All this completely overturned Liu Lan's impression of Xu Shu, it turned out that Xu Shu was not a cautious person, and he would also have such a bold move in his heart.

Xu Shu's idea is very bold, but Liu Lan does not think that such a policy is desirable, such a strategic goal has its limitations, as a descendant Liu Lan knows that Cao Cao at this time is the golden period of career development, and to meet the emperor after the diamond period, so even if he can really get half of the land in Huainan, but if he wants to compete with Cao Cao in a short time, it is definitely an egg to hit a stone.

And if nothing else, if it is really a joint with Cao Cao to deal with Yuan Shu, first of all, will Cao Cao agree? Secondly, if Cao Cao agrees, then after conquering Yuan Shu with him, can he really get half of Huainan as Xu Shu said? Even if he could get it, after the alliance, would Cao Cao give himself the opportunity to fully develop and strengthen so that he would have a chance to compete with him?

With his understanding of Cao Cao, this is naturally impossible, Cao Cao will definitely eradicate his henchman when he has not developed and grown, and then fight with Yuan Shao for money and food in Jizhou without any worries, thus laying the foundation for hegemony in one fell swoop, so it is impossible to unite Cao Cao to deal with Yuan Shu!

In an instant, Liu Lan vetoed it, and said: "This matter is too risky, if you are not careful, not only Huainan will not be safe, but even Xuzhou will probably be in danger." ”

Xu Shu sighed, he had already guessed the answer of the lord, but he still wanted to gamble once, for Liu Lan, who had always wanted to stand out from Xuzhou, Xuzhou, which was finally obtained, would either be extremely valued, or he would give it a go. After all, from nothing to something, it is not a big deal to go from something to nothing.

But Xu Shu found that things did not go in the direction he most wanted. I could only smile bitterly and said, "If that's the case." The lord had no choice but to go south. ”

"To the south?"

Liu Lan looked at the short table, and immediately thought of the body of Liu Xuan, the assassin of Yangzhou who was driven across the Yangtze River by Yuan Shu, and at the same time as thinking of Liu Xuan, he also thought of the peerless fierce general Tai Shici who fought bloodily on the battlefield with him.

Just when the two of them were aiming at Yangzhou together, they only heard the herald shouting outside the tent: "Lord, Kaiyang City is wide open, and Zang Ba prays to welcome the king into the city!" ”

The two were brought back to reality from their thoughts in an instant, Xu Shu looked at Liu Lan in surprise and said, "So fast? Could it be a fraud? ”

"We gentlemen have to do it. The villain has to do more. ”

After Liu Lan muttered to himself, he looked at Xu Shu and said, "On the one hand, we must be careful to release Zang Ba to deceive, and at the same time, we must be prepared for Zang Ba to surrender." ”

"Don't worry, my lord." Xu Shu smiled meaningfully: "I really hope that Zang Ba will surrender, so that we can return to Xuzhou earlier." ”

"No, it should be going to Guangling." Liu Lan said with a smile.

"Is the lord going to do it so soon? Isn't it a little too anxious? The things in Xuzhou in front of ......"

Liu Lan shook his head and said: "I have already figured out the matter of Xuzhou, as long as the Mi family, the Chen family, and the Zhang family are not chaotic." Others can't mess up, and I haven't touched the core interests of the officials in Xuzhou, so the Xuzhou scholar class is relatively safe for the time being, and nothing will happen. And what about the most important Danyang army. As long as we can remove their threat as soon as possible, we can completely rectify Xuzhou! ”

"The lord is thoughtful, and Yuan Zhi can't do it!"

Liu Lan smiled noncommittally. He didn't believe that Xu Shu's words were true, it was just a compliment. But in his heart, he hoped that what he said was true, and even he couldn't detect it at the moment. I don't know when he actually liked the flattery that others said to him, especially the flattering words of people who he thought were smarter than him......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days after Liu Lan entered Kaiyang City, Zang Ba commanded the troops to leave quietly.

Zang Ba walked secretly, but there is no impermeable wall in the world, and the news quickly spread in the army, and then it was in Kaiyang City.

The news spread in all directions, but none of these rumors were true, because the only people who really knew the inside story were Liu Lan and Xu Shu, and the other people who were kept in the dark would naturally be confused and anxious about the sudden disappearance of Zang Ba's army. In the midst of confusion and anxiety, everyone heard countless rumors, which were similar and spread rapidly, and finally spread throughout the camp. These rumors are varied, and there are even rumors that Liu Lan killed all the Kaiyang army, including Zang Ba, overnight, but most of these rumors will only laugh at them, but there are still a few rumors that make everyone believe, and among them, 'Zang Ba escaped' and 'Reached an agreement to rescue Qingzhou' are the most marketable.

As soon as the news spread, the generals under Liu Lan's account immediately felt the seriousness of the situation, because the rumors came too suddenly, which made them have to come to ask Liu Lan and explain the matter.

And like some militants, they want to know more from Liu Lan's mouth, they are very eager to know whether Zang Ba went to Qingzhou or not, and if he did, why such an opportunity was not for himself, but for Zang Ba!

In the face of the generals who came in turn, Liu Lan just patiently explained to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei a little, as for the others, they just said a top secret, and after he knew about Zang Ba, he sent them away.

After such repeated explanations, Liu Lan completely lost patience, but he still decided to invite Xu Shu to discuss.

If only one or two people came to inquire about this matter, Liu Lan would not have taken it to heart, but in the end, there were more and more people, which naturally made him understand that this matter would definitely not be as simple as it was in front of him, since this matter was strange, then he naturally wanted to find someone to solve the puzzle, and who was the person in front of him who could solve the confusion in his heart except Xu Shu?

When Xu Shu came, Liu Lan was pacing back and forth in the inner room of the original Zang Ba, and his eyebrows seemed to be preoccupied, not that he didn't figure it out, but precisely because he had guessed the ins and outs of the matter during the time that Xu Shu came, that is, someone behind this matter deliberately wanted to find out Zang Ba's true whereabouts.

Liu Lan can think of who is behind the scenes, but he obviously doesn't want to pull him out too early for this traitor, and he is still very valuable at present. Being able to convey some information to Yuan Shao that he wanted Yuan Shao to know, but it was really because of this reason that he was worried. He didn't want the information to be passed on to Yuan Shao, and he didn't know how to deal with this matter for a while.

As soon as Xu Shu entered the house, he found that the lord was frowning. Seemed a little worried, although he didn't know what the lord was disturbed by, but unfortunately he brought another piece of bad news, seeing that Liu Lan was in a bad mood, Xu Shu was thinking about how to explain this matter to him, thinking for a moment, only to see that he suddenly showed a smile, arched his hand, and said, "Lord." There is good news, Shute has come to tell the lord! ”

"Good news?" Liu Lan was wearing a black loose robe and sat down in the main seat after looking at Xu Shu who had stepped into the house, seeing him smiling, it was obviously a great joy, and he barely squeezed out a smile, and said: "What kind of happy event can make Yuan Zhi so excited, I can't wait, but ......." Liu Lan sighed as he spoke, and said, "But I have bad news to tell Yuan Zhi!" ”

"What happened?"

Ponder for a moment. I only heard Liu Lan say: "Zang Ba is gone, all the generals came to see me today to inquire about this matter, I didn't care about it originally, but in the end, more and more people inquired." This inevitably made me feel that this matter was a little extraordinary, and just now, I finally figured out the key to it. For when all the people came to inquire, he was the only one who did not come! Isn't this the place where there is no silver?

Xu Shu nodded again and again. said: "What the lord said is that if it weren't for his harboring evil intentions. Don't dare to show up, otherwise how can you make the lord sure that the main messenger behind him is him? A touch of coldness flashed in his eyes, and he sneered: "This is exactly how smart is mistaken by cleverness." ”

"Although he tried his best to hide it, he just exposed himself to the public."

Liu Lan said disdainfully: "I didn't deal with him before, so I used him to pass false news to Yuan Shao, so that Yuan Jun mistakenly thought that I would not send reinforcements to Qingzhou, and now the reinforcements have gone to Qingzhou......"

Although Liu Lan looked at him with burning eyes, Xu Shu could still see his true intentions from the depths of his smile, but the news he got when he came could no longer let him and the lord continue to play cards step by step, so he could only shake his head and smile bitterly, and said: "Lord, there are some flaws in the plan, why don't you close the net and catch the fish first?" As he spoke, he took out an ornament from his bosom and said, "And the good news that Shu said is this." ”

Liu Lan took the letter in Xu Shu's hand and asked suspiciously, "What is this?" “

"It seems that he has already guessed Zang Ba's movements, so he sent another messenger."

Xu Shu said with a solemn face: "This is from the messenger he sent!" ”

Liu Lan's hand holding the letter was trembling, his heart sank in an instant, as if he had fallen into a deep cold and biting abyss, and suddenly he seemed to think of something, and hurriedly asked, "Where is the messenger?" ”

"The messenger walked secretly, and when he found out, he had been gone for a long time, so he dared to ......" said this, but he made a murderous and decapitation gesture.

"Yuan Zhi, what's the good news here, it's obviously bad news!"

You have to know that the messenger has been eliminated, although Liu Lan complained, but the incident has happened, and it is useless to care about these things, so he simply doesn't mind anymore: "It's not that you don't know that we are still of great use to this traitor." ”

"This is also a way to do nothing, although it is still useful, but it can't let him pass the news of Zang Ba to Qingzhou, so you can only make this decision!"

"Hey. Since the sentence startled the snake, it can only close the net. ”

After speaking, he unfolded the silk cloth paper in his hand and looked at it carefully, but when he saw the content of the letter, he frowned again, looked at Xu Shu and said, "What's going on?" As he spoke, he handed it back to Xu Shu and said, "You can take a look too!" ”

Xu Shu saw a hint of unusualness from Liu Lan's face, and hurriedly took the letter, only to see that there was only a short number on it, which said, 'Liu Deran is about to go to Guangling, and there is no intention of aiding Qingzhou for the time being!' ”

Xu Shu felt a little confused, looked at the lord, and said, "How could he write this?" He thought for a moment in his heart and added, "Is he deliberately trying to hide Yuan Shao or does he already know that we have discovered him, so he is doing this on purpose?" ”

After pondering for a moment, Liu Lan shook his head slightly and said, "No matter what it is, I prefer to believe that he is still thinking of the kindness between us." ”

"Probably not." Liu Lan looked at Xu Shu suspiciously, when the eyes of the two met briefly and quickly in the air, they were defeated, not that he was afraid of Xu Shu, but he knew in his heart that Xu Shu was telling the truth, but he still had a trace of fantasy about him in his heart, hoping that what he was thinking was true, and said categorically: "Although what Yuan Zhi said is true, no matter what, if he does this, after all, I still don't know how to deal with him!" ”

"My lord." Xu Shu was about to say more, but was interrupted by Liu Lan waving his hand and said, "Since he can still remember a trace of old feelings, then I can't kill him seriously!" At the end, he said with a sigh: "After all, after being together for so long, I still hope that he can admit it to me in person, as long as he can admit it, then I will not blame him, but I will not blame him!" ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early the next morning, Liu Lan raised the account.

Liu Lan glanced at the gathered tent and said in a deep voice: "Now that the threat of Zang Ba has been removed, I have decided to return to Xuzhou tomorrow." After speaking, he glanced at everyone and said: "Langxi is adjacent to Qingzhou and Yanzhou, and I want to keep the general stationed in Kaiyang, the county." ”

Everyone first looked at Liu Lan, and Qi Qi, who had a tacit understanding, glanced at the scene, guessing who the lord would leave to garrison Kaiyang, and when they were guessing in their hearts, Liu Lan, who had already thought of a candidate last night, looked at Xu Fang and said: "From now on, Xu Fang will be promoted to be a captain in literature, and he will lead 5,000 soldiers to resist thieves!" ”

"The last general obeys!" Xu Fang, who was stunned, never expected that he would soon be entrusted with a heavy responsibility when he took refuge in Liu Lan, and it was also a military position, which made him feel a little moved and excited in his heart at the same moment when he heard the appointment, and he went to the end: "There is a way to be in Lang evil for a day, and he will not let thieves attack and disturb the township." ”

"Good!" Liu Lan praised loudly: "General Xu, Kaiyang and Dongguan are the north gates of Xuzhou, if Lang is lost, then the land of Xubei is no longer in danger to defend, at this time the Yuan army is raging in Qingzhou, if it is only in Qingzhou, if it is Qingzhou and then attacks Xuzhou, then you can be sure to hold on until my reinforcements arrive?" ”

"I don't know if there are people in Kaiyang City?"

"As I said earlier, there are only five thousand." Liu Lan looked at Xu Fangdao with burning eyes.

"Fang promises that we will be able to stick to January!" Xu Fang stubbornly said a maximum period.

"Good!"

Liu Lan clasped his palms and said, "In this month's time, reinforcements have already arrived!" After signaling Xu Fang to retreat, he looked at Guan Yu again and said, "This time I returned to Xuzhou City with my military advisor, and Yun Chang still needs to go to Guangling!" ”

Everyone's faces were happy, they all understood what Liu Lan meant by going to Guangling, they all looked at Guan Yu with envy, and hoped that Liu Lan would order his generals, but unfortunately there was no chance, but this is not to say that they didn't have a chance, they still had the hope of going out with Guan Yu, watching Guan Yu come out of the ranks, and humbled down and said: "No!" ”

Liu Lan nodded with satisfaction: "I hope that Yun Chang can go early and return early, and it is best to bring the head of Zhenrong to see me." ”

"Don't worry, my lord." Guan Yu and Liu Lan smiled heartily, but when they returned to their seats, Guan Yu's Danfeng eyes turned cold in vain, but they were thinking about how to attack Guangling. (To be continued.) )