Due to the difficulty of traveling in the desert area, the information is not good. It really made it difficult for Pang Tong's intelligence forces. When he arrived in Zhangye County, Pang Tong learned that Zhuge Liang had sent 50,000 soldiers and horses to attack Sanguan, but unexpectedly, the 150,000 horses in the pass retreated under the command of Zhang Liao. In fact, Zhang Liao fell for Zhuge Liang's plan, and he received the news that the Yizhou army suddenly came out of the Meridian Valley to attack Chang'an. But the heavy troops are in Wuxing, so the pass is self-defeating. When Zhang Liao led his troops to retreat to Chencang, he realized that the matter of Chang'an was nothing. At that time, Zhuge Liang raised 100,000 troops to attack the left, and Lu Bu, Zang Ba, Jia Xu, and Hu Zhen guarded the city, with 200,000 soldiers. Zhuge Liang resorted to many stratagems, resulting in Lu Bu's defeat twice, and in a precarious situation, Jia Xu came up with a plan and ordered Chang'an to send a large number of envoy convoys to set off towards Liu Biao's Wuguan. This trick made the people of Yizhou think that Pang Tongjun and Liu Biaojun were good friends, Liu Zhang was suspicious by nature, and under Liu Bei's repeated dissuasion, he still asked Zhuge Liang to stop the plan to attack Yongzhou. He was afraid that the heavy troops would be gathered in the north and the east would be empty, so Liu Biao, who was very ambitious, would take advantage of the situation and attack with Pang Tong's army on both sides to defeat the state. In this way, Liu Bei had no choice but to look at the sky and sigh. Zhuge Liang withdrew his troops from Xiaban County, and at the same time, in order to hold Wuxing for a long time, he also gave up Sanguan and sent 200,000 troops in Xiaban. He left capable generals to defend the city and went to Liu Bei's mansion in Chengdu alone.

Liu Bei picked up Zhuge Liang in the lobby. He said to Zhuge Liang with a haggard face: "Kong Ming is tired, but he still returns in vain. Liu Zhoumu is really helpless. I have persuaded him many times, but he still wants you to withdraw your troops, and he is angry with me. If it is more than half a month, Kong Ming will definitely be able to get it back, which is something that even I and others can calculate. At this moment, Pang Tong is not in charge of Yongzhou, it is a godsend! He said beating his chest with his hands, and his face was huddled together in sadness. Soldiers are tired of working outside, but they are also for the country and the people. I don't think Lord Liu wants to expand his territory and recover the Han Dynasty. ”

Zhuge Liang helped him to the upper seat and sat down, and chuckled: "Liu Zhang is not the life of the overlord after all. Liu Bei was shocked when he said this.

"Adults should have a long-term plan."

Liu Bei's face stiffened, and he thought for a while before he said: "Liu Zhoumu treats me well, how can I do unrighteous things." ”

Zhuge Liang paced two steps in front of him, and said with a complacent expression: "My lord, you all know that Liu Zhang doesn't want to restore the Han family, don't you?" He just wants to guard Yizhou, so that he can enjoy the glory and wealth. He and Liu Biao are both the same kind of people, both selfish people. But the difference is that Liu Biao is extremely ambitious, but he is uncompetitive. He is selfish and cowardly, brave and unscrupulous. He arched his hand and said, "Please also think about the people." ”

Liu Bei's face was slightly pale, as if he was a dying man. He got up suddenly, lowered his head, and waved his hand: "No, I Liu Bei must not do unrighteous things." Kong Ming didn't mention it anymore. ”

Zhuge Liang nodded calmly.

Under Liu Zhang's will, the siege of Xiafen City was lifted. Pang Tong kept going, the sun and the moon repeatedly, crossed the mountains and mountains, and returned to Xiafen City. This was the third month after the end of the Battle of Shimobanjo.

Along with Ma Teng's surrender, his generals Cheng Gongying, Zhang Heng, and Ma Tie were assigned to Sanguan by Pang Tong. After Han Sui in the prison of Xiangwu City knew about the incident in Liangzhou, he saw Ma Teng in person, and of course he surrendered. But because he was so angry with Pang Tong that he vomited blood that night, he was not in good health, and he couldn't fight on the battlefield at all. was transferred to Luoyang and sent by Jiang Wan to do some civil official things, and give full play to his ability to cooperate with Ma Teng to govern Liangzhou.

The situation in the world is also changing rapidly, just when he was on an expedition, Sun Quan of Jiangdong actually raided Yuan Shu and occupied Lujiang County. Sun Quan did not take Yuan Shu, who was only one county in Jiujiang, in his eyes at all, but stationed troops in Lujiang County, and his biggest intention may be to attack Yuzhou. Kong Ling had a very hard time, and Liu Biao on the west side was also standing still, and he might attack him at any time. The current Yuzhou is like a rat that is too frightened.

At this point, Pang Tong ruled Sizhou and Liangzhou, Yongzhou was only Wuxing, and part of the territory of Bingzhou was also under his hands, and the soldiers crossed the strong princes of the four states. However, after all, there are too many deserts in Liangzhou, and several other states are not particularly rich. Or the Central Plains and Yizhou are the treasures of the world.

However, the most influential wars still occurred against two larger forces, that is, Yuan Shao in the north and Cao Cao with the Son of Heaven in hand. Yuan Shao kept an eye on the Yanzhou attack, although it seemed that he occupied a little territory, but in fact, Yuan Shao's troops were more than Cao Cao's. Under the maneuvering of the strategists, Yuan Shaojun became more and more unfavorable.

Pang Tong received the paperwork that had been held with Lü Bu for nearly two weeks. It was Cao Cao's handwritten letter: "In Xia Cao Mengde, I am disturbing Shiyuan today, and I am here for the oath of the two of us." At present, Yuan Shao and I are fighting fiercely, and our side has repeatedly fought against us. Yanzhou is in danger, and I also asked Shi Yuanneng to lead the troops to help in the war and relieve the power of Yanzhou. ”

In July, the sun was shining. Pang Tong summoned civil and military forces in the palace.

Everyone was rejoiced in Pang Tong's conquest of Liangzhou. Pang Tong told him about his experience there, and many people were terrified to hear it, and some people thought it was simply impossible. But from the mouth of Pang Tong, and there are so many soldiers to testify, of course, I have to believe it. Pang Tong put the sword of the king that he had just shown in front of everyone in the ancient city into the scabbard, he sat on the upper seat, and looked at the two columns of civil and military, Ma Teng, who was in his forties, was in the second position on the right, and the third position was Ma Chao. These two people must not be placed in Liangzhou. It's not that he doesn't trust them, it's just that the people of Liangzhou will also be scheming, selfish, and treacherous. And now is the time to conquer the world, Ma Teng's old spicy and Ma Chao's martial arts can all make a contribution.

Pang Tong said: "Ladies and gentlemen, right now, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao in the east are facing each other at the boundary of Yanzhou. I was afraid that Liu Zhang would attack, so I had to send troops to help in the war, and I was afraid of damaging Cao Cao's ally, after all, he had helped me in the first battle in Chaoge County. No matter how big or small, he also fulfilled his oath. I wonder what everyone thinks about this? ”

Jia Xu was the first to come out and said: "According to some sources, Yuan Shao has stationed 700,000 troops, Cao Cao has 400,000 troops, and the two sides have attacked each other until now, although they are only circling in Yanzhou. It seems that Cao Cao is in trouble. However, judging from the intelligence feedback, Yuan Shao suffered defeat in several siege battles, losing tens of thousands of soldiers, while Cao Cao has always adopted ingenious offensive and defensive measures to avoid the largest loss of troops, and defeated Yuan Shao with the most clever strategy. From this point of view, if the fight continues, the complacent Yuan Shao will be defeated. Cao Cao was just giving him a taste of sweetness in Yanzhou. We went to help, but we only hastened Yuan Shao's demise. Lu Su suddenly came out of the ranks, and Jia Xu immediately smiled bitterly: "I haven't finished speaking, Zijing don't be anxious." Lu Su had no choice but to nod and retreat.

"If we wait for the troops to help Cao Cao, the state will definitely be unstable. Yuan Shao once devoured and merged with me, and Qiu did not commit any crimes. Of course, it was also because he wanted to focus on attacking Cao Cao. If Cao Cao is destroyed, he will definitely swallow the entire annexed state, and we are also a thorn in his side. Therefore, it is better to share Hebei with Cao Cao's proposal, the best of both worlds. ”

Lu Su finally couldn't help but come out and said: "In my opinion, if this is really the case, Cao Cao would have made it clear a long time ago." Cao Mengde is also a resourceful person, he wants to annex Hebei alone. This person once assassinated Dong Zhuo alone, and his courage can be seen slightly. If you want me to say, it's better to help Yuan Shao, share Cao Cao's food together, and then destroy Yuan Shao after removing this scourge. Otherwise, Cao Cao will sit big in the future, and we will definitely not be able to stabilize the east. ”

Pang Tong nodded and said, "What both of you said is good. Both Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are princes who are enough to match our army. However, Cao Cao has the Son of Heaven and has a large number of civil and military generals. And he is brave and strategic, so he can listen to the words of the strategist and plan his own affairs. And Yuan Shao is far behind, although this person has many strategists, he is arrogant and arrogant, and it is easy to be led by the nose. If I had to choose an enemy that I might face in the end, it would definitely be Yuan Shao to be more relaxed. But things are still looking at the big picture. Yuan Shao's troops are heavy, if he can overcome Cao Cao in a big war, as long as it is possible to turn the situation around once. Moreover, if we share Hebei, we will wait for the north to be stable, and it will be much more convenient for the whole army to go south. On the contrary, if we take Yanzhou, Yuan Shao in the north, and Kong Ling in the south, as if we are attacked on all sides, if Yizhou, Jingzhou, Hebei, and Yuzhou come to attack at the same time, our army will die! "Speaking of this, everyone nodded yes." Under such considerations, the advantage of helping Cao Cao is still a little more. ”

Ma Teng suddenly came out of the ranks, this newly inaugurated and former prince of Liangzhou surprised others a little, he said: "My lord, I can't forget Liu Zhang of Yizhou, I almost lost my life." ”

Pang Tong looked at him and nodded, thinking: "This person can speak so bluntly, which shows that he is calm in the face of failure, unlike some people who will be in power but do nothing, or selfish." He is also an example of being able to speak like this. But if I think about it deeply, there are two results, one is that he is really honest, and the other is that he is pretending. In any case, you still have to be on guard......" He immediately stopped thinking more and more about himself.

He said, "That's true. But the problem lies in the lower distinction of the previous round. ”

Speaking of this, Lu Bu sighed impatiently, after all, he had suffered several defeats with Zhuge Liang. At the beginning, he despised Zhuge Liang, but later he felt that it was difficult to move an inch, and the arrogance in his heart was a little less, and he had a more sharp and cautious vision.