It turned out that after Cao Cao took Liu Xie to Puyang, he proclaimed himself prime minister, and asked Liu Xie to issue an edict appointing Yuan Shao as the general and Yuan Shu as the great Sima. Yuan Shao received the edict and saw that Cao Cao's position was above him, so he was not angry and convened a civil and military plan.

Yan Liang, the general under Yuan Shao, arched his hand and said: "Cao Cao's puppet dares to steal the top position. The last general is not talented, and he is willing to lead an army of 100,000 people, set foot in Puyang, and capture Apu! ”

"General Yan bravely crowned the three armies, and ten thousand people were invincible, but Cao Cao now occupies most of Qing, Yan'er Prefecture and Yuzhou, and his strength should not be underestimated, so he should be cautious." The judge waved his hand and offered advice, "Cao Cao has always been short of money and food, and the last sneak attack on Xiangyang was a big defeat, and it is even more difficult to support the hundred officials of the imperial court. ”

Yuan Shao listened to the plan of the trial, and sure enough, he repaired a book and sent someone to Puyang, but was scolded by Cao Cao and rushed back.

The last time Dong Zhuo abolished Liu Zhi and established Liu Xie, Yuan Shao once wanted to support Youzhou Mu Liu Yu as the emperor, but at that time, Liu Yu's power had been seized by Gongsun Zhan, and he did not dare to accept it, and it didn't take long for Liu Yu to be killed by Gongsun Zhan. Now, Gongsun Zhan has been destroyed by him, annexed the three states of Hebei, He, and You, and got the help of the Xiongnu and Wuheng, and his strength is far above Cao Cao, and how can he be willing to succumb to Cao Cao.

Knowing that Cao Cao refused to hand over Liu Xie, Yuan Shao was furious, and summoned the subordinate Wenwu to discuss the establishment of a new king. In fact, everyone knows that what Yuan Shao wants to set up is just a puppet. It just so happened that Liu Biao, a native of Shanyang, was also a relative of the Han family, and he had always been good friends with Yuan Shao, and fled in Jizhou to avoid trouble. So, everyone proposed to support Liu Biao as the emperor, and Liu Biao actually agreed.

Listening to the explanation of the situation, Liu Xin naturally remembered that he occupied Jingzhou, which belonged to Liu Biao, and accepted Cai Jue, who was supposed to marry Liu Biao, but instead fulfilled Liu Biao as the emperor, he didn't feel funny, and said to Fu Zhu: "Gonghe, he calls him emperor, and he doesn't care what he does." ”

Frustrated with a worried face, he said: "The lord of Qiyu, the fourth and third princes of the Yuan family, the protégés and former officials are all over the world, and Liu Biao is famous. Now Yuan Shao supports Liu Biao, and there are many obstacles to the great cause of the lord to dominate the world. ”

In fact, the original intention of frustration was to persuade Liu Xin to take this opportunity to take the throne of the emperor, but seeing that Liu Xin did not take the matter of Liu Biao as emperor to heart at all, the words retracted when they came to his mouth.

Liu Xin said with a smile: "There are no two days in the sky, and there are no two monarchs in the country." Now, Cao Cao supports Liu Xie, Yuan Shao supports Liu Biao, the two are like fire and water, and sooner or later there will be a battle. From Liu's point of view, Cao Yuan and the two are evenly matched, and if they go to war, it will be a protracted tug-of-war. What is there to be sad about? ”

Frustrated and said: "If it is as the lord said, the Cao and Yuan families start a war, they can use this opportunity to wipe them out!" Liu Xin said with a smile: "Gonghe, what the policy is most afraid of is to change the order at night, since I have set the general direction of rest and recuperation, I will not use the sword lightly." No matter what Cao Cao and Yuan Shao do, I will only respond to all changes with the same, and let him go for the time being. The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and I'm very worried about the situation over there. ”

Fu Zhu said: "General Zhang and Tao Qian's Mi Zhu and Cao Bao are all very happy, there should be no danger for the time being, but there are some difficulties in transmitting information. And those soldiers have been uprooted from their hometowns for many years, and it is inevitable that they will be resentful, so it is better to transfer them back to Xiangyang for a short rest, and dare to ask the lord what is going on? ”

In fact, Liu Xin is most worried about Xuzhou, because there is Liu Bei in Xuzhou. Liu Xin knew that Liu Bei was very resilient, don't look at him doing nothing now, as long as he was given a little chance, maybe he would be able to turn over, just for this, Liu Xin was not willing to transfer Zhang Liao and the 5,000 soldiers back to Xiangyang.

However, what he said was also very reasonable, comparing his heart to his heart, he had been fighting outside for a few months, and he still missed his wife and children at home, not to mention that these soldiers had been outside for more than two years, and he couldn't help but groan and asked: "How is Li Ming's carrier pigeon trained?" ”

Frustration said to him: "Back to the lord, my subordinates went there a few days ago, and there are not many carrier pigeons that can be used at present, only about ten or so, if it is two or three years later, there will be a large number of carrier pigeons that can be put into use." At that time, not only between the army, but also the Phantom Spy can easily transmit information. ”

"Don't pin all your hopes on carrier pigeons, after all, pigeons will encounter all kinds of situations during the flight, and they may also be intercepted by the enemy." Liu Xin said with a smile, "However, with these dozen carrier pigeons, it is convenient to communicate with Wenyuan, but I don't know how to transport these carrier pigeons to Xuzhou?" ”

Frustrated said: "This matter is not difficult, Han Yin has been in Xiangyang for more than a month, and he wants to ask to see the lord and rebuild the old good." The lord can pretend to agree to Yuan Shu's request, and put forward other conditions to ensure that the road between Jing and Xu is unblocked, so that there will be no problem. ”

Liu Xin thought for a while and said: "Okay, Han Yin, I will be gone, this matter is left to you with full responsibility, you must ensure that there is no impeded flow with Xuzhou, and realize the regular rotation of the troops stationed in Xuzhou." ”

Frustration's concerns were not unfounded, but the situation in Xuzhou was far less serious than he thought. Homesickness was inevitable for these soldiers who had been away from home for a long time, but when he was in Jingzhou, Liu Xin often asked the army to use the training interval to help the common people work. Therefore, the relationship between these soldiers and the local people is very harmonious, and they also feel a little at home. The only problem is that these soldiers are very young and strong-blooded, and strict military discipline prohibits them from entering places like the Qinglou, and the night time is always a little difficult.

In the Jingzhou Army tent outside Xuzhou City, Zhang Liao's brows furrowed into the word "Sichuan", and another file was placed in front of him. Last night, two soldiers, unable to bear the loneliness, stole out of the barracks and had a tryst with a girl from a neighboring village. It is also thanks to the fact that they are usually very helpful to the people around them, and they did not resist when they were discovered, so they were not beaten to death by people. This is the third such incident that has occurred this year, and according to military regulations, they should be beheaded, but Zhang Liao is a little unable to do it, and the local people also take the initiative to intercede for them, so Zhang Liao has to temporarily imprison them.

Suddenly, a personal soldier came to report that General Gao Shun had come from Xiangyang.

Zhang Liao and Gao Shun had met when they were in Luoyang, and the two could be regarded as old friends.

It turned out that the negotiations between Fu Zhu and Han Yin went very smoothly, Han Yin accepted Liu Xin's conditions almost entirely, the two sides signed an offensive and defensive alliance again, and Yuan Shu also opened the road to Xuzhou to Liu Xin, allowing Liu Xin's army to pass freely. Therefore, Liu Xin first reorganized the Fourth Army Corps, appointed Zhang Liao as the commander of the corps, Gao Shun as the deputy commander, and Gao Shun led 5,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry to Xuzhou to replace Zhang Liao. And Liu Xin also stipulated that such a rotation will be carried out once a year in the future. This rotation of the army also laid the foundation for the establishment of the rotation system of the Han army stationed abroad in the future.

For the arrival of Gao Shun, Zhang Liao was naturally very happy, although the one-year rotation cycle was not short, but it was within the range that the soldiers could bear, knowing that he would be able to leave Xuzhou and return to his hometown immediately, the soldiers in the barracks were excited, and their morale was greatly boosted for a while.

Suddenly there was an army outside Xuzhou, and the news spread into the city, and Tao Qian hurriedly convened a civil and military plan.

Mi Zhu arched his hand and said: "Lord Qiqi, my subordinates think that it is precisely because the Jingzhou army is stationed here that Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, Liu Miao and others dare not act rashly. If the lord does not believe it, his subordinates are willing to go to the Jingzhou military camp in person to find out! ”

The civil and military ministers of Xuzhou often accepted Zhang Liao's invitations and gifts on weekdays, and they were soft in their mouths and soft in their hands, although they were also a little suspicious of the purpose of the transfer of the Jingzhou army, but they all chose to remain silent.

Tao Qian knew that Mi Zhu had married his sister Xu to Zhang Liao, and he was worried that he had different intentions, so he couldn't help but turn to Chen Deng and ask, "Yuanlong, what do you think about this matter?" ”

Chen Deng has also received a lot of benefits from Zhang Liao, he is not a greedy person, but there are two things that he can't refuse. One is that he has been weak since he was a child, and later Hua Tuo passed by here to help him heal, and recently he had some relapses, it was Zhang Qing who helped him take care of it, so he naturally owed Liu Xin a big favor. The second is that the items sent by Zhang Liao are not gold, silver and jewelry, but a batch of classics printed on Xiang paper and bound into a book, not to mention in Xuzhou, even in Xiangyang, which can not be bought with money.

Because of this, Chen Deng kept his head down and kept silent, and now when he heard Tao Qian ask him, he knew that he couldn't hide, so he had to bite the bullet and say: "Back to the lord, the Jingzhou army swept through Xiliang, Wei Zhenyu, if he wants to attack Xuzhou, he can make a big splash, is there any need to spend these weeks?" ”

Tao Qian hesitated, but still said, "Zizhong, then please go and investigate." ”

In fact, Mi Zhu was also a little weak-hearted, and he didn't know what Liu Xin's intention was to suddenly increase his troops in Xuzhou, so he got Tao Qian's order and hurried home, wanting to prepare some gifts to go to the Jingzhou military camp outside the city, but he heard the doorman say: "Master, General Zhang and another general have been waiting in the house for a long time." ”

Mi Zhu didn't expect Zhang Liao to take the initiative to come to the door, and he was quite surprised, but the worried heart was put upside down, which showed that the Jingzhou army came this time without malice.

Zhang Liao was already alone, and his hometown was in Bingzhou, so it didn't matter if he returned to Xiangyang or not. However, since Liu Xin gave the order, he did not dare to disobey it, so he brought Gao Shun to visit Mifu, which could be regarded as threading the needle for his future contacts in Xuzhou.

As soon as he saw Mi Zhu coming in, Zhang Liao hurriedly got up and said, "Brother Zizhong, I'll introduce you to someone." ”