In the first month of the twelfth year of Jian'an, the Han family declared independence, and Cao Chongjin was the king of Wei, and then Cao Pi was not satisfied, and he also claimed the king of Luoyang.

The Wei army also fell apart because of this move, and Cao Zhi, the Marquis of Juancheng, occupied the boundary of Yanzhou, intending to assassinate the history of Yangzhou, but extended an olive branch to Wen Hui in Tunzha in Xuzhou; But Wen Hui didn't pay attention, and before the real King Wei appeared, he chose to wait and see.

Zhang Liao, the governor of Jizhou, and others were feeling a headache for Cao Zhang's trouble, and I heard that he went to find Liang Xi to assassinate Shi Liang Xi in Bingzhou again, and there was no other way to blackmail him than to blackmail himself; However, Liang Xi, the assassin of Bingzhou, is quite good at managing ethnic contradictions, and the Southern Xiongnu and Xianbei all respect him, but they are afraid that Cao Zhang's wishful thinking will be empty again.

Cao Zhangben was a reckless man, but he was afraid that he would really attract Kebi Nengshan Yu of the Xianbei tribe and Huchuquan Shan Yu of the Southern Xiongnu to attack Jizhou; Although Zhang Liao was extremely disgusted with such behavior, he did not dare to underestimate these two tribes, so he had no time to care about who was the real King of Wei.

Although Cao Pi was supported by Cao Ren of Jingbei, Zhong Xuan of Si Li'an, and Zhang Ji of the Liangzhou Thorn History Department, his position was extremely embarrassing; He is Liu Bei to the west, Cao Zhi to the east, and "Cao Chong" to the south, so he is the most dangerous.

However, Cao Pi was not flustered, he knew that Liu Bei was a difficult bone to gnaw, his father had never been able to gnaw through it in his life, and he could not destroy it for a while. So he set his sights on Cao Zhi in Yanzhou first, and after Cao Zhi was eliminated, he would be able to connect Jizhou and Xuzhou, and then he would be able to recover the "lost territory" logically.

However, what surprised him was that in the middle of the twelfth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei suddenly announced that he was going to attack Cao Pi in the north!

The news of Liu Bei's Northern Expedition is not groundless, and the most important thing is that Liu Bei moved out of the edict of the Son of Heaven! The Son of Heaven enshrined Liu Bei as the Great Sima, worshiped the Duke of Shu from afar, and was the second Duke of the Han Dynasty after Cao Cao. Prior to this, there were no dukes in the Han Dynasty, only princes and marquises.

Liu Xie's intention is undoubtedly to give Liu Bei a capital on an equal footing with Cao Pi and others, so that he can rightfully enter the king of Beijing Qin. Liu Xie is not a fool, Liu Bei is not a knife to be used by others, you only seal him a big Sima, how can he come to help you?

In the temporary state capital of Hanzhong, Liu Bei looked at the newly presented military book and frowned, Fa Zheng waited aside, and said softly: "Duke Shu, this is the roster of recruits, a total of more than 15,300 people, if you add the existing soldiers and horses in Shuzhong, a total of more than 52,000 soldiers and horses, only more than 3,000 horses left by Ma Chao before leaving, 30,000 pairs of swords, 8,000 crossbows......

Fa is just like the main book in front of Liu Bei to introduce the existing equipment in Shuzhong one by one, I have to say that Liu Bei's family background is quite shabby, I am afraid that the Cao family is divided into four points, and Liu Bei's family background is only one-third of Cao Pi's.

Liu Bei also knew that his family background was weak, not to mention that with the new recruits, he didn't even have enough weapons! Could it be that he couldn't go to the Northern Expedition with a hoe and sickle? He is a prince, not a militiaman!

"Can the Shi clan send someone over there?"

No matter where in China, the scholars were the most important force, especially during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties; Before Liu Bei came, Liu Yan and Liu Zhang's father and son were the biggest heroes in Yizhou, and when they left, Liu Bei was weak and could only seek help from Haoqiang.

Fa Zheng shook his head helplessly, and said bitterly: "Duke Shu, those warrior heroes of the Northern Expedition didn't agree with it, how could they provide us with weapons and equipment?" I'm afraid that they can't wait for me to retreat now! ”

"The Son of Heaven has a request, I can't wait!" Liu Bei said quite firmly, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Why don't you see Shiyuan?" ”

Fa Zheng replied: "My subordinates are about to talk about it, Mr. Pang went out of Yangping Pass half a month ago, and I was asked to hide this matter from the lord, but it has been so long, and I don't dare to hide it, I'm just afraid of ......."

"I'm afraid that Shi Yuan will go to Cao Pi?" Liu Bei smiled indifferently.

"The subordinates don't dare to say anything, but I really don't know what Mr. Pang has done when he gets out of the customs!"

But Fa Zheng was confused, but Liu Bei was not confused at all, and said: "Filial piety, Shi Yuan has followed me since Jingzhou, and now I am in trouble, how can he carry me?" ”

Fa Zheng hurriedly bowed: "Subordinates should be damned!" ”

Liu Bei shook his head, got up slowly, and said, "I already know where Shi Yuan went. ”

Fa Zheng looked at Liu Bei in confusion.

Liu Bei walked to the front of the map, looked thoughtfully at the map of northern Yizhou, nodded a little, and said, "He went to Liangzhou...... The land of Qianghu! ”

"The land of Qianghu?" Fa Zheng stood up abruptly, quickly followed behind Liu Bei, and looked at the place Liu Bei pointed to - Bird and Mouse Mountain in Longxi County, west of Liangzhou.

The Qiang people were originally the common ancestors of the Chinese people, but they were rejected by the Han people at some point, so that they were forced to Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu and other places. There are Qiang people stationed in Liangzhou and Yizhou, but most of them are Qiang people who belong to the agricultural civilization.

To the west of Liangzhou, there were various Qiang tribes, whose ruling range extended beyond the border of the Han Dynasty, forming an extremely powerful Qiang state. When Ma Teng and Ma Chao were in Liangzhou, these Qiang people were afraid of the Ma family and did not dare to make a mistake, and as soon as the Ma family was destroyed, they began to be presumptuous again.

Liangzhou is now Cao Cao's territory, but there are still many places that the Cao family cannot reach, especially Longxi and Xiping; And these two places happen to be where the Qiang country is located.

The Qiang people have gradually integrated into the Han society since they were defeated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but the biggest headache for the Han Dynasty is the capriciousness of the Qiang people; Now that the Qiang people have become independent from Liangzhou, this is confirmed.

"Bird and Mouse Mountain is the main base of the Qiang people, if Shi Yuan really goes to Liangzhou, then he must go to Bird and Mouse Mountain!" Liu Bei nodded with great confirmation.

"Why is that?" I still don't understand the issuance of certificates.

Liu Bei liked this kind of feeling that his subordinates didn't know and had to rely on his own explanation, so he carefully analyzed: "Our army lacks weapons, manpower, grain and grass, and if there is no strategy in the battle with Cao Pi, it will be difficult to win!" Shi Yuan knew what was at stake, so he went to the Qiang Kingdom to find reinforcements to deal with Cao Pi! If what I expected is correct, Shi Yuan is already on his way back at this moment! ”

Liu Bei's expectations were not bad, three days later, Pang Tong returned to Hanzhong safely, and the place he went to was the same as Liu Bei expected, it was Bird and Mouse Mountain!

Fa Zheng couldn't help but sigh: "The lord is really clever!" ”

Liu Bei smiled and waved his hand, and asked Pang Tong, "Shiyuan, have you ever obtained Qianghu reinforcements?" ”

Pang Tong replied: "Duke of Shu, the king of the Qiang tribe, Cheriji, heard that we were on the orders of the Son of Heaven of the Han Dynasty to crusade against the traitors, and immediately ordered Marshal Yue Ji and Prime Minister Yadan to lead 50,000 troops to come to the rescue!" I'll just give them a little gold, silver and silk later!" ”

"Wonderful, wonderful! Shiyuan is worthy of being a phoenix, and we don't have to worry about this Northern Expedition! ”

Fa Zheng said: "I don't know if the lord has a military strategy? ”

Liu Bei nodded: "Chang'an is guarded by Zhong Xuan, and the capital of the former Han Dynasty, there must be heavy troops, we can't attack it!" Therefore, we can make the soldiers and horses of the Xiqiang State work with our soldiers and horses, first take Tianshui, settle the two counties, and then take Wuwei, and after stabilizing the situation in Liangzhou, we will raise the troops of the two states to attack Chang'an! ”

Fa Zheng nodded: "After taking Wuwei, we can contact many tribes in the Western Regions and trade through the Silk Road; Shuzhong is tired, with such a road can promote Shuzhong commerce, and Liangzhou Thomas, we can Xing cavalry, from the Hetao Plain deep into the state, Cao Pi wrapped in the bag! ”

Liu Bei looked at the map of Liangzhou with a smile, and seemed to have begun to fantasize about that bright future......

"Cao Cao, it's a pity that you died...... Your son can't afford to be yours at all! ”