"Please take out 5,000 gold and send Mi Zhen back to Yizhou."

Liu Bei was stunned and responded: "Money is not a problem, but the grain and grass of Xiangyang and Jiangling will be transferred soon, and Mi Zhen's caravan is a great help......

Zhuge Liang shook his head with a wry smile and said, "No!" borrowed the Mi Zhen fleet before, and Liang was forced to borrow it because he expected that the Mi Zhen fleet would not be in danger. But now it's different, no one knows when the Cao thief will be able to conquer Xiangyang, or if he will send a surprise team to attack Jiangling. Yizhou Lu Renhui is a great help for the Lord Gong in the future, so the Mizhen caravan cannot tolerate it. ”

After another pause, Zhuge Liang added to Liu Bei stingily: "Lord, Lu Ren values his wife and concubine very much, and although Cao Cao will not be able to fight Jingzhou so soon, but the power of Cai Mao's gang is still there, maybe it will cause some trouble." If Cao Cao caught Mi Zhen, or Cai Mao hijacked Mi Zhen and then handed it over to Cao Cao, Lu Ren's personality would inevitably be held hostage to Cao Cao because of this. If something like this happens, it's going to be a big deal. ”

Liu Bei hesitated: "Well, ...... this?"

Zhuge Liang said in a low voice again: "Lord, there are some things that are inconvenient to say in front of the generals, but the lord should remember that Liang has already passed the bottom to the lord before, although the lord can occupy Jingxiang after this fact, but it can only be temporarily occupied, because the lord you don't have enough time to stabilize the situation in Jingxiang, and Cao Cao will not sit back and watch the lord gain a firm foothold in Jingzhou, and the lord's attack this time is really a last resort, otherwise sitting in Xinye and Fancheng will inevitably fall into a dead end, Therefore, the temporary occupation of Xiangyang and Jiangling at the moment is just a way to survive first. ”

“……”

Zhuge Liang shook his fan and said earnestly: "Although Jingzhou claims to have 100,000 armor, what are the soldiers that can be used by the Lord now?" After Liu Cong and Cai Mao escaped from Xiangyang, Jingzhou was actually divided into two factions, and the lord had even fewer soldiers and horses to use, and he had to guard against the small actions that Cai Mao and others were playing behind their backs. If he insisted on sticking to Xiangyang and Jiangling, Liang dared to assert that the lord would definitely not be able to hold it. Rather than this, it is better to concentrate the money, grain, soldiers and horses in Jiangxia, where the eldest prince has been in business for several years, and the people are all attached to it, and he is willing to use his life for the lord, but he can keep it for a long time. ”

Liu Bei said: "Having said that, but with Jiangxia alone, can we hold it?" ”

Zhuge Liang said: "We alone will definitely not work. But after retreating to Jiangxia, we can unite with Sun Quan, and this is the only way to resist Cao Cao at the moment. Now that we have gathered all the money, food, soldiers and horses that can be mobilized, it can give us more confidence, and at the same time give Sun Quan more confidence to be able to resist Cao Cao after uniting. If we really get to the point where we want soldiers and no food, what will we do to unite with Sun Quan? If Sun Quan did not have a strong ally, where would he have the confidence to resist Cao Cao? ”

Liu Bei nodded in silence, but still asked Zhuge Liang with some puzzlement: "What Mr. said is true, but what does this have to do with letting Mi Zhen leave Jingzhou?" ”

Zhuge Liang said: "It has a lot to do with it! Why did Cao Cao give Lu Ren an official position and build a state government in Yizhou? To put it bluntly, it is nothing more than wanting Lu Ren to contain Sun Quan, so that Sun Quan does not dare to raise troops easily. For example, not long ago, Sun Quan originally wanted to raise troops to attack Jiangxia, but it was because he was afraid of Lu Ren that he had been hesitant. But on the other hand, it is impossible for Lu Ren to obey Cao Cao's arrangement in everything, so the relationship between Sun Quan and Lu Ren is very delicate, and it can also be said that Lu Ren is just putting on a bluff to deal with Cao Cao, whether there will really be any action, that is difficult to say. ”

At this point, Zhuge Liang's words changed: "But if at this time, Mi Zhen falls into the hands of Cao Cao, and with Lu Ren's usual style of behaving as a person, it will be difficult to say." The lord should not forget that Lu Ren did not hesitate to part ways with Cao Cao just because of an insignificant maid Wan'er. And Mi Zhen is one of the wives who has been with him for many years, how can he ignore it? Lord, if we want to fight against Cao Cao, we must unite with Sun Quan, but if Sun Quan is really restrained by Lu Ren, then ......"

There is no need to say any more at this point, and Liu Bei couldn't help but gasp at this time. To be honest, with Liu Bei's personality that doesn't care much about his wife, it is really difficult to understand and agree with Lu Ren's mentality, and even sneer, but Liu Bei also knows that you can't measure others by your own standards. Things you disdain tend to be taken seriously by others, aren't they?

Thinking of this, Liu Bei nodded to Zhuge Liang, turned his head and said to Mi Zhu, who was drinking and chatting in the hall: "Zizhong, there is Lao Lingmei this time." You can quickly go to the warehouse to get 5,000 gold and hand it over to Sister Ling, and after being appeased, let her go back to Yizhou as soon as possible, don't make Lu Yizhou worry more. ”

On the issue of Mi Zhen, Mi Zhu actually has a headache, but Mi Zhu really can't open this mouth to Liu Bei. Now hearing Liu Bei's order, Mi Zhu also breathed a long sigh of relief in secret, and hurriedly bowed to Liu Bei before going to work. For Mi Zhu, being sandwiched between the two ends like this makes it difficult for Zhen Nyima to say......

So a few days later, Mi Zhen's fleet finally left Xiangyang, and the ship also moved all the goods in the Mi family's warehouse in Xiangyang City. At this time, Mi Zhen was counting money in the cabin to play.

"Well, it feels good to have a lot of money in my hands, but why am I just a little unwilling?"

Throwing a piece of gold cake back into the box, Mi Zhen frowned, a little sullen. In the end, Mi Zhen still has a little woman mentality, and it is not good to be played hard. The 5,000 gold was obtained, but for the 5,000 gold, Mi Zhen had another conflict with Mi Zhu. According to Mi Zhu's original intention, he didn't want Mi Zhen to collect so much, but Mi Zhen was already angry, and it was already very good if she didn't ask Liu Bei for two or three thousand more.

"No, I can't swallow that...... Alas, forget it, let's send a telegram to Yihao to report his safety first. ”

――――――――――――――――――――

A few days after the Xiangyang Incident, Lu Ren and Liu Ye were discussing some things at the moment.

The main structure of Yizhou has been basically completed, and then it will gradually and steadily develop according to the main structure, and some second-generation talents have gradually arrived, so there is no need for Lu Ren to worry too much, so now Lu Ren has appropriately shifted the focus of development to Quanzhou.

At present, although Quanzhou's agricultural base is far inferior to that of Yizhou, there will still be a large amount of surplus grain and rice in addition to self-sufficiency, which can be traded or recruited by displaced people, but Lu Ren does not agree with Liu Ye's proposal to continue to expand farming on a large scale in the spring of this year. In Lu Ren's plan, Quanzhou should take advantage of its advantageous coastal geography to develop commerce and industry. Liu Ye was naturally extremely puzzled by this, but he gave up when he saw Lu Ren's insistence, and then began to revise Quanzhou's development plan for next year.

Mi Zhen's telegram came at this time, and Lu Ren carefully reviewed it and sighed lightly: "In the end, Jingxiang still fell into the hands of Liu Bei. ”

Liu Ye said: "Didn't the general just want Liu Bei to capture Jingxiang?" ”

Lu Ren smiled awkwardly and responded with a haha: "What was my situation at that time?" Giving Liu Bei such an idea actually wanted to sell his favor to Liu Bei, so that he wouldn't embarrass me. As for other aspects, although I have thought about them, I have not thought about them in such detail. ”

Liu Ye said: "What is the general's plan now?" ”

Lu Ren said: "What do you want me to say now...... To be honest, I think that among the heroes in the world, the only people who can really compete with Cao Cao are Liu Bei, and Sun Quan is still a little behind. It's just that Liu Bei has never had a foundation, and he can't gather his real strength to come out. Now that he has captured Jingzhou, he has the capital to compete with Cao Cao...... I intend to profit from the rivalry between these candidates, now that Liu Bei has power, and Cao Cao is a sworn enemy, it seems that the business will get bigger and bigger in the future. ”

Liu Ye said with a smile: "It's not that the general doesn't know that Liu Bei is unstable in Jingzhou, and Liu Biao's death caused the Xiangyang Rebellion, which is actually the best time to capture Jingxiang." This kind of once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Cao Gong will never give up. As for Liu Bei...... Although it seems that Jingzhou has been captured, there are many gate valves in Jingzhou, and there are many people who disagree with Liu Bei, and it is impossible for Liu Bei to make Jingxiang people attach themselves to it without about two years. In this case, Liu Bei couldn't stop Cao Gong's soldiers and horses going south at all. ”

Lu Ren sighed, and said in his heart, isn't the next thing not much different from the original trajectory of history? After thinking about it, he asked, "Ziyang, you see that Jingzhou is in chaos, will it have any impact on us here?" ”

Liu Ye shook his head and said, "Probably not." After all, we are relatively remote here, and under normal circumstances, the war in the Central Plains will not affect here at all. We only need to strengthen the guards at a few key passes, and then send more meticulous personnel to investigate the dynamics of Jingxiang to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Moreover, according to the general's assumption, the war in Jingzhou will be a lot more people fleeing to the south for refuge, and the general will have to consider the reception of the displaced people everywhere. ”

Lu Ren said: "Collect, we will collect as much as we come, but the control and naturalization of displaced people should be appropriately strengthened." Well...... If it is said that Cao Cao's capture of Jingxiang after going south is a certain thing, then how do you look at Ziyang on Liu Bei's side? ”

Liu Ye said: "I predict that Liu Bei will most likely choose to retreat to Jiangxia, which has a deep foundation, and then join forces with Sun Quan to fight Cao." After Cao Gong occupied Jingxiang, like Liu Bei, it would take a considerable amount of time to stabilize the situation in Jingxiang. If I forcibly raise troops without waiting for Jingxiang to be stable, I will only see the disadvantages but not the benefits. ”

Lu Renxin said: "The battle of Chibi is about to start, but fortunately, Mi Zhen's caravan is now on the way back." However, now it seems that Lao Cao sent troops about half a year earlier than the original time, but I don't know if there will be SARS or bird flu in the winter like in the original history. Lao Cao's defeat has a lot to do with the large-scale epidemic outbreak, so how should I correct the time difference of half a year? (To be continued.) )