In the early morning of 23 June, the two-night, one-day meeting finally came to an end.

Tens of thousands of officers and men of the Qingzhou Army and a convoy of materials more than 60 miles long returned in triumph, and the chief strategist Gongsun Pei and the chief military advisor Zhao Rong, who had hurried from Qingzhou for only two days, did not have time to take a second look, so they rushed to the south of the city wharf under the escort of the 500 guards and returned to Qingzhou by boat.

Liu Cun also did not have time to enjoy the huge dividends brought by the war, and hurriedly went to Luoyang City, the former capital of the Han Empire, which was under full construction, and finally met Yang Biao and Zhao Qi, who had no appetite in the face of a sumptuous breakfast, in the brand-new Taicang Yamen in the northeast of the city.

Yang Biao and Zhao Qi, who were worried, obviously didn't expect Liu Cun to come to visit early in the morning, and looked at Liu Cun, who sat down and ate by himself, before he reacted, the two looked at each other and stood up in unison.

"Zijian, you tell us the truth, the Baibo Army, which claims to be 100,000, was wiped out by you, Han Xian and Li Le and other more than ten Baibo Army generals were beheaded by you, Hu Jie, who knew the current affairs, and more than 28,000 Baibo soldiers were absorbed by you, and even Yang Feng, who was wavering before, was desperately allied with you, but why haven't the tens of thousands of elites under your command who are like wolves and tigers have not withdrawn?"

"Could it be that you really want to risk the disapproval of the world to forcibly occupy Hedong? Don't you know that the occupation of Hedong will bring great consequences? Yang Biao asked eagerly.

Liu Cun drank a bowl of millet porridge in a few sips, temporarily concealed the army's plundering actions, wiped his mouth with a silk scarf, and showed a familiar smile:

"Two days ago, after our army occupied the city of Anyi, the old nest of the White Polish Army, and cleared the remnants of the enemy. They have all evacuated Anyi and Shaanxi-Jindu and returned triumphantly. ”

"At present, the 6,000 cavalry of Xu Sheng's department, who served as the vanguard, have just returned to the camp in the west of the city. The rest of the units will return to Luoyang one after another in the next two days, and after a short rest, they will go to their respective defense areas to shoulder the heavy task of defending Luoyang and stepping up the construction and consolidation of water and land fortresses. ”

Yang Biao and Zhao Qi, who were extremely worried that Liu Cun's occupation of Hedong would cause a war between the princes, finally put their minds at ease, breathed a sigh of relief, looked at each other and smiled, sat down with satisfaction and picked up chopsticks.

Liu Cun saw this. He asked with some surprise: "Two adults, haven't you received the news that Lord Cao Song was killed by the generals under the command of Lord Tao Qian on the way back to his hometown after leaving Langya?" ”

In fact. Yang Biao and Zhao Qi had received the news of Cao Song's killing three days ago, but there were many theories, and after Yang Biao and Zhao Qi analyzed it in detail, they also thought that this matter had little to do with Xuzhou Mu Taoqian, like most princes. It was purely a spillover from a mistake.

Cao Song's murder was extremely shocking. But now the Han world is already in chaos, not to mention that this matter is not a big deal compared with the battle in which the Qingzhou Army and the Baibo Army invested more than 100,000 troops to affect the general trend of the world, and it did not attract enough attention from Yang Biao and Zhao Qi, and they were not in the mood to consider the impact of Cao Song's killing when they were worried.

Zhao Qi was a little puzzled when he saw Liu Cun's rather surprised appearance, thought about it and asked in harmony, "What does Zijian think about the murder of Lord Cao Song?" ”

Liu Cun shook his head slightly, and truthfully informed the two of them of the secret report he obtained: "There is news from Yanzhou. When Cao Mengde received the news of his father's murder, he suddenly vomited blood and fainted, and when he woke up, he cried bitterly and the corners of his eyes cracked. The latest news is...... More than 80,000 Cao troops are rapidly assembling, and all the white cloth in the inventory of merchants in the territory has been requisitioned by the Cao army. ”

Zhao Qi and the others were taken aback when they heard this, and Yang Biao hurriedly asked, "Won't there be a big war because of this?" ”

Liu Cun shook his head and asked with a smile: "Did the two of you judge the same way before?" ”

In front of Liu Cun's meaningful smile, Yang Biao and Zhao Qi immediately realized that they were thinking too simply, and they didn't want to see Yang Biao, who had always been in the same obedience to the imperial court, and Yang Biao, who had been in the war between Xu and Yanerzhou, suddenly stood up: "Does Zijian think that the big war between Cao Mengde and Tao Gongzu is inevitable?" ”

Over the years, the ambitious Cao Mengde has ever stopped coveting the rich Xuzhou? With the continuous development and growth of Qingzhou, as Yuan Benchu continued to conquer the city and devour Jizhou, Cao Mengde, who was working the ruins of Yanzhou but made slow progress, no longer had much choice. ”

"If Lord Cao Song has an accident this time, even if the eloquent Cao Mengde can endure it, can Xun You, Cheng Yu, Hua Xin, and the favored people under his command who claim to be the world's wisest be able to calm down? If he didn't take the opportunity to take Xuzhou, which had been peaceful for a long time and the person in charge was relatively cowardly, what hope did Cao Mengde have in this life? ”

"Once the Yuan brothers completely occupy Jizhou and Yuzhou, how long can Cao Mengde, who is caught between the two forces, survive? So I dare to assert that within ten days, Cao Mengde will definitely attack Xuzhou with all his might! Liu Cun said with a little mockery about the current trend of the world.

Yang Biao stood up anxiously: "If this is the case, the world will be in chaos and the lives will be ruined!" Zijian, can you send someone to Cao Mengde quickly to try his best to mediate to avoid a big war? ”

Liu Cun smiled bitterly and replied helplessly: "Although my personal relationship with Cao Mengde and Tao Gongzu is good, especially Cao Mengde's Yanzhou assassination history is still recommended by me...... However, the current situation has reached the point where saber rattling is on the verge of breaking out, and there is no room for mediation! ”

"If my guess is correct, the envoys of Cao Mengde and Tao Gongzu will arrive soon, and maybe the envoys from Xuzhou have arrived in Qingzhou to ask for help at this moment...... In order to avoid chaos in Qingzhou, I had to rush back to Jinan as soon as possible. ”

Zhao Qi's long white eyebrows shook slightly: "Will Zijian help Xuzhou?" ”

Liu Cun shook his head: "It's good to be able to keep Qingzhou's stability, where can I help Xuzhou?" If you help Xuzhou, the pervasive Yuan Benchu is afraid that he will wake up laughing in his dreams......"

Cao Mengde was annoyed and angry, maybe he would form an alliance with Yuan Benchu, and Yuan Highway, who occupied most of Yuzhou and half of Yangzhou, would also turn friends and enemies with Cao Cao, and finally unite to carve up Xuzhou...... At that time, Qingzhou may not be able to escape the fate of being besieged and divided. ”

"No, no, no! We must rush back to Chang'an as soon as possible, work together to come up with a countermeasure, issue an edict from the emperor and the court to all the princes, and do everything possible to stop the expansion of the war! ”

Yang Biao made a decisive decision, and after obtaining Zhao Qi's consent, he turned to Liu Cun again: "Zijian, don't forget that the emperor and the Chinese military minister of the dynasty are still in dire straits!" ”

Liu Cun sent away Yang Biao and Zhao Qi, who hurried back to Chang'an, and urgently convened a meeting that night, handing over all government affairs and huge transportation tasks to the confidants and strategists who stayed in Luoyang, Cui Yan, Mao Jue, and Gongsun Fang, and others to take full responsibility, and ordered the generals Xu Sheng and Wei Yan to quickly lead the troops back to Tiger Prison Pass and Taigu Pass, and ordered the general Guan Hai and the new guerrilla general Xu Huang to immediately begin to reorganize and expand the Fourth Division, and then start a three-month training, and officially appoint Cheng Ji as the chief general of the Luoyang Garrison Division. At the same time, he ordered Sima Ju and Li Zai, the generals of the navy, to transport most of the captured materials and money to Jinan as soon as possible, and at the same time, seize the time to improve the Mengjin water army camp.

In the early morning of the next day, Liu Cun returned to Qingzhou with the first batch of naval convoys transporting captured supplies. The news of the Battle of Shaanxi-Jindu and the annihilation of the Baibo Army quickly spread in all directions, and representatives of more than 30 wealthy families from Hedong who suffered heavy losses and were overwhelmed with grief and grief finally rushed to Chang'an, and wept in the face of hundreds of civil and military officials, and bitterly denounced the bloody killing and brutality of the Qingzhou Army for being a hundred times better than the thieves.

For a time, the mountains and rivers changed color, and the world shook.

The princes of all parties, who were about to move, all quieted down, and all the eyes of the world were cast on the ancient capital Luoyang, and even Cao Cao, who was gathering heavy troops and determined to take revenge, stopped his daily routine sacrificial activities and quickly convened his subordinates to discuss countermeasures.

More and more news reached Cao Ying, and the strong combat power of the Qingzhou Army and Liu Cun's courage to brave the world's condemnation to carry out bloody plundering of Hedong County made Cao Cao and his subordinate Wenwu extremely shocked, and suddenly gave birth to a chill.

After Liu Cun's benevolent and generous image was overturned in an instant, a deep sense of crisis that could not be grasped or judged followed, and no one dared to judge the position of Liu Cun and the Qingzhou Army, and no one knew who Liu Cun, who suddenly showed his sharp fangs, would calculate next.

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PS: Thank you Hu Tian for your big reward on August 8, thank you for the big monthly pass of the really ☆ Fallen Knight! Juhuo continues to ask for subscriptions, recommended tickets, monthly passes, and full praise support, thank you very much! Thank you! (To be continued......)