Liu Bei's worries are not unreasonable, and most of what he said is also true, because he knows very well that all the capital and magic weapons of his life and the magic weapon to win are nothing else, that is, the word "benevolence and righteousness".

At that time, Xuzhou was obtained after Tao Qian's death, and the current Jingzhou was also obtained after the death of Liu Biao's father and son, and now Liu Zhang, who is young and prosperous, is afraid that it will not be a problem to live for twenty or thirty years.

However, if he is now like Cao Ying, bullying the weak and seizing Yizhou, then what face does he have to face the slander of the world?

This is where Liu Bei's psychological obstacle lies.

Of course, everyone present knew Liu Bei's worries, and Zhuge Liang also knew very well that in the past few years, he has not been persuaded without persuasion, but it has not been effective, because one of the reasons why he went out of the mountain to help Liu Bei was to go to Liu Bei's benevolence and righteousness, and now if he persuades Liu Bei to give up benevolence and righteousness, wouldn't this be a slap in the face.

Just when everyone didn't know how to persuade Liu Bei, Pang Tong appeared, and he said earnestly in a posture of adults educating children: "Now is the time when the world is in chaos, everything can not abide by the rules of the city, benevolence and righteousness must not be lost, but it is also good to change randomly." Besides, annexing the weak and attacking the weak, didn't the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons of the year also do it, but who in later generations dared to say that the actions of the Five Hegemons were unjust? Therefore, as long as it is for the sake of the common people in the world, even if it destroys other people's countries, what is there to do, as long as you treat the princes of the dead country with kindness and righteousness, and seal him a piece of land, who can say that the lord is a person who is untrustworthy. Besides, if we don't attack Yizhou now, then we will inevitably let thieves like Cao Ying get it in the future, does the lord think that this is good for the people in the world? ”

In a few words, Pang Tong had already compared Liu Bei with the Spring and Autumn Five Tyrants, which seemed to be crooked, but it sounded like a right reason.

Liu Bei thought in his heart: "Shi Yuan is right, what the Spring and Autumn Five Tyrants can do, why can't I do it, I acted in the past, it seems that I am really too obsessed with benevolence and righteousness." No, this time I can't wait any longer, such a God-given opportunity, if I don't grasp it firmly, if I repeat the mistakes of Xuzhou and Jingzhou, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of the soldiers. ”

Liu Bei had already made up his mind, so he said proudly: "What Shiyuan Junshi said is good, I plan for the world, and I must not let Yizhou fall into the hands of Cao thieves. ”

Liu Bei made up his mind, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the atmosphere immediately became active again.

But Zhuge Liang was excited, and said cautiously: "Although this matter is a God-given opportunity, after all, there is also a certain risk for the lord to lead the army deep into the other realm. According to Liang's opinion, before replying to Liu Zhang, he should also send a powerful messenger to return to Yizhou with Fa Zheng, and inquire about the truth in Shuzhong by the way. ”

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Kong Ming's concerns are reasonable, but I don't know who to go to?" ”

Zhuge Liang then pointed the feather fan at Fang Shao on the side, and said with a smile: "Zhongzheng has been sent to Soochow many times, and he is also rich in experience, and he is smart and alert, I believe that he will not be entrusted by the lord." ”

Zhuge Liang said and gave Fang Shao a look, Fang Shao understood, and said busily: "If the lord can be trusted, Shao is willing to recommend himself to Shu and explore the truth in Shu for the lord." ”

There is no shortage of talents under Liu Bei's hands, such as Ma Liang and Liao Li's generation, all of whom are good talents in governance, but in terms of diplomacy, only Zhuge Liang and Fang Shao can be more prominent, and although Fang Shao is young, he has won the trust of Liu Bei and his colleagues in all the previous good performances.

So, Fang Shao was entrusted by Liu Bei to go home and prepare for a while, then bid farewell to his new wife and went to Chengdu with Nafazheng.

Chengdu and Jiangling are separated by thousands of miles, if you take the land route, the lofty mountains and mountains will have to walk for at least more than a month, although the waterway has to pass through the Three Gorges, it is also risky, but you can reach Chengdu in less than ten days.

The two chose the waterway to trace the river, passed through Jiangzhou and then turned north into the Chengdu Plain, ten days later, Chengdu City was close in front of them.

"Yizhou is known as the land of abundance, and it really deserves its name." Fang Shao looked at the fields all over the field and couldn't help but sigh with such emotion.

It's no wonder, in fact, Jingzhou was originally known as a fertile field for thousands of miles, the people are rich and the country is real, but after several years of war, millions of people have lost countless people, and the countryside is all barren.

Fa Zheng, who was in the same car, said a little proudly: "What is this, if it weren't for the Zhao Spoon Rebellion more than ten years ago, Fang Zheng would have seen ten times more prosperity than now." ”

Fa Zheng's words couldn't help but cause Fang Shao's thinking, all along, Jingzhou Yizhou has been known as the state of wealth, and Longzhong's policy also called Jing Yi as the emperor's capital, however, in the history of that year, after Liu Bei crossed Jing Yi, it was obvious that he had not been able to turn the legendary "one million household registrations and thousands of miles of fertile fields" in the two states into an advantage in the world, and he was defeated for a long time.

Fang Shao also thought about the reason, the decline of Jingzhou originated from the war of Cao, Liu and Sun, although Yizhou was not as dilapidated as Jingzhou, but Liu Bei fought for Yizhou for three years, which was enough to destroy the country of abundance enough, and in the end, although it was taken, it was actually a mess, and then all kinds of mistakes occurred, so that Liu Bei had no time to restore the economy of the two states, and after a few years, Zhuge Liang easily governed Yizhou almost the same, and when he could draw troops and horses to the Northern Expedition, the overall situation of the Central Plains had been decided.

Moreover, when the northern states were defeated by the war, the two states of Jingyi developed because of their geographical location, and when the northern war ended and the population and economy began to recover gradually, the focus of the war turned to Jingyi, causing the two states to also fall into decline, so when the northern states reappeared signs of prosperity, the two states of Jingyi were not yet able to heal the wounds left by the war.

The question of the order in which the war takes place is obviously also the key to determining the final victory or defeat.

This is the question that Fang Shao thought about all the way when he entered Shu, and when he was about to arrive in Chengdu, Fang Shao suddenly thought of a crucial means to solve this problem.

Time, is time, the battle of Shu in history lasted for three years, and when Liu Bei had to spend several years pacifying Yizhou, he could only watch Cao Ying defeat various warlords in Guanzhong, pacify Longyou, and even take time to capture Hanzhong.

And when he could draw out his troops and lose countless losses to capture Hanzhong, he unknowingly ignored the importance of Jingzhou, and made Dongwu take advantage of a big loophole.

In this way, that is, the time spent in the battle of Yizhou will be a crucial factor in determining the future direction.

Therefore, the battle of Yizhou must be resolved quickly, and Liu Bei must obtain an intact Yizhou and have ample time to readjust the distribution of military forces after crossing Jingyi.

When Fang Shao was thinking about these things quietly, the carriage had already driven onto the official road leading to Chengdu, and it was not long before it reached the west gate of Chengdu. ”

Fang Shao had to gather his mind from the current of thought, and when the carriage stopped, he got out of the car with a slight grooming.

When I looked up, I saw that there were already many well-dressed people standing at the gate of the city, and the sergeants and honor guards were also complete, and it seemed that the formation of this greeting was not small.

Fang Shao walked forward side by side with Fa Zheng calmly, Fa Zheng took the first step, waved his hand to the richly dressed man standing in the forefront, and said: "I have seen the lord, and this trip to Jingzhou is fortunate to be not dishonoring." ”

That person was naturally Liu Zhang, he smiled and flicked his hand, and said, "Filial piety and courtesy, you have worked hard this time." ”

Fa Zheng gently pushed Fang Shao forward and introduced: "This is Shao Fang Zhongzheng, who is under Liu Jingzhou's command, and this time he returned with Zheng, but he was ordered by Liu Jingzhou to discuss the specific matters of entering Sichuan with the main public. ”

After Fa Zheng introduced himself, Fang Shao immediately stepped forward and saluted calmly, and said: "Shao has seen the envoy, my lord has admired the envoy for a long time, and this time he ordered Shao to come and prepare some light gifts to show the friendship of my lord and father-in-law." ”

Fang Shao glanced at Liu Zhang a few times as he spoke, but saw that this person was also kind, but he didn't have the majesty of a prince, but he was a bit like a rich man who made money in a friendly manner.

Liu Zhang seems to have really never seen anything in the world, as soon as he heard that the dignified Uncle Liu Huang also "admired him for a long time", and did not wonder if it was a polite remark, he immediately believed it to be true, and a little smug color suddenly appeared on his face, as if he was showing off to the surrounding ministers: Look, the hero Liu Xuande of the generation admires me, what ability do you have to look down on me as a state pastor, hum!

"It's not easy for Fang to come to the mountains and rivers, just bring it with your heart, and what kind of gifts you bring, it's so polite. Come on, take 500 gold to reward Fang Cheng. ”

Fang Shao brought only some silk, square things and other Jingzhou specialties, this Liu Zhang opened a bite and returned him a gift of five hundred gold, so it is a profit, it seems that Liu Zhang is indeed a generous master.

Fang Shao hurriedly said: "Shao is just following orders, how dare he accept this reward." ”

Liu Zhang waved his hand and said generously: "It's just a few small dollars, so you don't have to be polite, we will be a family in the future." ”

Liu Zhang was so generous, Fang Shao also smiled, and then the two exchanged a gift of host and guest, Liu Zhang took Fang Shao in the same car and entered Chengdu City together.

Liu Zhang also specially arranged for a car to drive around the city before going to his state capital, so that all the people in the city would know that Uncle Liu Huang had sent envoys to help him.

It turns out that he is also a good-looking person.

This is Liu Zhang's second image to Fang Shao, with this kind of image, came to the state governor's mansion, the two sides sat down, except for the accompanying Fa Zheng, most of the high-ranking officials under Liu Zhang's in Chengdu have been accompanied here, and according to Fang Shao's observation, most people look at him with a full of vigilance.

Just as Liu Zhang was about to listen to Fang Shao's detailed account of the thrilling battle of Chibi, someone outside suddenly shouted: "Let me in, the lord receives the envoy of Jingzhou, and the officials are here, why don't you just summon me!" Let me in—"

(To be continued)