed in Tongguan to confront Cao Cao and other troops.

And more nervous than Ma Chao and Han Sui is Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang. These days, there are constantly businessmen who have returned from Guanzhong talking about Cao Cao's going to send troops to Guanzhong, and some people say that this is Cao Cao's strategic shift after the setbacks in Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and he wants to pacify Guanzhong first.

More people believe that Cao Cao once said at an important meeting that the advantage of Jingzhou and Yangzhou is to have the Yangtze River natural insurance, so Cao Cao sent Zhong Xuan to conquer Hanzhong in order to prepare for the next expedition to Yizhou, because Yizhou is in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, once it occupies the upper reaches, the Yangtze River natural insurance owned by Liu Cong and Sun Quan will be broken.

Therefore, the focus of Cao Cao's strategic shift is not Guanzhong and Liangzhou, but Yizhou! Liu Zhang was cowardly and suspicious, when he first took charge of Yizhou, Zhang Lu was arrogant in Hanzhong, and did not listen to Liu Zhang's orders, so Liu Zhang killed Zhang Lu's mother and brother, and the two sides became enemies, Liu Zhang sent Pang Xi to attack Zhang Lu and was defeated. Since then, Liu Zhang's suspicion of Zhang Lu has become even worse.

Now Cao Cao wants to conquer Yizhou, if others guard Hanzhong, Liu Zhang still has a barrier, but Hanzhong is too guarded by Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang is worried that Zhang Lu will take revenge, and when Cao Cao's army arrives, he may surrender immediately, so as to turn against each other!

Originally, Liu Zhang had no ambitions and wanted to marry Cao Cao, so he once sent the envoy Zhang Song to Xuchang. But who knew that Cao Cao rejected his kindness, and after Zhang Song returned to Chengdu, he described Cao Cao as a brutal and reckless thief of the Han Dynasty.

In Chengdu, Liu Zhang, who was in a panic, immediately convened the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs to discuss countermeasures.

Zhang Song was the first to stand up: "The Ming Mansion should make a decision as soon as possible, Cao Cao tried to benefit the state for a long time, and Song was ordered by the Ming Mansion to send an envoy to Xuchang, but Cao Cao refused to meet." It is clearly intended to alienate my Yizhou, so as not to be unknown today because of his proximity to Yizhou......"

Zhang Song came up to scare Liu Zhang again, and Liu Zhang was even more uneasy after hearing this, and then asked, "Ziqiao has a good plan?" ”

"Jingzhou Liu Buchang, ask Jingzhou Liu Buchang for help. Today, Cao Cao fears only this human ear. This person is the son of Liu Jingsheng, and he is a relative of the Han family with the Ming Mansion, and he was summoned by His Majesty, and he was named the royal brother and the general of the southern expedition.

In the thirteenth year of Jian'an, he defeated Cao Cao's 800,000 army in Fancheng, and then sent an envoy to Yizhou to contact and the Ming Mansion to jointly restore the Han Dynasty, Yizhou and Jingzhou are connected to the mountains and rivers, and now Yizhou is in trouble, if the Ming Mansion asks for help, Liu Buchang will definitely send elite troops to reject Cao Cao......"

"No! Never! Bo Cao engaged in Wang Lei hurriedly stood up, he was already dissatisfied when he heard Zhang Song's words to scare Liu Zhang, and when Zhang Song said that he wanted to ask Liu Cong to come to the rescue, he was even more anxious: "Mingfu, don't do it!" That Liu Buchang's wolf ambition, if it weren't for Liu Jingsheng back then, the Ming Mansion must not lead wolves into the room! ”

This time it was Liu Zhang's turn to make a mistake, I originally thought that Zhang Song had pointed out a clear way, but I was a little hesitant when Wang Ti said this. Seeing this, Zhang Song hurriedly took a few steps forward and said: "Ming Mansion, Wang Ti is alarmist, and he will mistake me for Yizhou." Liu Buchang and the Ming Mansion are both relatives of the Han family, and they have all supported the Han family so far, and have taken Kuang Fu Han as their lifelong ambition, how can they be tigers and wolves?

But that Cao Cao, who claims to be a Han minister, is actually a Han thief, if the Ming Mansion does not join forces with Jingzhou, he Cao Cao will pass through Hanzhong, and Yizhou will be in danger! ”

"Brother-in-law, what is your opinion?" Undecided, Liu Zhang turned his gaze to his brother-in-law Wu Yi. Wu Yi is also Wu Yi, the word Ziyuan, Chen Liu (now Kaifeng, Henan) people, why did the clan father enter the department of Wu Kuang. Because his father had an old relationship with Liu Yan, Yi worked under his son Liu Zhang. His brother Wu Ban also worked for Liu Zhang.

Wu Yi is tall and vigorous, and he is a rare fierce general in Yizhou, and Liu Zhang is often called a righteous brother. Liu Zhang also ran out of ideas, so he asked Brother Yi.

Wu Yi is a military general, and he has no idea about marching and fighting, but he doesn't have any ideas, but he said vaguely: "The Ming government thinks that Cao Cao and Liu Cong have the heart to usurp the Han Dynasty, and who will annex Yizhou?" It's not hard to choose! ”

He didn't say anything, which means that you can judge for yourself who these two people are. But Liu Zhang was reminded by him, but he fell into deep thought.

To be honest, Liu Zhang's father, Liu Yan, also had great ambitions, but Liu Zhang only hoped to divide one side, neither belonging to the Han family, nor being eliminated, and it was actually good to be a prince. He followed Wu Yi's words and thought of his fathers......

"Out of the three Liu", Liu Yan, Liu Yu, Liu Biao. Liu Yu was in Youzhou, and within a year, Xianbei and Wuhuan fell, and the scholars fell in love; Liu Yan entered Shu, wanted to take the first place, in just two or three years, he held the power of Shuzhong, and pointed at Hanzhong; Liu Biaozhijiang Biao, when Jingnan was in mourning, shaped an unknown small city into a well-known metropolis of the Three Kingdoms - Xiangyang.

Aren't these three people heroes and benevolent people?

But they are all limited to their clan status, so that they can't make a difference, or rather, they all think too highly of the big guys. Liu Yu is in the north, thinking about the emperor; Liu Yan was in Shu, and his twin sons died Li Guo; Liu Biao is in Jingnan, and the grain and grass are supplied to Luoyang.

Among the three, Liu Yan had great ambitions, and after pacifying Yizhou, he was ready to conquer Hanzhong again, but even Liu Biao, who was the same king as Liu Yan, could not tolerate Liu Yan's actions.

As the identity of the clan, they are a thorn in the side of others, and they are not allowed to Liu Yu by Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao; Yuan Shu and Sun Jian did not tolerate Liu Biao; Liu Yan and Liu Zhang were trapped on one side. Later generations commented on the Three Kingdoms, often saying that Liu Biao and Liu Yan were mediocre, but they judged based on Liu Biao and Liu Yan did not plan to make a big deal, which can be described as not good at looking at people.

Liu Biao is devoted to Han, before he died, Cao Cao never had the idea of abolishing the emperor, how could Liu Biao have the idea of becoming the emperor?

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the tragedy of the clan, how could there be three people? If Liu Miao and Liu Dai are brothers, there are also many them! At the end of the Han Dynasty, they were not tolerated by those with different intentions, and they were taboo by the imperial court, how difficult it was!

Thinking of this, Liu Zhang thought that Wu Yi was saying that Liu Cong was also a clan relative of the Han family, and like himself, he was also limited to the identity of the clan of the Han family, and would not have great ambitions, and naturally would not take the opportunity to annex Yizhou, but Cao Cao had fought in the south and north over the years, and many princes were eliminated by him one by one.

Compared with Liu Cong, Cao Cao is the person Wu Yi thinks has the heart to usurp the Han!

Seeing Liu Zhang's hesitation, Wang Lei became even more anxious: "Mingfu, no, no!" ”

Liu Zhang gradually had an idea in his heart, where to listen to Wang Ti's words, and at this time, Xu Jing and Xu Wenxiu stood up. He was originally a native of Pingyu County, Runan (now Pingyu County, Henan Province). A famous figure in the late Han Dynasty, he was known to the world when he was young. Later, Liu Yi recommended Xu Jing as filial piety and served as Shang Shulang. Later, he was invited by Liu Zhang, the pastor of Yizhou, and was appointed as the Taishou of Ba County and Guanghan, and this time he was also urgently recruited by Liu Zhang to return to Chengdu to discuss major matters.

Liu Zhang saw that Xu Jing had something to say, so he hurriedly waved his hand and motioned for Zhang Song and Wang Lei to retreat first.

Xu Jing was known to the world with his cousin Xu Shao when he was young, but he had a bad relationship with Xu Shao, so when Xu Shao served as Runan Gongcao (the personnel chief of the county guard), Xu Jing was not hired. After Liu Yi came to be a big guard, he elected Xu Jing as filial piety and Ren Shangshulang.

When Dong Zhuo was in power, Zhou Yu and Xu Jing were in charge of the ministry, appointing Kong Ling, Han Fu, Zhang Miao, etc. Xu Jing was appointed as the Taishou of Ba County, but did not take office. Later, Han Fu and others attacked Dong Zhuo, Dong Zhuo killed Zhou Zhuo, and Xu Jing was worried about being killed, so he moved to various places.