Liang County.

Xu Chu, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian returned with a small victory and returned to the camp. After arriving at the military tent, after greeting Guo Jia and others, Xu Chu sat down and rubbed his aching inner thighs.

Riding a horse on the field can certainly make a man feel happy, but at the same time, a person like Xu Chu, who doesn't ride a horse very often after crossing over, has already grown new meat on his thighs, and this new layer of meat has been rubbed more and more painfully in recent times.

While carefully rubbing his legs, while watching Gan Ning spitting and talking to others about how he let Na Huaxiong eat the turtle, Xu Chu took a sip of hot soup, and suddenly said to Guo Jia, who was standing beside him: "Fengxiao, has there been any news in the past two days?" ”

"What do you mean?"

"Since the assassin of Jingzhou is dead, so much time has passed, it is reasonable that the imperial court should have a new appointment."

In fact, Xu Chu knew that after Wang Rui's death, Dong Zhuo should have appointed Liu Biao as the new Jingzhou Assassin, but he didn't know if this appointment had been issued and where Liu Biao had gone, so he had this question.

Among the four strategists, Guo Jia traveled the most extensively, and in Luoyang City, there were also some people who knew him. Although most of these people are not from high backgrounds and have inconspicuous status, they can still help Guo Jia a lot in intelligence.

Guo Jia nodded and said, "It's indeed time to appoint a new Jingzhou assassin." Then he shook his head slightly, "But I don't know who it is." However, I expected that when it was a famous person in the sea, it was more likely to be a member of the Han family. ”

Xu Chu smiled, Guo Jia is Guo Jia, so isn't Liu Biao a person who is a 'party member' in the famous Dahai and a member of the Han family? If Liu Biao gains a firm foothold in Jingzhou, as he has done historically, it will be good news for him. In line with the concept that the enemy of the enemy is a friend, Yuan Shu, who coveted Jing and Henan, must regard Liu Biao as an enemy, so there is a possibility of cooperation between Xu Chu and Liu Biao.

However, these still have to have definite news before Xu Chu can put them on the agenda.

"Where's Yuanzhi?" Xu Chu thought of Xu Shu in Yangzhai again. Since he left Yingchuan on the expedition, Xu Shu has sent a total of two letters.

For the first time, I talked about Kong Ling's situation. Because of the cold weather, old age and frailty, Kong Ling was angry with Xu Chu and Cao Cao several times, and spent most of his time recuperating in Yingchuan. Kong Ling has no enterprising spirit, no matter what the war is on Xu Chu's side, he has not come out with a single soldier, which also invisibly helped Xu Chu solve a worry - because of Kong Ling's tens of thousands of troops, the Dong army stationed in Yiyuan Pass could not attack when Xu Chu and Cao Cao went to Yique Pass.

The second time it was said was the Yingchuan Shi clan. Xu Shu said that after Xu Chu made a difference in Liang County, Du You, Guo Jun and others came to see him, in addition to Daoxi, it seems that they also want to let the children of the clan join the army.

But even though Xu Shu came to the letter twice, the two news that Xu Chu wanted to know most were not yet eyebrow-raising. One is about jujube, and the other is about Xun Yu.

As early as when he first arrived in Yingchuan, Xu Chu thought about the future of these two talents. Xun Yu is at Yuan Shao's place, but sooner or later he will leave; Zao has been at home since he abandoned his official position, and a capable official like him will reappear sooner or later. So Xu Chu asked Xu Shu to pay more attention to the Zaoyi family, and sent a letter to the old man to see if the Yanling Zhang family could help him go to Yingyin County to find out the news in the Xun clan.

……

After Hu Zhen was ambushed, he did not rush to continue the pursuit. After two defeats in a row, Hu Zhen finally put away his arrogance, and he decided to wait for Xu Rong to come and march together. For Hu Zhen, Xu Rong and Lu Bu are very different, although neither of them is from Liangzhou, but Lu Bu turns his back on the Lord to seek glory, but Xu Rong does not; Not long after Lu Bu came to Dong Zhuo's side, Xu Rong had been fighting with Dong Zhuo for many years, and Hu Zhen had cooperated with Xu Rong many times.

Two days later, Xu Rong arrived.

Xu Chu, Cao Cao and others were reported by the scouts soon after and learned of this.

"Xu Rong is still here." Xu Chu, who was inspecting the battalions, looked up at the sky and said to the people behind him with a smile.

Every day does not return, and the spring sun is twilight. The cold of the last winter gradually faded, replaced by a warm spring day, and a stubble of fresh green can be seen everywhere.

As soon as they heard Xu Rong's name, two people immediately crossed over to Xu Chu and asked for battle: "Please let me wait for the battle this time!" ”

Xie Chong, Zhai Rong and Wu Kuan, who died under Xu Rong, have always been friends, otherwise they would not have come together to recruit Dong Zhuo, because they heard that Xu Rong was coming, and the two immediately asked for battle.

In addition to avenging their friends, the two of them also had other thoughts on their minds. Xie Chong and Zhai Rong's current task is to garrison Guangchengju, which is a relatively stable errand, and there is also less opportunity for meritorious service. They are only nominally under Xu Chu's control, and they are not Xu Chu's people, so they naturally want to find an opportunity to get rid of the task of garrisoning Guangcheng.

Xu Chu said: "Let's take a look again, Hu Zhen and Xu Rong are both famous generals in the Dong army, and now I don't know their reality or reality, and there is nothing to talk about, but the two of them can rest assured, but there is a chance, and they have to rely on the martial arts of the two to face Xu Rong." ”

Xie and Zhai were overjoyed.

"My lord." Xi Zhonghu said, "General Cao is currently gathering in Yangrenju, and the Dong army is going from the north to the south, and the first place to bear the brunt is here, so we need to send people to Yangrenju to negotiate and fight with General Cao." ”

Cao Cao's troops gathered in Yangren, and Xie Chong and Zhai Rong's troops gathered in Guangcheng, and if Dong Zhuo wanted to recapture Liang County, these two places would have to be taken. But in Xu Chu's opinion, Dong Zhuo may not want to take back Liang County, and soon after, he will burn Luoyang with a fire, Luoyang is in ruins, what else do you want Liang County to do?

Therefore, Xu Chu felt that Dong Zhuo's strategic purpose was only to block himself, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian from the three passes of Yique, Dagu, and Yuyuan, so that he could calmly go to Chang'an.

"Zhicai, Dong Zhuo has sent the Son of Heaven to Chang'an, and the matter of moving the capital has come to this point, I'm afraid that Liang County doesn't mean much to him anymore."

Xi Zhong thought for a while and said, "What does the lord mean...... Do you want to wait for Dong Zhuo to leave Luoyang before entering the army? ”

Xu Chu nodded heavily and said: "The mountains and rivers of Luoyang are blocked, and it is not for us to break them all the way." Hanoi and Suojube do not send troops, and we will not be able to attack Xiongguan after all, so it is better to straighten out the soldiers and horses, transport grain and grass, and wait for the opportunity. ”

Everyone agreed.

If the troops are advanced from multiple directions, Dong Zhuo will inevitably take care of one and lose the other, but the actual situation is that except for Xu Chu's side, there is no second way of troops and horses to pose a threat to Dong Zhuo, in this case, it is really better to wait for Dong Zhuo to leave Luoyang before launching an attack, and the chances of victory will be greater at that time.

Not only Xu Chu, but also Cao Cao and Sun Jian thought so. Cao Cao's soldiers and horses suffered serious losses and needed some time to recover, while Sun Jian was suffering from a headache for his own rations at this time.

Two days later, as Xu Chu said, Hu Zhen and Xu Rong led their troops south with great interest, and halfway through Dong Zhuo's order to stick to the two passes, they had to return. On the other hand, the candidate for the Jingzhou Thorn History has also been determined-Liu Biao, not only has it been determined, but Liu Biao has arrived in Yicheng at this time.

Almost at the same time, Xu Chu received news again - Wuling Taishou Cao Yin abandoned his official position and fled.

Jingzhou has completely changed.

Xu Chu asked for details, and the information he got was: Cao Yin had played a very disgraceful role in forcing Wang Rui to death, and it was his order to overpower Guangluqing to let Sun Jian kill Wang Rui, because of this, after Wang Rui's death, the dead soldiers he raised did not dare to attack Sun Jian, so he ran to Wuling County to assassinate Cao Yin. Cao Yin was shocked for a day, but in the end he didn't resist it, and simply abandoned the official and ran away.

Yuan Shu, who was in Luyang, learned the news of Liu Biao's arrival in Yicheng and Cao Yin's abandonment of his official position earlier than Xu Chu. Different from Xu Chu's emphasis on Liu Biao, Yuan Shu was very pleased with this, and he said to the left and right: "Liu Biao is also corrupt and Confucian, not enough to mention, the court sent him to Jingzhou today, but it is very beneficial to me." ”

Yuan Shu was arrogant and arrogant, and he didn't know that Liu Biao was actually a very talented person, and there were people who knew a lot about Liu Biao, so he persuaded him: "Liu Jingsheng's party 'Eight Gu', well-known in the world, I don't know how many times stronger than Wang Rui, plus he is a member of the Han family, the general must not despise it, and he needs to send someone to Yicheng to pay close attention to his movements." ”

Yuan Shu sneered: "Qing Duo is worried, what did the Han clan relatives calculate?" What did the party count? Needless to say! In a word, he was speechless.

After a while, Yuan Shu said again: "Zhu Qing, what should I do next?" ”

Although Yuan Shu is a famous family, everyone knows that he has the heart of "the Han family is declining, it cannot be restored, and it can be replaced", so he said: "The chaos in Jingzhou is certainly beneficial to the general, but the general can't take it quickly at the moment." ”

Yuan Shu asked, "How do you say it?" ”

"It's Cao Mengde and the Xu family."

As soon as he thought of Xu Chubiao Cao Cao as the Taishou of Yingchuan, Yuan Shu was angry, this was to go against him. Imagine, if there is a powerful Cao Cao in Yingchuan, Sun Jian's Yuzhou assassination history may be in vain. And if Sun Jian doesn't go to Yuzhou, then he can only go back to Changsha, Changsha is within Jingzhou, which means that he will have to compete with himself for territory in the future.

Yuan Shu is not a stupid person, his stupidity is mostly due to his innate sense of superiority as the concubine of the Yuan family, Xu Chu 'just right' Cao Cao to Yingchuan County, it is very likely that he and Sun Jian will turn friends into enemies, which is very bad.

He asked, "What should I do?" ”

Someone on the left and right replied: "First, the general should contact Kong Yuzhou as soon as possible, and second, the general should hold Nanyang in his hand as soon as possible." ”

"Oh?"

"Kong Yuzhou has a deep hatred with Cao Mengde and Xu Jiazi, and the general should use it to benefit and conspire with Xu and Cao. After Xu and Cao lose power, they will drive Sun Jian to attack Yuzhou, and they will be able to overcome it. ”

Yuan Shuxi said: "This plan is good. It's just that no matter what, Xu and Cao are currently fighting against Dong's coalition army with me, and there seems to be no reason to raise troops. ”

Conspiring with Kong Ling, it must be to use the knife soldiers, once the sword soldiers are moved, there is no room to turn around, another one, what will the others think? Xu Chu is okay to say, Cao Cao has such an iron relationship with Yuan Shao, Zhang Miao and others, can he move lightly?

Hence the hesitation.

Left and right persuasion: "The general is in Luyang today, although the momentum is very large, but in the end, he only has the rank of a general, and he is a guest army in Jingxiang, in case things change, it is inevitable to be controlled by others, so he must plan as soon as possible." For example, today, the general's brother Yuan Benchu recruited troops in Hanoi, recruited heroes from all over the world, gathered wise men in the sea, and wanted to chase Han Jizhou and lead the land of Jizhou, and heard that Xuzhou thorn Shi Tao Gongzu, with Danyang soldiers as minions, and Zang Ba generals according to Mount Tai, has been in charge of the East China Sea, Langya, Taishan three counties, and has the heart to take Guangling, Pengcheng two places, the entire Xuzhou into the bag; Then there are Xu Jiazi and Cao Mengde plotting day and night in the Yingchuan area to persecute Kong Gongxu, and their intentions are not difficult to predict, and they should be plotting in Yuzhou. If the general does not respond as soon as possible, his subordinates are afraid that the general will not be able to compete with Xu, Hebei and Henan in the future. ”

Yuan Shu was still reluctant to unite with Kong Ling, he said: "Kong Ling has a false name, and he is a vain person, I am afraid that it is insufficient and conspiracy." ”

Hearing that the 'ghost in the road' looked down on the 'false withering and blowing life', he continued to persuade each other bitterly: "Although Kong Yuzhou is not good at military strategy, there are tens of thousands of state soldiers, if he gets his help, even if he can't drive Xu and Cao away immediately, wouldn't it be easier for the general to get Jingzhou?" ”

Yuan Shu nodded his chin reservedly and said, "That's it, I'll send someone to Yangzhai to meet Kong Yuzhou." ”

At the end, he said: "Go and write a letter to Wucheng Waiting Office." ”

When Sun Jian received the letter, it was when the news of Cao Yin and Liu Biao reached Liang County. After Sun Jian read the letter, he immediately said helplessly: "General Hou asked me to wait for the return army to Luyang." ”

Zu Mao, who was standing beside Sun Jian, was furious when he heard this, and said, "How can General Hou go back on his word!" "Before, Sun and Yuan said that Sun Jian went out to fight for Dong, and Yuan Shu supplied food for the soldiers, but now the discussion for Dong is still ongoing, and Sun Jian is of course unwilling to go back.

"Sun Ben, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai!"

"The last general!"

"In my absence, the three of you will be in charge of the general military affairs."

"Huh? The general is going to ......"

"Da Mao, you go to Luyang with me."

……

Xu Chu didn't know what happened to Yuan Shu and Sun Jian, since he learned that Hu Zhen and Xu Rong had stopped pursuing, he went into the barracks and practiced soldiers and deduced tactics with all the generals. At dusk, the others returned to the tent and talked to the advisers about the situation.

At the same time, the military rations in the direction of Yangzhai and Yanling were continuously transported, and they only waited for a message from the direction of Luoyang to wave their troops north again.

One night five days later, Liu Bei suddenly asked to see him.

Xu Chu invited Liu Bei in, and after he sat down, he asked, "What's the matter with Xuande?" ”

In fact, it is not difficult to guess that Liu Bei should have come to ask Xu Chu for permission to recruit troops again. Sure enough, I heard Liu Bei say: "The prince, I have come to the prince's account, I have done nothing, I have not made an inch, and I am panicked. Therefore, I am willing to recruit elite soldiers for the prince and the prince, and devote myself to training, in order to be able to kill the enemy for the prince and the battlefield. ”

Xu Chu smiled but said nothing.

Liu Bei's words are good, didn't the recruited soldiers ask him to raise? However, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei have made great contributions, and Xu Chu can't refuse Liu Bei's request too directly.