Xu Chu paced back and forth in the tent.

He was burly and had big steps, and he walked to the door of the tent in three or five steps, turned back, and walked to the desk in three or five steps. Xi Zhong sat on the seat for a long time, looking at Xu Chu's frowning, and couldn't help but smile at Xu Yi: "Ji Cai knows why the prince is bored?" ”

Xu Chu's joy and anger are rarely visible, and he often shows it to people with a calm face, Xu Yi has been in charge for so many days, and he has basically not seen Xu Chu have been sitting still. The anxious appearance that I can't see on weekdays is seen today, and Xu Yi knows that it is because what happened in Yuzhou in the past two days is too tricky.

But why did what happened in Runan give Xu Chu a headache? The answer is not difficult to guess - natural disasters**.

The so-called natural disaster is that the water level of the rivers in Yuzhou has skyrocketed, and the water has affected more than 20 counties. This flood is more violent than before, more than 100,000 people are displaced, many people guess the will of heaven, saying that it is Dong Zhuo's chaotic government, the anger caused by the untidy government, Xu Chu does not care much about these words, what he cares about is that according to past experience, there is a high probability that after the flood, there will be a great drought, and the drought will induce locust plagues, and the corpses caused by successive wars will be scattered all over the field, and will induce plagues. It is very likely that these unfortunate events will occur in Runan County, where the disaster is most severe, and then spread to Lujiang and other counties adjacent to Runan.

Since the army was launched, he has won many big victories, and seeing that Jiujiang County is about to be in the bag, he has bumped into a rare disaster year at this time, so how can Xu Chu's mood be good.

This is only one aspect, and what makes Xu Chu have a headache is the current complicated situation in Yangzhou.

The state government revealed the meaning of being soft, Danyang is still very tough, Yuzhang is ambiguous, and he will be arrogant, and there are thousands of things, which makes Xu Chu suddenly feel powerless.

After Wenwu sat down, Xu Chu sat on the main seat, frowning. In any case, the military and the government are still more important at the moment, and he asked Xiang Xizhong: "Zhicai, Uncle Fang's resignation is indeed on the way to Chang'an as Xu Gong said?" ”

Yesterday, Xu Gong served as an envoy, and the bargaining chip he brought was that Chen Wen took the initiative to resign from the post of assassin and expressed Xu Chu as the assassin of Yangzhou. In the early days of the negotiations, this method was used to show weakness, apparently because the balance of the war was obviously tilted in favor of Xu Chu's side, but the matter of resigning from the Chang'an court should be viewed from two aspects. On the one hand, maybe Chen Wen was forced to be helpless and really had the intention of retreating, and on the other hand, it was also possible that Chen Wen's staff used a trick 'dragging the knife' to paralyze Xu Chu and give himself time to join forces, after all, Chang'an is far away, and the imperial court is only more symbolic for the herdsmen in various places, and it is not difficult to ensure that the state government will take advantage of Xu Chu's careless time to fight with Zhou Xin, Lu Kang or the forces of other states, so as to kill a horse gun.

Xi Zhong replied cautiously: "After successive defeats, the state capital has almost no power to fight back, I think they should be able to see that in terms of military affairs, it is difficult for Yangzhou to compete with the lord....... Therefore, the person who is worried is not Zhou Danyang, nor Lu Yuzhang, but Tao Qian and Zhenrong of Xuzhou. ”

There is a reason why Xi Zhicai discussed Tao Qian and Zhen Rong separately, from various indications, Tao Qian's control over his fellow countryman is not very enough, Zhen Rong respects the Buddha in Xia Pi and resists Confucianism and raises monks, this should not be what Tao Qian can tolerate, just looking at this information, Zhen Rong is very likely to have escaped Tao Qian's control.

Xu Yi added: "Since Tao Gongzu entered Xuzhou, many local scholars have been reluctant to leave the Shizhou Mansion, not to mention Zhao Yu and Wang Lang in Zhizhong, who were forcibly recruited into the government, not to mention the two virtuous people of Pengcheng Zhang Zhao and Guangling Zhang Hong. Although he drove away more than 100,000 yellow turbans transferred from Qingzhou to Xuzhou last year, those yellow scarves were only driven back to Qingzhou or wandered in Yanzhou, and the threat was not really eliminated. ”

Xu Chu nodded lightly.

Since the Zhongping period, Xuzhou has been relatively peaceful, and compared with some places, the people's livelihood there is better. Because Xuzhou borders Yangzhou, Xu Chu has always been more concerned about the affairs of Xuzhou, and naturally pays great attention to Tao Qian.

Different from the perception brought to Xu Chu by the romance of the previous life, Tao Qian can be said to be very similar to Zhou Xin's character, but the former's ability is stronger, he started by military merits, and with little support from the Xuzhou scholars, he has secured the position of the assassin history, and it is not difficult to foresee that it will not be long before he will add the title of Xuzhou Mu.

But Tao Qian is not without shortcomings - he is too old, and he doesn't have to wait too long, he will reach the age of ear shun and be old.

Therefore, Xu Chu agreed with Xu Yi's analysis, Tao Qian would not help Chen Wen. Even if there is no threat of the Yellow Turban, and there is no difference between the inside and the outside, the elderly Tao Qian may want to do the most is to hold Xuzhou and leave it to his son.

"Add the horses sent to Xiapi, and pay more attention to the movements of Zhenrong." Xu Chu said in a deep voice, "I summoned you here today, in addition to this matter, there is also something about the Lu family. ”

When it came to the Lu family, there was no martial arts in the account, and his expression gradually became solemn.

With the influence of the Lu clan in Jiangdong, a large-scale war can be launched at any time to influence the tide of the war, especially in this sensitive period. Needless to say, Zhou Xin and Chen Wen must have sent someone to contact Yuzhang a long time ago, if Lu Kang was determined to do it against Xu Chu, it is not yet known who will kill the deer; If Lu Kang and Xu Chu form an alliance, then the others will only be defeated.

Yesterday, Xu Gong arrived first, Lu Jun later, and Xu Chu met separately. In the conversation with Xu Gong, Xi Zhong and others were present, but no one present knew what Lu Jun talked about with Xu Chu.

Xu Chu sighed and said, "Yesterday, Lu Jun, the eldest son of Duke Lu, asked me: The Holy Son of Heaven is in the court, and my father has long intended to send filial piety to the court, but I don't know if the prince is willing to send an envoy to accompany him?" ”

Xi Zhong said: "How did the lord answer? ”

"I want to. He also said that his father is old, and he has long wanted to stay at home and play with his children, and he hopes that I can take more care of their Lu children in the future. ”

Xi Zhong couldn't help but chuckle a few times when he heard this. During the reign of Emperor Zhang of this dynasty, Empress Dowager Ma came to the dynasty and said to Emperor Zhang: If yin and yang are reconciled and the border is quiet, I will tease Sun with me, and I don't have to care about the government anymore. Lu Kang is old, and the year before last, he gave birth to his youngest son, Lu Ji, who changed his son to a child. This allusion Xi Zhong and other scribes knew, Xu Chu didn't know, although he didn't know, he could also hear that Lu Kang was 'retreating as advancing', testing his tone.

"The lord must have replied: Lu Gong should be strong and strong, those who can work hard, and there are thousands of Li people in Yangzhou, and Lu Gong needs to take care of it."

Xu Chu nodded and smiled bitterly.

The two questions that Lu Kang asked Lu Jun to ask were actually explaining his bottom line. The first envoy sent tribute to the imperial court, that is, to warn Xu Chu that the matter of sending troops to attack other counties without authorization could not be repeated, and that he must be loyal to the Han court and act within the rules; The second question is a bit ambiguous, but it is not difficult to see what Lu Kang means to ask: If you Xu Chu are the assassins of Yangzhou, where will my Yangzhou Shi clan go?

Zhou Yu, who had been listening in the tent, couldn't help but blurt out when he heard this: "Duke Lu is loyal to the Han Dynasty and has lofty ambitions, and he doesn't want to see the Yangzhou soldiers end up in trouble and lose their lives...... If it is a normal season, it is best to take Lu Gong as the state assassin history, but it is a pity that ......"

Xu Chu glanced at Zhou Yu, which was also his headache. From the perspective of the Yangzhou scholars, if Lu Kang comes to be the assassin of Yangzhou, it is really a good thing, this is not only the thoughts of the Lishi people in other camps, including Zhou Yi, Xie Zhen and others, perhaps in their eyes, Lu Kang is the best choice for the history of Yangzhou assassination.

According to the old Han Dynasty, people in this state cannot be the assassin of this state, but if there is a big chaos today, except for a few corrupt Confucians, no one cares about these, but Xu Chu can give up anything, that is, the name of the assassin history of this state cannot be conceded. Lu Kang is the history of the state assassin, so what is he? What is the point of the bloody battle of the soldiers under his command?

Because of this, Xu Chu gently brought over the topic of Zhou Yu, and then said: "On Lu Gong's side, there is a contact between Cai Gong and Lu Jun, and a handwritten letter can be sent to Shu County." Negotiations must continue, but at the same time, the pace of the offensive cannot be stopped. Pass on my military order: After ordering Xu Shu and Guo Jia to rectify the three armies, they will work together to attack Yinling and completely take the north of Jiujiang County! As for Zhu Hao's state soldiers, Dian Wei listened to orders. ”

With the sound of armor crashing, the tower-like figure of Dian Wei came to the center of the tent and arched his hand: "Wei is here!" ”

"You hurry to the military camp outside the city, order the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Guard Battalion to strengthen their vigilance, be in a state of imminent battle at any time, and send additional scouts, once you find out that the state soldiers are moving, immediately send a message to the city."

Dian Wei took the order and left, everyone left the tent and returned to their posts, and left alone, and said to Xu Chu after the people left: "The disaster in Yuzhou is serious, and it is only a matter of time before it affects the Lujiang River. ”