Qingzhou is intensively implementing the new policy, and the "Qingzhou Times", which has a circulation of more than 10,000 copies, has been waving the flag for Qingzhou's new policy for many years.

The princes of all walks of life were busy with each other's conquest and seizure of territory, and no one cared about the new policy of Qingzhou, but on the front page of the "Qingzhou Times" on January 5 of the second year of the first peace, an important news once again triggered a strong shock in the five northern states and the Jiangdong region, and the huge headline of the newspaper was: "Jizhou Mu Han Fu died, and the cause of death is confusing!" ”

The streets and alleys of Linzi are all hotly discussing Han Fu's death, and Liu Cun and his henchmen are no exception, and in the newly decorated Qingzhou Shogunate Conference Room, more than 30 Qingzhou civil and military officials are listening to the report of General Lu Pei, the director of military orders, and have a tense discussion about the changes in the current situation brought about by Han Fu's death.

General Cao Zhi, the state capital, was the first to stand up and speak:

"The strategists of the Han Wen Festival, Xun Chen, Xin Ping, Guo Tu and others bear unshirkable responsibility for the death of their lords...... These people openly instigated a large number of civil and military officials in Jizhou to join Yuan Shao's command in a grand manner, which is tantamount to proving to the world that Yuan Shao is the real culprit behind the death of Mr. Wenjie. ”

"Jizhou, which is thousands of miles of fertile fields, is connected to the mountains and rivers of my Qingzhou, which has a great impact on the security of my Qingzhou, and my Qingzhou cannot continue to be obscure, and stay out of the matter, we must express a clear attitude to the people of the world, otherwise it will be my Qingzhou that will be damaged."

Ji Wei's speech received a lot of support, and Wang Lie, the minister of state who made a special trip from Beihai to attend the meeting, immediately stood up to support Ji Wei and expressed his attitude towards Jizhou:

"Jizhou can't fall into Yuan Shao's pocket, otherwise it will definitely lead to a larger-scale war, although my Qingzhou is internally stable. But when the flames of war are ignited, they will be affected. ”

Later, Guan Ning, Guo Yuan, and Han Yang also expressed the same opinion, and Tai Shici and Xu Sheng represented the army generals. A request was made for the immediate dispatch of troops to occupy Qinghe County.

Liu Cun had a headache, this time was actually not the best time to send troops. Even if they send troops, they can only send troops to Yanzhou, and it is in the interests of Qingzhou to occupy Taishan County, where the Yellow Turban Army is entrenched, first.

Only by occupying Taishan County and completely eliminating the hidden danger of attack that may be suffered by the most developed areas of Qingzhou can we relax and seek Jizhou.

Gongsun Pei understood Liu Cun's difficulties, and took the initiative to stand up and analyze the Jizhou decisive battle between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan, which was about to break out, pointing out the force that could not be ignored by more than 100,000 Black Mountain Yellow Turban Army, as well as many possible variables, and then put forward the consensus that had already been reached with Liu Cun:

"My top priority in Qingzhou. It is not to participate in the struggle for the world, but to stabilize Laiwu and Pingyang (now Xintai City, Shandong), these two county towns arranged from north to south, connected to Linzi in the north and Mengyin in the south, and it is very dangerous to rely on General Zhang Rao's Fifth Division to garrison alone. ”

"Once our army clashes with any of the Yellow Turban armies in the north and south, the Taishan Yellow Turban Army, which has reached a verbal agreement before, is likely to turn against each other, and the three important cities we have just arrived in will lose their security. It also means losing the world's largest iron ore area and the supply of ceramic raw materials. ”

"Secondly, the envoy sent by the lord is still on the way to Chang'an, and we have no excuse to send troops to Jizhou before the imperial court appointment comes down. Otherwise, not only will the contradiction between him and Yuan Shao break out openly, but he will also offend Gongsun Zan in Youzhou! ”

"Think about it. Now that I am sending troops from Qingzhou, who should Jizhou fight? If the lord declares his opposition to Yuan Shao's plot to seize Jizhou, what will happen to the situation in Jizhou? If Gongsun Chan completely occupies Jizhou. What are the pros and cons for my Qingzhou? ”

"Until we think through these issues, we must maintain the established strategy of waiting for the fighter planes. Patiently wait for the Jizhou battle to be won or lost, and wait for the decree of the court and the saint! ”

Gongsun Pei's speech had an immediate effect, and the civil and military officials, who were carried away by anger and enthusiasm, began to calm down, thinking about the series of questions raised by Gongsun Pei, and the more they thought about it, the more they felt that Gongsun Pei was reasonable.

Liu Cun stood up and expressed his attitude: "Everyone, you can't get involved in Jizhou in the near future, the reason should be thought of by everyone, the only feasible thing is to take advantage of the lack of leaders in Yanzhou to take Taishan County and Jibei Kingdom as soon as possible, no matter who will serve as the assassin of Yanzhou after taking it, we will take the initiative." ”

Speaking of this, Liu Cun walked to the high platform in front of him, motioned for several soldiers to open the curtain, picked up a five-foot-long baton, and pointed to Yanzhou Taishan County in the center of the large map:

"Everyone, please see, the two major mountain ranges marked on the map, the west is close to Licheng, Zhu'a, Dongpingling and Banyang is the Taishan Mountains, and the east is the Yimeng Mountains that run north-south and have a radius of three hundred miles.

"If, on this basis, the entire Taishan Mountain Range is brought under the control of our army, our west and south of Qingzhou will be completely worry-free!"

Liu Chu put down the baton and walked to the front of the stage: "Compared with the uncertainty caused by the hasty dispatch of troops to Jizhou, or even nothing, it is not difficult for you to make a judgment on what we should do next." ”

"You must not underestimate Taishan County, which has many mountains and little land, and the Yimeng Mountains, which are reckless and sparsely populated, contain a large number of precious timber, iron ore, coal and other minerals, and at least 3 million acres of land can be reclaimed in more than 20 river valleys and hilly and low slope areas, and at least more than 300,000 people can be fed."

"Laiwu alone, only one year to build a large-scale smelting workshop, at least five million catties of steel can be obtained every year, and last year, the total output of steel in Qingzhou just exceeded 1.5 million catties, from Xuzhou, Youzhou, Yanzhou and Jizhou to buy 2.8 million catties of pig iron, can meet the needs of Qingzhou's major workshops."

"If there is a steel supplement in Laiwu at this time next year, you may wish to think about it, what kind of prospects should my Qingzhou's industry and commerce be? I dare not say anything else, at least the total tax amount can increase by more than 20% because of this. ”

Everyone finally understood what kind of account the lord Liu Cun calculated, instead of rushing to Jizhou, spending effort and huge military expenses to get no benefit, it is better to take the mineral-rich Taishan County as their own, as long as they occupy Taishan County, they can climb high and overlook the Central Plains without scruples.

As for the trouble caused by the occupation of Taishan County, everyone believes that the lord Liu Cun can easily solve it, not to mention that Taishan County is still in the hands of various Yellow Turban Army, even if Cao Cao serves as the assassin of Yanzhou in the future, he is embarrassed to come to ask for Taishan County, otherwise it is tantamount to forgetting his righteousness and completely offending Qingzhou, a powerful force that can be relied on.

More importantly, by occupying Taishan County by means of encroachment step by step, the security of Qingzhou will be greatly guaranteed.

On the other hand, if the Yellow Turban Army loses the base area of Mount Tai, which has complex terrain, it will lose its threat to Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and can only move to Huainan, the western part of Jizhou, and even the western part of Yuzhou, which will be able to concentrate on development without distractions and accumulate greater strength for the great cause of the lord Liu Cun. (To be continued......)