Sloping valley mouth.

A lonely army, dejectedly moving forward, when they finally entered the flat land and walked out of the Qinling Mountains, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Bei glanced back behind him, looked at the towering Qinling Mountains, and watched Yizhou go away behind him, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"The country of abundance, just like this, gave it to the Su thief, I don't give up, I don't give up......"

Liu Bei shook his head secretly, sighing, and his face was full of unwillingness.

Zhuge Liang was relieved from the side: "Your Majesty has suffered many difficulties back then, not to mention that there are still two states in your hands today, please cheer up Your Majesty." ”

"I also want to, but it's a pity that this time is different from the past, different from the past......" Liu Bei wanted to speak and stopped, but could only sigh meaningfully.

Today is indeed different.

At that time, the world rose together, and the princes fought, even if he was repeatedly defeated and fled like a lost dog, but there was always a chance to take refuge in the princes all the way, and through the contradictions between the princes, he maneuvered and made a comeback.

But this time it's different.

The princes of the world have been wiped out, only he and Su Zhe are left, this time, he no longer has room for the Zhou clan, and there is no one for the princes to take advantage of.

If he loses to Su Zhe again this time, everything will be over.

Zhuge Liang naturally heard what he meant, so he was relieved: "Your Majesty don't worry, although the heroes of the world are wiped out, there are still Xianbei people outside the Saiwai who can be used, and there are also Xiqiang soldiers in Liangzhou who can be collected for their own use. ”

Zhuge Liang's slightly "far-fetched" enlightenment made Liu Bei's spirit calm down a little, and his face also burned a little confidence.

"However, for the sake of safety, the minister thinks that His Majesty still has to have a back hand." Zhuge Liang's words changed suddenly.

Backhand?

Liu Bei was stunned, looked at Zhuge Liang blankly, and didn't realize what he meant for a while.

Zhuge Liang pointed to the west: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is time to reopen the Western Regions Governor's Mansion." ”

"The Western Regions Governor's Mansion?" Liu Bei's expression was shocked, his eyes couldn't help but look at Fanghe in the west, and his eyes became distant.

At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty expanded his territory, and with the strong national strength of the Han Dynasty, all the countries in the Western Regions were subjugated and became a vassal state of the Han Dynasty.

Since the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty has been setting up the Changshi Mansion in the Western Regions to rule the countries of the Western Regions.

However, since the chaos in the world at the end of the Han Dynasty, the national strength of the Han Dynasty has decreased sharply, and it can no longer exert effective deterrence on the countries of the Western Regions.

Zhuge Liang proposed that Liu Bei reopen the Western Regions Changshi Mansion, naturally wanting to re-rule the Western Regions and expand the territory of the Han State to the west.

"Prime Minister Zhuge is reasonable, the countries of the Western Regions have a total of millions of people, and they are a force that cannot be underestimated, if they can be collected for their own use, they can indeed enhance the strength of our Han to a certain extent."

Fa Zheng also nodded in agreement, "Besides, when it comes to the last resort, we can also-"

Fa Zheng was halfway through speaking, but suddenly he stopped talking and did not continue.

Liu Bei understood what he meant, in case he failed to resist Su Zhe's attack in the end, after losing the two states of Yongliang, he could also lead the Han court to retreat to the Western Regions and continue to fight against Wei.

The Western Regions has a million household registrations, which is enough to feed a unified imperial court, and the Gobi can effectively defend against Su Zhe's conquest.

The meaning of Zhuge Liang and Fa Zheng is roughly like this.

Liu Bei pondered for a moment, then said: "I understand what you two mean, this Western Regions Long History Mansion is indeed necessary to be reopened. ”

His voice fell, but Guan Yu said: "Having said that, but the countries of the Western Regions are far away from the Yumen Pass, and it is not easy to conquer, if Your Majesty sends few troops, I am afraid it will be difficult to conquer, if you send more troops, the supply of grain and grass is a problem, and we must also weaken our local forces, isn't it because of a small loss." ”

Liu Bei's sword eyebrows condensed, and he couldn't help but look at Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang smiled faintly and said: "General Yunchang's scruples are not unreasonable, but the princes of the Western Regions are different from the Central Plains heroes back then, although they have a population of one million, they are divided into nearly thirty countries, independent of each other, and no country has the strength, ambition, and prestige to twist the countries of the Western Regions into a rope." ”

"Therefore, to conquer such scattered countries, Your Majesty does not need to send many soldiers and horses, only a few elite soldiers and strong generals, supplemented by people who can speak well and fight vertically, and you can take advantage of the contradictions between the countries to break them down."

Zhuge Liang sprinkled some words, as if the annexation of the Western Regions was as simple as exploring the bag.

Liu Bei couldn't help but perk up, nodded and said: "What the prime minister said is extremely true, so in the prime minister's opinion, who should I send to reopen the Changshi Mansion and conquer the Western Regions?" ”

"The minister has already drawn up a list for His Majesty, please look at it." Zhuge Liang said, and took out a scroll from his arms.

Liu Bei was overjoyed, he never expected Zhuge Liang's plan to be so far-reaching, they had not yet walked from the sloping valley, and they had no time to come out of the shadow of losing Yizhou, Zhuge Liang had already drawn up a candidate for the conquest of the Western Regions in advance.

He eagerly took the scroll and opened it to take a closer look.

"Deng Zhi, Chen Tai, Wang Shuang, Jiang Wei, Guan Suo, Zhang Bao, Zhuge Ke......"

After reading this list, Liu Bei couldn't help but look at Zhuge Liang in surprise: "Prime Minister, why are the generals you selected all the younger generation of young generals?" ”

In the list, in addition to Deng Zhi, Chen Tai is the son of Chen Qun, Wang Shuang and Jiang Wei, who are local young heroes unearthed by Liu Bei in the process of conquering Liangzhou.

Guan Suo is the third son of Guan Yu, needless to say, Zhang Bao is the son of Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Ke is the son of Zhuge Liang's brother Zhuge Jin.

It can be said that Zhuge Liang's list is equivalent to a list of the second generation of military generals and generals of the Han Kingdom.

Zhuge Liang explained: "Although these young generals are young, they all have the talent of famous generals, but now they are still young, even if they stay in the country, they can't fight with those famous generals under the command of Su Thief, but they are more than enough to deal with those people in the Western Regions." ”

"In this way, we don't need to transfer the senior generals of the DPRK and China, but we can also take this opportunity to experience these young generals, so that they can experience the battle formation and take on the big responsibilities as soon as possible, which can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone."

"Besides, young newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, Your Majesty only needs to promise them the title of marquis and worship generals, and they will definitely be able to do their best to clear the Western Regions for Your Majesty, if they are replaced by other generals and send them to such a far place in the Western Regions, I am afraid that they will be disheartened and may not be able to do their best."

After these words, Liu Bei finally realized and understood Zhuge Liang's intentions and painstaking efforts.

"It's rare that Zhuge Cheng thinks about it thoroughly, so let's do it." Liu Bei did not hesitate any longer, and gladly accepted Zhuge Liang's proposal.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhuge Liang exclaimed, and said: "There is one more thing, Your Majesty has to hurry up and subdue the Xiqiang army for my use, in order to make up for our losses in Yizhou, I expect that the Su thief will soon invade my Guanzhong, we must be fully prepared before that." ”

Liu Bei thought so, once again adopted Zhuge Liang's proposal, and immediately issued an order, ordering Ma Chao's father, Ma Teng, to go to the territory of the Western Qiang people to lure those Qiang and Hu tribes for his use.

After arranging various measures, the gloom on Liu Bei's face has disappeared a lot, as if he has come out of the shadow of the Yizhou fiasco.

He immediately looked back at the direction of the south, with arrogance on his face, and said coldly: "Su Zhe, do you think that if you take Yizhou from me, I will be helpless, I tell you that I have a way to deal with you, and the war between you and me has just begun!" ”