Liu Beijun, who had finalized the alliance with Eastern Wu, continued south along the Han River, but this time the destination was no longer Xiakou, but Fankou further east. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info This is a change proposed by Lu Su and after discussion by Ma Tan and Liu Bei. Compared to Xiakou, Fankou has a larger city, a better equipped port, and it is also more easterly. It is closer to Koto, and it is naturally easier to get Jiangdong's support in this situation.

"We'll be in Fankou about tomorrow. Is Zijing going to leave at that time? Liu Bei asked, with a thick reluctance hidden in his tone. Somehow, he fell in love with Lu Su very much, and for a few days, he was face to face with Lu Su. For Liu Bei, Lu Su is a confidant figure. Liu Bei always found that the two of them had a striking similarity in their views on certain things. It makes them get along very well. When Lu Su decided to return to Jiangdong by boat as soon as he arrived in Fankou, he reported the situation to his lord. Liu Bei was a little reluctant. Although he also knew that this was a very necessary thing, the emotions in his heart could not be suppressed. He decided to give Lu Su a trip.

It's just a humble meal. There are only three people in total: Liu Bei, Ma Tan and Lu Su. The location is in Liu Bei's own warehouse. Lu Su sat opposite Liu Bei, accompanied by Liu Bei's young military advisor Ma Yan. A pot of turbid wine and a few plates of side dishes are all there is to this feast. Despite the simplicity, a few people don't value these things, they only value each other's words.

"That's right." Lu Su nodded heavily, then looked at Liu Bei's reluctant face, and persuaded him with relief: "Xuande Gong doesn't have to be too reluctant, in the future, your two armies will form an alliance, and this day of meeting each other, are you afraid of less?" When it comes, I have to come to talk to you often. At that time, I hope that Xuande Gong will not trouble me. ”

"How can it?" Liu Bei shook his head and chuckled when he heard Lu Su say this. The dull atmosphere before parting didn't feel much lighter in this smile.

After laughing for a while, Liu Bei suddenly had a proposal: "I wonder if you want to let you accompany you on a trip?" ”

"Come with me? Why is that? Lu Su didn't understand this. He felt that Liu Bei's proposal was really a little weird.

"There are many people in Koto, and there are many different ideas. Although Zijing and I had a good conversation, it was hard to guarantee that others would be like Zijing. Some things can't be solved in a few words, and if someone blames them, Zi Jingzi also needs someone to help testify. Thinking about it this way, if we want to ensure the success of the alliance between us, it is very necessary to have someone from my side go with Zijing. And under me, I said that the young man who is full of scheming and sharp words is the first, and let him accompany you, but I am very relieved. Liu Bei explained with a smile. In terms of his current situation, he urgently needed the help of an ally like Sun Quan, because he valued this matter very much.

"So...... And it is. Lu Su pondered slightly, and also recognized Liu Bei's idea: "Thank you Xuande Gong for that." ”

"I can't say thank you. Because of this, it can be regarded as helping myself. Liu Bei waved his hand and said humbly.

"Hehe......" Lu Su just chuckled.

While he was talking, suddenly a soldier outside the door came to report: "Lord Qi, a large number of warships have appeared ahead!" ”

"What?" As soon as the soldier's words came out, the three people in the room couldn't help but be stunned.

"All the soldiers and horses in Jiangxia are already here, so what ......will be the soldiers and horses that appear here?" Liu Bei, who had been driven to Jiangling by Cao Cao for a few days, was already a little rumored at the moment, and as soon as he heard that an unknown force appeared in front of him, he first suspected whether it was an enemy. However, he still glanced at Lu Su first.

"It won't be our soldiers." Lu Su shook his head with a wry smile: "Say something that is not afraid of Xuande Gong's jokes." In fact, whether to fight with Cao Cao or not, this has not yet been decided in our Jiangdong. There are also people on our side who want to surrender to Cao Cao directly. It's just that our lord is not Liu Cong. ”

"Not from Jiangxia, not from Jiangdong? Could it be Cao Cao's soldiers and horses? Liu Bei's eyes widened suddenly, and he looked at the soldier fiercely: "Didn't you say that Cao Cao's soldiers and horses are still being rectified in Jiangling?" ”

"This ......" The soldier was frightened by Liu Bei's glare.

"Where did these people come from?" Compared with the astonishment of the two, Ma Jian seemed calm, and he opened his mouth to inquire about the situation in front of him.

"From the east, downstream of the river." The soldier replied cautiously.

"Could it be that the east side of the river is really the Jiangdong Army?" Hearing this news, even Lu Su couldn't help but be a little suspicious. But he immediately shook his head again: "The nearest Jiangdong soldier and horse from here is Zhou Yu's Poyang Lake Water Army, and he will definitely not march without receiving the order of the sovereign. Therefore, the people here are definitely not the people of Koto. ”

"Who could that be?" Hearing Lu Su's denial so affirmatively, Liu Bei couldn't help but feel worried.

At this time, Zhao Yun's voice sounded outside the cabin: "Xuande Gong, Zilong asks to see." ”

"Oh, it's Zilong." Liu Bei pulled the cabin open, with a faint smile on his face. For Zhao Yun, he is polite and respectful, but when it comes to intimacy, he doesn't treat him like before. After all, for Liu Bei, he was let down by Zhao Yun, although on the surface, Liu Bei never made any anger at Zhao Yun's disappointment, but in his heart he still had a thorn in it.

Regarding Liu Bei's various things, Zhao Yunzi also saw it in his eyes. But he was also helpless and had no choice, and for reasons such as avoiding suspicion, he rarely came to Liu Bei. For most of the time he was on the ship, he was with his men. Right now, it was the first time he had met Liu Bei since he got on the boat.

Relatively speechless, there was always something wrong in the hearts of the two. They looked at each other a few times, and then they remembered what they were doing.

"Unknown Zilong is here?" Liu Bei asked with a warm smile.

"My lord is already waiting in front, and he wants to see Lord Xuande." Zhao Yun asked Liu Bei a person, bowed down and said.

"Huh?" Hearing Zhao Yun say this, Liu Bei, who had been busy entertaining Lu Su in the past few days, remembered that Zhao Yun had reported to him before about Li Sheng would bring troops to help him. "Where are you now?" The memory came up, and the smile on Liu Bei's face became more cordial. At this time, he was very concerned about any force that could help him against Cao Cao. In his opinion, even a few thousand more troops are good, not to mention that Li Sheng's Changsha is known as the second place in Jingzhou.

"My father-in-law is right in front." Zhao Yun happily reported. He had already heard that his lord had brought his sister over this time. He was so happy that they hadn't seen each other in years.

"Ahead? Isn't there a fleet in front that doesn't know what to call it? Could it be ......" Liu Bei and Lu Su glanced at each other in unison, and saw a slight hint of shock from the other party: "A large number of warships, the number of them must reach hundreds to be considered a large number." When did such a force still exist on the Jingzhou side? ”

Since such a new situation has emerged, and Li Sheng is not an enemy, Liu Bei and Lu Su naturally want to see the situation on the other side with their own eyes. They let Zhao Yun lead in front, and just like that, they got on the lookout at the front of the warship. The cool autumn breeze blew from behind, causing the people standing on the lookout to shrink their necks involuntarily. It is indeed much colder on the river than on the land.

At this moment, it was noon, and the scorching sun, which felt still scorching on the land, seemed to become much softer on the river, and its oblique rush to the south came from the illumination, so that the people who stayed in the cabin all day and night really felt a little warm and comfortable.

Visibility is good at the moment, standing on a high lookout, with an open field of vision that encompasses the range of tens of miles ahead. Liu Bei and the others could clearly see the scale of the team opposite.

Perhaps because he did not want to be hostile to his side, the fleet on that side had already stopped about a mile and a half away from him, and the hull of the ship was lined there. They were lined up in one side, and the big ships that slipped outside left the small boats at the back of the line. Between the whole shape, the big boat and the small boat are staggered together, giving people a sense of tightness. It can be seen that the person who commanded this fleet was an extraordinary person who was good at water warfare.

Because they are really a little far apart, and the wind on the river is strong at the moment, the communication between them cannot be carried out in words. Although someone on the other side has been saying something loudly, Liu Bei can't hear it very clearly. He could only tell from a distance from the flag set up by the faction on the opposite battleship that it belonged to Li Sheng's fleet.

"Is it really Li Shengjun?" Lu Su asked Liu Bei with concern. Because he was not a general at the front, Lu Su was not very clear about the strength of this young Taishou in Changsha. He only vaguely heard from Zhou Yu that when he attacked Jiangxia on his side at the beginning of this year, it seemed that the partial division that had restrained the Changsha Navy all the way was defeated by this Changsha Taishou. However, it really didn't matter, because the scale of the battle on both sides was not large, and neither side had more than a hundred warships.

Because of the small scale, Jiangdong did not pay much attention to Changsha. “…… If Changsha had such a large scale at the beginning of the year, then I'm afraid Jiangdong would not have been so indifferent to this place. They will definitely investigate everything about Li Sheng lightly, and they will not give themselves only one sentence like now, 'Outstanding ability, but few troops, it is better to accept it.' Lu Su thought depressedly, but his eyes looked at Liu Bei blankly.

"I guess so. I'm not sure either, though. Liu Bei said with a wry smile.

"Why?" Lu Su was curious.

"I heard that Su Fei, the general of the Jiangling Navy, led 20,000 or 30,000 people to join Li Sheng when Cao Cao arrived. I thought it would be quite costly for Li Sheng to completely take these two or thirty thousand sailors for his own use, but I don't want to ......" Liu Bei shook his head slightly, trying to squeeze out a smile on his face, "But no matter what, they seem to be here to help us." It's always good to have more troops. ”

"Is that so?" Lu Su muttered softly, looking at Liu Bei's gaze inexplicably aware of something.

In any case, since Li Shengjun, who had no hostility towards him, had already come here, it was very necessary for him to meet them. Although Liu Bei felt that Li Sheng, whose power had swelled to such a scale, might change in some aspects than before, for now, he still welcomed Li Sheng's arrival.

A small boat was released from the ship here, carrying Zhao Yun and Jian Yong, who had been temporarily selected as the envoy, rushed to the opposite place, and after a while they brought back three people: one with a focused expression and dressed in a brocade robe, it was Li Sheng, the Taishou of Changsha, whom he had not seen for several years; A handsome face with fluttering feather fans, but it is Li Sheng's military advisor Zhuge Liang; The last one is a young woman dressed as a military general, closely attached to Li Sheng's side, but from time to time talking to Zhao Yun behind her - she Liu Bei has never seen it, but judging from her performance, Liu Bei guessed that she was Zhao Yun's sister, and now she has become the Zhao Yun of Li Sheng's wife.

"Is it because of this woman that Zilong left?" Thinking of this, Liu Bei's heart ached, and his eyes when he looked at Zhao Yun changed slightly. At this moment, Lu Su, who happened to be beside him, opened his mouth and asked, "I don't know why this Li Sheng Taishou still has a woman here." He responded in a vicious manner: "I heard that our Li Taishou is a person who pities the fragrance and cherishes the jade." ”

"How can this be a big deal?" Lu Su heard Liu Bei say this, and he was a little unimpressed with Li Sheng's arrival.

Just as the two were talking, the boat carrying Li Sheng had already turned back. Li Sheng boarded the boat from the side chord of the ship, while Liu Bei walked down from the lookout on this side. Just like when he entertained Lu Su, Liu Bei also put a solemn specification on Li Sheng this time, although the etiquette arrived, but the intimacy was much less than before.

Li Sheng sat opposite Liu Bei, and behind him sat in a fan shape Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang, faintly forming an equal posture with Liu Bei above. Li Sheng looked at the person sitting in the depths from afar, and that feeling of estrangement once again used in his heart. Liu Bei's place was a few steps higher than the place where he stayed, which made him have to look up slightly, giving him the feeling of a courtier facing the monarch.

This feeling made Li Sheng very unhappy, and he swayed his body timidly, as if he wanted to use such a move to break free from the wrongness in his body. This is a normal thing in his own opinion, after all, he is used to being a "king" in Changsha, and he has never regarded others as his own monarch. But making such an "unbearable" move in front of everyone was rude in the eyes of Liu Bei, Lu Su and other outsiders. Liu Bei said that his face was still calm, but Lu Su frowned slightly. He is not familiar with Li Sheng, so naturally he can't tolerate Li Sheng's faux pas.

Lu Su's expression Li Sheng didn't care much, but Zhuge Liang, who was behind Li Sheng, didn't take all this seriously at all, and he naturally knew that his lord's performance was rude in the eyes of others. Although he has been influenced by Li Sheng in the past few years, he also thinks that this is not a big deal, but seeing that Lu Su frowned, he felt that he just seemed to remind Li Sheng.

"Ahem...... Lord, very good, very good. Zhuge Liang reminded in a low voice behind Li Sheng. Although he did not explain the specific reason, Zhuge Liang believed that Li Sheng should understand what he meant. After all, the tacit understanding between the two has been cultivated in the past ten years. Don't say more, Li Sheng will know Zhuge Liang's thoughts, and Zhuge Liang also has a full understanding of Li Sheng.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Sheng heard Zhuge Liang's whispered reminder, he quickly realized that he was not in Changsha City, which was completely dominated by himself, but was now on Liu Bei's ship, facing Liu Bei, who was still a prince on one side, and Lu Su, the representative of Sun Quan, who was still a prince on the other side. Regardless of the level of these two people, just looking at their identities there, they can't be as presumptuous as staying in Changsha City.

Thinking of this, Li Sheng involuntarily straightened up, and the person became dignified, and saluted to the two above very formally: "Changsha Taishou Li Sheng has seen Liu Qi's son, Lord Xuande, and Lord Lu Su. ”

"Lord Zixu has worked hard, and it is indeed not easy to come down the river from such a far place in Changsha." Liu Bei saw that Li Sheng was honestly rude to himself, and he wouldn't give him too much embarrassment, but he greeted him kindly, and then asked: "I don't know why Zi Xuxian's nephew is bringing so many troops here?" ”

"I heard that Uncle Xuande and Ti Bing fought with Cao Cao, so I used most of my soldiers and horses in Changsha to help in the battle." Li Sheng replied with a smile. His reasons are well-intentioned and reasonable.

"Zixu has a heart. It's just that I don't know if Zixu comes to me, what will happen to the land of Changsha? Now that Xiangyang has descended to Cao, if our army wants to compete with Cao Cao, Changsha's grain and grass will be particularly critical. Liu Bei kindly and politely reminded Li Sheng.

"Hehe......" Hearing Liu Bei say this, Li Sheng laughed out loud: "Uncle Xuande, don't be too careful. I have something to teach Uncle Xuande and Liu Qi right now. ”

"What's the matter?" Seeing Li Sheng smiling like that, Liu Bei and Liu Qi couldn't help but ask with concern.

"About ten days ago, Cao Cao sent a letter to Jingnan in the name of his second son, Liu Cong, ordering our Taishou of the four counties of Jingnan to surrender to Cao Cao. Of course, neither Lord Liu Qi nor I agreed to this, but Liu Du of Lingling in Jingnan and Zhao Fan of Guiyang both chose to give in to Cao Cao's surrender order. Of course, this was a betrayal for us, so I mobilized my troops and horses in Changsha, and together with Lord Liu Qi, it took five days to attack the two counties of Lingling and Guiyang, and regain the control of the two counties under our control. Right now, the four counties of Jingnan are all stable, and there are no more enemies, so I can do my best to help Lord Xuande exterminate the Cao thief. Li Sheng said with a smile.

"What?" Li Sheng's words were quickly decomposed by them in the ears of everyone. As strong people in troubled times, they naturally will not easily believe Li Sheng's so-called "can help Lord Xuande to suppress thieves" and other words. In their opinion, these, even if true, are things that need to be discussed later. As for now, they are more concerned about the kind of strength that Li Sheng has shown: it is not impossible for them to capture the two counties in five days, but it is also relatively difficult, and the premeditation during this period should have been predetermined, and judging from Li Sheng's original situation, it is impossible to achieve this goal. But now, this so-called impossibility has turned into a fact that has already happened, and it is in the eyes of Liu Bei and others. Of course Liu Bei and the others would not think that there was a so-called immortal helping Li Sheng. Their idea is that Li Sheng has been preparing for many years in secret, and he seems to have had ambitions for Liu Biao and Jingzhou very early, so he has integrated a large number of forces under the surface, so this is why such a thing will happen.

"Zixu's troops are really strong. We can't do anything like that. Liu Bei said as if sighing and praise, and his gaze at Li Sheng also became different at this moment: "Since Zixu has such strength, I don't know how much power can be used to help us exterminate the Cao thief at this moment." Liu Bei cautiously probed.

"Hmm. Since the new territory will still need some troops to garrison, I can't send too many troops. Well...... With 30,000 sailors and 30,000 infantry, I think this is the most I can produce at the moment. Li Sheng held his chin and frowned, thought for a while and said. He seemed to be a little embarrassed, perhaps in his opinion, this did not seem to be able to compete with Cao Cao.

"Ah......?" Three exclamations rang out above the cabin. "Drink ......," a cold inhalation echoed the surprise of the three people above. Liu Bei, Liu Qi, and Lu Su looked at each other, and they couldn't imagine that Li Sheng's so-called all-out assistance would actually send such a powerful military force to him.

"That...... Zixu, are you true? Do you really have so many soldiers? Lu Su's eyes widened, and he was very rude, and he also called Li Shenglai like Liu Bei. With such reinforcements, no one can keep their faces calm. They looked at Li Sheng's eyes and seemed to become much hotter all of a sudden.

"This is true......" Li Sheng didn't speak, but Zhuge Liang behind him picked up: "At the beginning, there were many displaced people in the south, and in order to take in and manage these people, my lord built several large dock forts in the suburbs of Changsha to store grain. meantime

, several food protection teams have been formed. With the idea that everything must develop to perfection, these guards are trained to the standards of regular soldiers. Now, since there is a time when a large number of troops need to be used, I have transformed these food guards into regular troops. So there were 50,000 foot soldiers. As for the navy, it was the elite of Jiangling brought by General Su Fei, about 30,000. ”

"So you have a total of 80,000 soldiers and horses right now? In addition to the 60,000 people brought in, there are 20,000 people to defend, right? Liu Bei said, and then recalled that it didn't seem right: "It's still a bit of a problem." You brought so many ships, most of them big ships. At this scale, don't say it's 30,000, I'm afraid that 100,000 people can put it down, I don't know what's going on? ”

"It was borrowed from a merchant to get a merchant ship. I heard that Lord Xuande brought a lot of people from Xinye and Xiangyang. Now that Jiangxia is about to become a battlefield, it is obviously not suitable to place these people there, which will not only drag down the operation of our army, but also cause the lives of the people to suffer. Therefore, I want Lord Xuande to bring these people to Changsha and supply them with the food there. Li Sheng explained with a smile.

"That's right." Liu Bei's brows furrowed. To be honest, he now has a headache for the people who have come with him. It wasn't that he regretted bringing them to Jiangxia, but the fact that there was a shortage of food in front of him forced him to go a little crazy. Jiangxia has been in tatters because of the sweep of the Jiangdong Army at the beginning of the year, and there is even less food. Although Liu Qi has also made great efforts after becoming the Taishou of Jiangxia, and has collected a lot of grain, that bit of food is only enough for Liu Qijun and Liu Beijun's soldiers to eat for three months, and it is not enough for those people to share at all. This made Liu Bei very embarrassed. At this moment, he couldn't help but get excited when he heard that Li Sheng was willing to lead the people to Changsha like this. You know, this is what he has been looking forward to for a long time.

"Zixu has really worked hard." Liu Bei smiled with relief, his eyes bent into a crescent moon, and he said this to Li Sheng kindly, and his tone completely changed to the original state of being kind.

"You're welcome, it's what I should do to share the worries and solve problems for Uncle Xuande," Li Sheng said humbly.

"Hehe......" Liu Bei couldn't help but laugh happily when he heard Li Sheng say this. As he laughed, the atmosphere in the cabin softened a lot, and it wasn't as dull as it had been at first.

Everyone had said something, and they couldn't help but talk about the matter of the alliance that had been decided only a few days ago.

"My lord wants to form an alliance with the heroes of Jingxiang to fight against Cao Cao, I don't know what Zixu thinks about this?" Lu Su asked Li Sheng with a smile, and at this moment, his attitude towards Li Sheng became less domineering as Li Sheng's strength was displayed. Although he still has a little bit of a precept to Li Sheng because of what Liu Bei said earlier, this kind of precept is really not comparable to Li Sheng's usefulness. "Maybe a Jingzhou that is opposed by two people is more in line with the interests of our Jiangdong than a Jingzhou where only one force exists! Especially now that we in Jiangdong are not much likely to eat Jingzhou directly. Lu Su looked at Li Sheng below, thinking like this in his heart. At present, there is no war with Cao Cao, but he has already begun to consider the interests of Jingzhou after the war. Of course, these are things that cannot be directly stated at the moment. When everyone was there, he could only think about it like this.

"That's a good thing, of course. If it can be achieved, then after the breakthrough of Cao, Jiangdong, Cao Cao and Jingzhou, where we are located, will become a three-legged trend. This time, Li Sheng still didn't speak, and it was Zhuge Liang who was sitting behind him who answered in his place.

"Huh......? What a familiar sound. Lu Su finally noticed that the young man who had been staying behind Li Sheng was coming. Although this young man came in with Li Sheng, Lu Su didn't pay much attention to Li Sheng from the beginning, let alone pay attention to the people behind Li Sheng? Until now, until Lu Su paid attention to Li Sheng because of Li Sheng's strength, he paid attention to the person who directly answered Li Sheng's questions twice in a row.

Zhuge Liang was sitting behind Li Sheng, and it was naturally easy to see him from Lu Su's lofty angle. Right now, since Lu Su paid attention to him, his eyes naturally fell on him. For a while, the door of memory in his mind was opened, and Lu Su quickly remembered who this young man who came in with Li Sheng was. "Could it be that you are Ziyu's younger brother? Not only is the voice similar to Ziyu, but even the appearance. However, your face is not as long as Ziyu's. Lu Su looked at Zhuge Liang and said with a smile. As if he had met a friend, he walked down from above, and lightly grabbed Zhuge Liang's hand: "When I came, I was entrusted by Ziyu to come to you, but I didn't want you to be here." ”

"Because I'm Brother Zixu's military advisor." Zhuge Liang smiled and said as a matter of course: "I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Zhuge Liang." ”

"Huh? Why do you call Lord Zixu? Brother? Don't......? For Zhuge Liang's natural answer, Lu Su was a little confused.

"Brother Zixu is my uncle's righteous son, it's normal for me to call him that." Zhuge Liang said with a smile. He didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

"I see......" Lu Su nodded understandingly.