Yuan Shu has been in a bad mood lately! As the sister-in-law of the Yuan family, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao have not dealt with each other much. The Yuan family was also split into two parts because of the brothers' disagreement. The Yuan family in Nanyang supported Yuan Shu, and the Yuan family in Hebei supported Yuan Shao. Seeing that Yuan Shao is about to unify Hebei, the limelight overshadows him, once the Yuan family thinks that Yuan Shao is more suitable than himself to be the head of the family, then it is not impossible for the north and south Yuan to merge, at that time, do you want to bow to Yuan Shao?

No matter what the reason, the only way for Yuan Shu to overshadow Yuan Shao seems to be the only way to become the emperor. Yuan Shu had a lot of soldiers, but except for Ji Ling, a general, the rest of the people seemed to be a little worse than those generals under Cao Cao and Lu Bu. Yuan Shu never thought that failure was his reason, but his subordinates were incompetent, so he played his good hand to the ground.

Yuan Shu originally thought that he could use high-ranking officials Houlu to win over Cao Cao, Lu Bu and others to support him as emperor, but he didn't want his flattery to be seen by the blind, not only did he not get the support of Cao Cao and Lu Bu, but he harmed the subordinates sent to reward him. The whole person went, and the one who came back only had one head.

Yuan Shu was furious, he was not a generous person, Cao Cao and Lu Bu didn't give him face like this, so he naturally wanted to take people back to the field. It's just that before his army can move, the surrounding five-way princes spoke out together, denouncing his Yuan Shu's disobedience in unison, and threatened to crusade against the disobedience on behalf of the imperial court.

When the princes came to attack all the way, Yuan Shu's brows would not wrinkle, and when the princes of the two roads came to attack, Yuan Shu would be a little attentive, but when the princes of the five roads came to attack together, Yuan Shu began to fidget. He was arrogant, but not so mad that he thought he could deal with the princes of the Five Roads at the same time.

There is no regret medicine in this world! Yuan Shu faced the situation of the five princes attacking together, and he could only grit his teeth and insist, and at the same time sent someone to contact Yuan Shao in Hebei, hoping that he could help himself for the sake of the children of the Yuan family at the same time. It was only not long after Yuan Shu's envoy left Shouchun that Yuan Shu received a statement that Yuan Shao had drawn a line with himself, and in that statement, Yuan Shao expelled Yuan Shu, an unscrupulous son, from the Yuan family as the head of the Yuan family.

Yuan Shao couldn't count on it, so Yuan Shu had to accept the advice of the strategist Yang Hong and send people to Liu Biao and Sun Ce respectively. Liu Biao is now the king of Jing, and his contribution to the court is not necessarily out of his own heart, and Sun Ce has also served under Yuan Shu for a period of time. These two people may be able to say that they will not come to trouble Yuan Shu for the time being.

As for Cao Cao, Lu Bu, and Liu Bei, what really worried Yuan Shu was actually only Cao Cao, Liu Bei was fighting with Sun Ce for Jiangdong at this time, once Sun Ce did not move, Liu Bei would not dare to move lightly, and once Liu Bei did not move, Lu Bu, who was next to Liu Bei, naturally did not dare to act rashly. Except for Cao Cao, the others all restrained each other.

Following Yang Hong's advice, Yuan Shu's envoys began to travel in all directions in an attempt to break up Cao Cao's five-man anti-Yuan alliance. Of course, in order to be prepared, Yuan Shu still ordered a large number of conscripts in case of contingency.

It is human nature to seek good fortune and avoid evil, and in the chaos of the Central Plains, the people will naturally go to areas where there is no outbreak of war in order to find a way to live. And now Guanzhong has naturally become a destination for the fleeing people. If the people of the Central Plains want to flee to Guanzhong, then they must pass through Cao Cao's territory, of course Cao Cao is jealous of those people, these are his own soldiers and taxes, if it is not for the fact that he can't turn his face with the court now, Cao Cao will not let these people enter Guanzhong through Wuguan. But at the moment, Cao Cao can only detain a part of the people through private interception.

Regarding the conquest of Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and his advisers Guo Jia and Cheng Yu also discussed. Although it is not a good thing to let the imperial court become bigger, it is still necessary to think about the present first and then think about the future. Yuan Shao has already started the final battle for hegemony in Hebei, and it will be discussed that Gongsun Chan will be completely finished in less than two years. As Yuan Shao's close friend, Cao Cao knew very well that once Yuan Shao unified Hebei, the next goal would definitely be to invade the Central Plains, so the time left for him was two years at most.

Completely surrendering to the imperial court was of course an option, but Cao Cao did not want to do that. When he was young, General Zhengxi dreamed that now he has become a tyrant of his own. Good horses don't eat back grass! Unless it is really at the end of the mountain, Cao Cao will not bow to the imperial court easily.

Cao Cao has many enemies, Yuan Shu, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, these three people are the opponents he needs to solve as soon as possible, only the unified Central Plains, Cao Cao is qualified to compete with his former best friend Yuan Shao. Yuan Shu is just the beginning, after solving Yuan Shu, the next target is Liu Bei, and finally Lu Bu.

Dealing with Yuan Shu is not very difficult in Cao Cao's eyes, the five-way army is attacking together, Cao Cao believes that even if Yuan Shu has three heads and six arms, it will not be able to resist. Whether it is troops or generals, Yuan Shu is at a disadvantage. And what Cao Cao is thinking about now is whether to deal with Liu Bei whether to join forces with Sun Ce or Lu Bu.

"Lord, since it's hard to choose, why don't you join forces together? After all, with one more helper, the odds are greater. And if only one person joins forces, Liu Bei can't guarantee that he won't join forces with the other. Cheng Yu expressed his opinion to Cao Cao in a deep voice, and Guo Jia on the side clapped his hands and agreed: "What Cheng Gong said is very true, and Jia also thinks so. ”

“…… Zhongde and Fengxiao think so. It's just that Lu Bu once attacked my Yanzhou, and I'm afraid that Chen Gong's guy won't approve of Lu Bu's alliance with me. ”

"Don't worry about this, Duke Ming has a good relationship with Chen Deng in Xuzhou, if he goes to persuade Chen Deng to help secretly, I believe Lu Bu will not refuse."

"Hmm...... Chen Deng...... Will it work? Cao Cao hesitated for a moment and asked.

"If Ming Gong is still not at ease, then it is better to accompany Changwen to go through this experience." Seeing this, Guo Jia took the initiative to ask for help.

"This ...... If you are willing to go, it will naturally be the best. What do you see? ”

"This prodigal son is willing to go out, so naturally there is nothing to worry about. But my lord, should the court be more careful? Cheng Yu asked Cao Cao another question.

"Imperial Court ......" Cao Cao couldn't help frowning when he heard this.

When Liu Xie returned to Chang'an, he brought back Zhao Yun and Pang De, and 20,000 horses are now stationed in the Lantian camp, and Cao Cao is lying if he wants to say that he is not worried. At present, the two counties of Henan and Hongnong have been taken into the arms of the imperial court, plus the previous Hedong and Pingyang, if the imperial court really intends to the Central Plains, it can completely take itself by surprise if it sends troops. Relying on the Tiger Prison Pass alone can no longer make Cao Cao sleep in peace.

"Zhongde, why don't you go to Chang'an and find a way to find out the intentions of the imperial court?"

"The lord has an order, and Yu naturally obeys it."

……

Xuzhou, Langya County

Since acquiring the territory of Xuzhou, Lu Bu has missed the past years in Chang'an. At that time, I only needed to train and fight, and I needed to worry about everything like now, and I didn't even have time to spend with my family. It's just that this path was chosen by myself, and no matter how hard it is, I have to go on hard.

With the support of the Chen and Cao families in Xuzhou, Lu Bu quickly gained a firm foothold in Xuzhou. The only regret is that the Xuzhou Mu on his head has not been recognized by the imperial court, which always makes people feel a little unjustifiable. And now, here's the opportunity. Thanks to Yuan Shu, that fool, he actually claimed to be the emperor without authorization, which undoubtedly gave Lu Bu a reason to reach out to the imperial court. And the imperial court was also simply, not only promised to grant Lu Bu Xuzhou Mu after the extermination of Yuan Shu, but also handed over the candidate of Qingzhou Mu to Lu Bu for recommendation.

Today's Qingzhou is like a piece of chicken ribs, and it doesn't get much oil and water, but it's a pity to throw it away. The massive loss of population makes it impossible for Qingzhou to recover without ten or eight years. After winning Qingzhou, Lu Bu still handed over Qingzhou to Dong Cheng to take care of, and Dong Cheng and others finally got out of the original predicament after being protected by Lu Bu and began to restore people's livelihood, but the reality of the lack of people is still there, even if Dong Cheng and others have the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, not to mention that Dong Cheng's ability is also there, just a dog to watch the house, what he can help Lu Bu do, that is, to make Qingzhou's bandits no longer as arrogant as in the past.

In the case that Qingzhou could not be counted on, occupying the entire territory of Xuzhou became Lu Bu's main goal. Not only Liu Bei can think of using Xuzhou as a springboard to plot Jiangdong's strategy, Chen Gong and Chen Deng are both wise people, with their minds, persimmons of course have to pick up soft pinch, compared with Cao Cao, Liu Bei is of course better to deal with.

Lu Bu is confident, as long as there is no Cao Cao involved, Liu Bei is not his opponent, even if he has Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Lu Bu also does not think it is difficult to solve Liu Bei. Of course, at the moment, it is necessary to solve Yuan Shu first, and only by solving Yuan Shu can Lu Bu justifiably expel Liu Bei as Xuzhou Mu.

The hustle and bustle of the world is all for profit, and Liu Xie, as the son of the Han Dynasty, has the biggest advantage that he holds righteousness. Liu Xie represents the orthodoxy of the Han family, and now that the Han family is not exhausted, there are many things that Liu Xie only needs to use his mouth to achieve his goal.

Liu Xie knew very well that it was not easy to take back what he had promised, but in order to achieve a greater purpose, it was impossible not to bleed. It's like fishing, if you just want the wisher to take the bait, then you can't wait until the Year of the Monkey to wait for a stupid fish that you can't think of.

Different perspectives lead to different decisions. Now that the Han Dynasty is divided, the princes from all walks of life are in their own ways, and the imperial court forces represented by Liu Xie himself are still Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, Sun Ce, Liu Zhang and Liu Biao, and these people are also Liu Xie's main opponents in the future. As for Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shu, who are now unfinished, they are actually not much different from dead people in Liu Xie's eyes.

Yuan Shu committed public anger, defeat is a matter of time, and Gongsun Chan committed suicide Youzhou Mu Liu Yu, since the leadership of Youzhou Mu, the power began to deteriorate, unless there is a shocking change, otherwise Gongsun Chan does not want to have a chance to turn over in this life.

Liu Biao and Liu Zhang are still relatives of the Han family, and their thrones are also recognized by the imperial court, if you want to move them, you must wait for the opportunity, and Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce, except for Cao Cao, who has been recognized by the imperial court, the other three are still talking to themselves. The imperial court used the recognition of their current power as a bait to induce them to contribute to the Yuan Shu.

Although this will give them a legitimate identity, it also means that after Yuan Shu is destroyed, the degree of these people's attacks on each other will also intensify, which will be very beneficial to the imperial court to reduce resistance to recovering the Central Plains in the future.

The lesser of two evils, not to mention that the main concern of the imperial court at the moment is to conquer the Western Regions, and under the premise that it is not necessary, Liu Xie does not plan to fight on both sides. That would be a test of the imperial court's financial strength, especially when the imperial court was not yet wealthy.

If it weren't for the success of the original court, if it wasn't for the seizure of Mei Wu's money and grain, the empty Han treasury could even starve rats to death. The current situation is of course more than ten times better than it was at the beginning, but it is very expensive to fight, and the imperial court not only wants to fight, resettle the people, restore production, etc., then none of them do not need to spend money. As the chief butler appointed by Liu Xie, Xun Yu was eager to break one penny into two pennies to use, so when someone in the court proposed to take advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to recover the Central Plains, Xun Yu's eyes at that time showed a fierce light, and Liu Xie was so frightened that he didn't dare to squeak.

The imperial court can't recover the Central Plains now, so the Central Plains is naturally as chaotic as possible, and the reality that Yuan Shao is about to become a hegemon in Hebei also makes Liu Xie and others have to consider supporting candidates in the Central Plains who can buy time for the imperial court to resist Yuan Shao's southern invasion. Cao Cao was selected by Liu Xie in this situation.

The four major forces of the Central Plains, Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, and Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu is about to finish playing, and although Lu Bu is brave, Liu Xie really has little confidence in his ability to fight against Yuan Shao. As for Liu Bei, Liu Xie liked it when he was a child, but after he grew up and had some experience, Liu Xie's feelings for Liu Bei became both admiration and disgust.

admiration is because this Liu Bei is indomitable, like a Xiaoqiang who can't be killed, and disgust is that he feels that this Liu Bei is like a hypocrite, the best at inviting people to buy people's hearts. For example, Zhao Yun fought desperately to save his only bloodline, but this guy threw his son to the ground, saying that he almost lost a general for this kid. Zhao Yun was moved, but this reflected Liu Bei's cold-bloodedness from the side, for Liu Bei, his benevolence was only shown to the object he hoped to be moved by, as for the feelings of others, it was not in his consideration.

A real villain and a hypocrite, if Liu Xie had to choose, he would rather choose a real villain. Because of a hypocrite, you don't know when he's going to stab you with a fatal stab.

Liu Xie likes Cao Cao, although Cao Cao's reputation in history is not very good, he is called Han Xiang, and he is actually a Han thief, but he is at least true, not as hypocritical as Liu Bei.

Liu Xie has been guarding against Liu Bei, and Liu Xie has long known about Liu Bei's desire to occupy Jiangdong, and Liu Xie is quite happy to see it happen. Jiangdong is only suitable for a corner of peace, if Liu Bei wins Jiangdong, it is almost impossible to compete with him for the world.

Jiangdong is rich, but the population is insufficient, coupled with the reason of the south boat and the north horse, Liu Bei went to Jiangdong, and in the future, at most he will become a local tyrant in a peaceful place, and it is not very difficult for the imperial court to solve him.

Compared with Liu Bei, Sun Ce is less of a threat to Liu Xie, although Sun Ce is brave and known as the little overlord, but the problem is that he is also facing the same troubles as Liu Bei, and the population is insufficient. And compared to Liu Bei, Sun Ce's situation is even worse. In the past, Liu Bei competed with him for Jiangdong, and then Liu Biao, who had a grudge against himself for killing his father, was eyeing him. Sun Ce wanted to develop further, and there was no better choice than to defeat Liu Bei and occupy Jiangdong.

But it is not easy to defeat Liu Bei, with the support of the Gu family and the Lu family, Liu Bei is stronger than when he was in Xuzhou, there are Gu Yong, Lu Xun, Wu Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, those water thieves who were entrenched in Jiangdong in the past were also recruited by Liu Bei, Ling Cao and Chen Wu are among the representatives. Although Sun Ce recruited more generals and ministers, Sun Ce naturally felt uncomfortable when he saw that the talents who should have belonged to him were snatched by others. If it weren't for the fact that he needed to get the approval of the imperial court by dealing with Yuan Shu right now, Sun Ce would actually want to deal with Liu Bei the most.

As for Liu Bei, who was remembered by Sun Ce, Cao Cao, and Lu Bu, he also had a ghost in his heart at this time. may be the experience of running away often, and Liu Bei's premonition of danger is much more effective than ordinary people. He knew very well the situation he was in, if it weren't for Yuan Shu's move to become the emperor, Liu Bei might have joined forces with Yuan Shu, but Yuan Shu became the emperor, which made Liu Bei, who had always talked about the identity of the Han family, have to retreat from Yuan Shu.

The Han clan relatives are very nice to say, and they can also fool people who don't know the details. But since he heard about his relationship with Liu Xie, the Son of Heaven, from Chen Deng, Liu Bei has rarely mentioned his clan identity to others. Liu Bei is about to run forty, but he is the great-great-grandchild of a person who has just passed sixteen, although this is a fact, but I believe that few people are willing to mention it. is like Xun Yu's uncle and nephew, Xun Yu is younger than Xun You, but his generation is several generations of Xun Yu. Because of this generation, Xun Yu usually hides Xun Yu when he has nothing to do. This time, Liu Xie solved Han Sui, and Xun You also took the initiative to ask to stay as the county guard of Jincheng County and stay in Liangzhou.

"Big brother, big brother." Liu Bei was talking to Gu Yong, and the shout of the third brother Zhang Fei suddenly came from outside the door.

"Yide, what's the noise?" Liu Bei looked at Zhang Fei who ran in and asked.

"Big brother, Xianhe is back."

"Really, where is he now?" When Liu Bei heard this, he immediately stood up and asked urgently.

"Right outside the door."

"Foolish, why don't you come in with him." Liu Bei complained about Zhang Fei, asked Gu Yong to sit down for a while, and then hurriedly ran out of the door.

"Jian Yong has seen the lord."

"Xianhe, don't come to harm, this is ......" Liu Bei saw a scribe standing beside Jian Yong and asked Jian Yong.

"Huh...... I have come to introduce the lord, this is the Yi Jibo, the envoy of King Jing, who came back with me to discuss the alliance between the two families. Jian Yong smiled and introduced Liu Bei.

"It turned out to be Mr. Yi, please please." Liu Bei hurriedly said.