Sun Ce smiled. "So, you see, there is no conflict between helping me and helping the court."

Yang Xiu's face softened slightly, revealing a faint smile. "It's a pity that there aren't many opportunities like this. General Sun, with all due respect, you are not a pure minister, so we are different, and it is difficult to make a plan. ”

"Seeking common ground while reserving differences, I still have this bit of elegance." Sun Ce didn't argue with him either. Yang Xiu was able to take the initiative to contribute today, and he was already very satisfied. The Yang family is different from the Yuan family, and Yang Xiu is also different from others, so we can't hope that he is the same as Gan Ning and the others. He didn't expect to persuade Yang Xiu with any big reason. In terms of learning, Yang Xiu threw him more than eight streets.

It's better to let the facts speak for themselves.

Yang Xiu opened his mouth, stopped talking, and finally just sighed.

"Okay, it's getting late, so I won't bother you." Sun Ce got up, raised his hand, and walked out slowly. Yang Xiu got up to see him off, stood outside the tent, and looked at Sun Ce with his hands behind his back and his head down, as if he was thinking about things, and as if he had a rare time to relax. He walked to his tent, stopped, looked back, and saw that Yang Xiu was still standing in front of the tent door, so he waved his hand. Yang Xiu nodded with his hand, retreated into the tent, closed the door of the tent, and thought about what Sun Ce had just said, and was distracted for a while.

Is it really okay to seek common ground while reserving differences? Maybe. Although Xun Yu didn't say it explicitly, he could vaguely guess Xun Yu's true intentions. The name of the imperial court is still there, but the strength is too weak, and it is no longer able to control the world, and the retreat to Guanzhong is to recuperate with the geographical advantages of Guanzhong Sisai, which is equivalent to giving up Kanto and admitting the fait accompli of the division of Guandong Prefecture and County.

At present, the strongest strength in Kanto is undoubtedly Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao has the family background of the fourth and third princes, and has protégés and former officials all over the world, and most of the families support him, at least not against him. He is based in Hebei, and he wants to emulate the story of Emperor Guangwu's struggle for hegemony in the world, and the father and son are divided into Jizhou and Yanzhou, and the scholars return to their hearts, and there are many supporters in the court, which has become a big trouble for the court.

Although there is Gongsun Zan in the north and Tao Qian in the east, it is only the Sun family and his son who really have the strength to contain Yuan Shao. After half a year of fighting, Sun Ce has basically controlled Yuzhou, Jingzhou will soon be taken, and now he is the first to lay out Yangzhou, if he can succeed and solve his worries, he will have the strength to compete with Yuan Shao. After Yuan Shao solved Gongsun Zhan, he would inevitably go south to fight for Yuzhou. If Sun Ce is defeated by Yuan Shao, most of the world will be Yuan Shao's. The population of Guanzhong is too small to gather enough strength in such a short period of time.

Therefore, Sun Ce can't be defeated, and if he pesters Yuan Shao for a while, the court will have a little more chance.

However, what if Sun Ce sat big and defeated Yuan Shao?

Although this possibility does not seem to be very large, at least no one in the imperial court believes it, and Yang Xiu didn't believe it before, but after getting along with Sun Ce for a few months, he feels more and more that this possibility is not only there, but also not small. Where to go, how to grasp the scale of this, not only to let Sun Ce have the strength to compete with Yuan Shao, but also not to let him become a big problem for the imperial court, has become the most concerned issue for him now.

——

Things are going well. In the middle of the night, Xiang Lang returned. There are indeed a large number of ships moored near Tianmen Mountain, and Cai Mao is discussing with the shipowners, so it should not be a big problem. Early tomorrow morning, these boats will be able to rush here to pick up Cheng Pu across the river.

Sun Ce immediately sent someone to Jiangbei to inform Cheng Pu, asking him to prepare to cross the river, and act as soon as dawn to shorten the time as much as possible.

In order to vacate the warship, except for the warship that needed to cruise the river and cut off Zhou Xin's connection with Jiangbei, all the others went ashore. Sun Ce summoned Guo Jun, Ma Chao and others to arrange tomorrow's battle, they will be the first troops, set off as soon as dawn, insert between Zhou Xin and Shicheng, cut off Zhou Xin's retreat, prepare for the siege, as soon as Cheng Pu arrives, he can launch an offensive against Shicheng.

After the arrangements were made, Sun Ce said to Ma Chao and Yan Xing: "Jiangnan is different from Liangzhou, there are many hills, and the waterways are vertical and horizontal, which is a new topic that you need to understand. Your mission is not to attack the city, but to capture the other party's scouts and cut them off. I will arrange for you to be guided by the familiar terrain, so that you can get used to this kind of terrain. In addition, Danyang soldiers are famous all over the world, especially good at mountain warfare, fierce and aggressive. Jing Chu is a swordsman, his personal ability is not weak, and he is familiar with bows and crossbows, you must not be careless, listen to the advice of the guide. ”

Ma Chao was a little disappreciative and pouted. Yan Xing accepted the order very calmly. Sun Ce frowned, and his gaze fell on Ma Chao's face. "Meng Qi, don't you believe my words?"

Ma Chao smiled. "How dare you, I listen. However, if the Danyang soldiers will use bows and crossbows again, can they still be stronger than our Xiliang people? In today's battle, the general suppressed thousands of crossbowmen on the other side with fifty archers, and in my opinion, Danyang's crossbowmen are not very good. ”

Sun Ce didn't say a word, turned around and looked at Jiao Zhongqing. Jiao Zhongqing turned around and went out, and after a short time, he came back with an arrow, carrying a chicken in his hand. He poked the chicken's wing with the arrow in his hand, and the clucking chicken quickly twitched, and after a while it stopped moving.

Ma Chao changed color in shock. "This ...... What kind of poison is this, so fierce? ”

"Snake venom, this snake is violent, bitten by it, it can't walk three or five steps and will die, so it is also called five steps down. The most troublesome thing is that the patterns on this snake are very similar to fallen leaves. It's winter, and they like to hide in sunny hillsides or caves to rest, and if they accidentally enter their territory, they are very vulnerable. If you encounter such a snake in the wild, you better stay away from it. ”

Ma Chao's eyes were a little straight, and he nodded again and again.

"The climate in Jiangnan is different from that of Liangzhou, warm and humid, with deep forests and dense grass, many poisonous animals and plants, and many swamps, which look no different from flat land. For the specific situation, let Zhongqing give you a detailed introduction later. In a word, safety first, don't be reckless, give your life in vain. ”

"Thank you, General, for reminding me." Ma Chao grinned, smiled embarrassedly, turned around, and quietly stuck out his tongue.

Sun Ce motioned for Jiao Zhongqing to start. Jiao Zhongqing nodded, turned around and asked someone to bring a sand table, the sand table is not big, and it is only one zhang square, but the mountains and rivers are clearly marked and clear at a glance. Ma Chao and Yan Xing were surprised, they all came over, and soon found Niuzhu Mountain on it, and then found Shicheng, the target of the attack, and couldn't help but be amazed.

"It's amazing. With such a map, the situation is in the palm of your hand. ”

"This is a topographical model made by your ancestor Ma Fubo to explain the situation to Emperor Guangwu and the story of the mountain."

Ma Chao was triumphant. "Haha, it turned out to be the invention of my ancestor."

"It's true that your ancestors invented it, but it's they who really carry it forward. No such model can be made without a detailed understanding of the terrain. Sun Ce pointed at Jiao Zhongqing. The models we see now are the result of more than three months of hard work by him and dozens of his men. ”