Cao Ying sighed: "It's really worthy of Jia Poison, this hand is beautiful, decisive, and courageous!" It's a pity that such a talent actually followed Ma Yue's butcher by mistake, if this person can assist with Fengxiao, then why worry about the world being uncertain and the Han family not prospering? ”

Xun You said: "Jia Xu is loyal to the horse butcher, if the lord wants to recruit him, he doesn't have to do it. ”

Cao Ying said: "How can I not know the true appearance, but I just have some regrets." ”

Cheng Yu said: "Yes, the retreat of the Xiliang army doesn't matter, but it has created a big problem for the lord, and it can be described as a dilemma at the moment." Enter, there is Hangu Xiongguan blocking the way, and Luoyang has been down, the princes from all walks of life only want to talk about meritorious deeds, and no longer think of entering the military pass; Retreat, then the Xiliang army can come back at any time, Luoyang has become an empty city, it is difficult to defend for a long time, if Luoyang falls again, I am afraid that the people of the world will be cold, and the reputation of the lord is also extremely unfavorable. ”

Cao Ying turned his gaze to Guo Jia and asked, "Is it good to be filial?" ”

Guo Jia said: "Jia has two strategies for the lord to choose. ”

Cao Ying said: "I would like to hear it in detail." ”

Guo Jiadao: "First, tell the world to abandon the eastern capital Luoyang, move the heavenly palace to Xuchang, and then send the elite soldiers to guard the tiger prison to resist the Liangzhou soldiers. Re-energized Xu and Yang, and did his best to kill the horse butcher's partial division. As long as the horse butcher dies, the leaderless army of Xiliang will inevitably collapse, and the scene of the ice disintegration of the Liangzhou army after the death of Xi Dong Zhuo is bound to be staged again. ”

Cao Ying thought for a while, shook his head and said, "It's difficult! Not to mention that the horse butcher is as cunning as a fox, and there are 8,000 Xiliang tigers and wolves under his command, who come and go like the wind and thousands of miles, while the coalition forces are each their own master, and they look like gods, and they don't know whether they win or lose. If the prime minister personally raises the army to discuss, the princes of Xu and Yang will inevitably be suspicious, and if they don't do it, they will be wary of the prime minister. ”

Guo Jia said: "Second, then you can only storm Hangu Pass!" Hangu is not down, Guanzhong is hard to see, Guanzhong is not chaotic, the foundation of the horse butcher is as stable as a rock, the foundation of the horse butcher is not destroyed, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry may make a comeback at any time, and the rest of the princes such as Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, Yuan Shao, Sun Jian and others govern the mountains and rivers, but the lord's Yanzhou has to directly face the threat of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, and the situation will be extremely unfavorable. ”

Xun You nodded and said: "This is like hanging a sharp sword on the neck of the lord, no matter what the lord wants to do, he must be on guard at any time that this sword will suddenly be cut off, this kind of taste is really uncomfortable." ”

Cao Ying thought for a while and said, "What if the prime minister also gives up Luoyang, and then orders the general to guard the tiger prison?" Is it possible to stop the horse butcher's Xiliang army to the west of the Tiger Prison Pass? ”

Guo Jia shook his head and said, "Didn't the lord forget the Jinfan thief?" With the help of Gan Ning's Jinfan thief, the river and waterway suddenly became a smooth road for the horse butcher. With the help of water transportation, the Xiliang army can bypass the Tiger Prison Pass at any time and land directly on the Yingchuan Plain. ”

"yes." Xun You sighed, "In order to resist the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, you can't build a Great Wall on the south bank of the river." ”

Guo Jia nodded and said: "If you can capture Hangu Pass, the situation will be completely different, even if there is the help of Ganning's Jinfan thieves, the horse butcher's Xiliang Iron Cavalry will go east from Guanzhong to Weishui, and then take the river and waterway to Yingchuan to attack and harass, the journey is extremely long, time-consuming, laborious and food-consuming, and it will lose the advantage of surprise attack." ”

Cao Ying frowned and said: "But the problem is that Luoyang has been recovered, and the first thing that the princes from all walks of life propose to do is to welcome the Son of Heaven back to Luoyang, and they will definitely not send troops to attack Hangu Pass again, so how is this good?" ”

Guo Jiadao: "There are 300,000 people in the middle of the alliance, and there are as many as thirteen princes in various states and counties, in fact, except for Yuan Shu, Tao Qian, and Sun Jian, the rest are all inaction, not to mention. And Sun Jian has always been the only one who is the head of the horse, and Tao Qian is a humble gentleman, so success or failure is only tied to one person's ear. ”

Cao Ying's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said happily: "Yuan Highway? ”

"Exactly." Guo Jia smiled and said, "Yuan Shu is so happy with this person, why don't you play the Son of Heaven to show him as the Great Sima, and lead the world's soldiers and horses with his brother Yuan Shao, although Yuan Shu is the second son of the Yuan family, but he is a descendant, because of the reputation and official title for a long time under Yuan Shao There have long been complaints in his heart, if he is the Great Sima, he will inevitably try his best to prove himself." And the capture of Hangu Pass, and even the recovery of Guanzhong, is undoubtedly the greatest affirmation of Yuan Shu's ability, what does the lord think? ”

Cao Ying squinted and smiled: "Wonderful, just follow the plan of filial piety." ”

……

Yangzhou.

When Yuan Shu's general Lei Bo gathered 20,000 troops to prepare for a duel with Ma Yue in Shouchun, Ma Yue's army suddenly crossed the Huaishui to the north and went straight into Xuzhou.

The Yangzhou army was caught off guard, and the cities along the way fell, and Ma Yue's army pointed directly at Xuyi, an important town in Huainan.

……

Xuyi.

After a night of fierce fighting, Xuyi was finally broken by the Jinfan Navy from the waterway.

Ma Yue stood at the head of the city under the support of Dian Wei and Li Su, and behind him, the entire Xuyi City had fallen into a sea of fire, and groups of Xiliang Iron Cavalry were frantically chasing and killing the house slaves and private soldiers of the wealthy families in the city along the streets and alleys (although the Shi clan gate lords in the late Han Dynasty were strong, they were not numerous, and the families that really met the door valve standard were actually more than a dozen families on average in each state, and not every small county town could have a scholar gate valve. At that time, the number was more than the wealthy family, although these wealthy families did not have children to enter the court as officials, but they were quite powerful in the local area, and the family was quite rich, generally raised dozens or even hundreds of private soldiers, like Jiangdong under the rule of Sun Quan, the four major families were most prosperous when they raised thousands of disciples and private soldiers. Then it swept through like locusts, and ransacked the big families in the city.

"See the lord!"

Gan Ning's sonorous voice suddenly came from behind him, Ma Yue slowly looked back, only to see Gan Ning wearing a thin straight jacket, with water stains on his body, holding a sharp nine-ring machete standing proudly in front of the gatehouse, there were red blood beads slowly flowing down the sharp blade of the nine-ring machete, flashing with a poignant color under the sun.

Gan Ning clenched his fists and said quickly: "My lord, the brothers intercepted the family from the waterway, and they look like people from the official eunuchs. ”

"Oh?" Ma Yue's eyes lit up, and he suddenly showed a cold color, and said in a deep voice, "Bring it up!" ”

Gan Ning strode to the gatehouse, waved his big hand and said sharply: "The lord has an order, bring it up!" ”

The thunderous shouts of the Jinfan thieves suddenly sounded downstairs, and in the chaotic footsteps, a middle-aged couple, three young men and seven young women were taken to the city tower, Ma Yue couldn't help but see his eyes lit up, and his heart secretly applauded, thinking that if it was a beauty pageant, this family could be called a home of handsome men and beautiful women.

Especially the seven young women, all of them look like flowers, and although the youngest daughter looks like she is only about ten years old, she has smart eyebrows and a slender posture, and she will definitely be a great beauty when she grows up.

Ma Yue bowed his head lightly and glanced at Gan Ning.

Gan Ning understood, turned to face the gatehouse again, and said sharply: "Bring it up!" ”

Another Jinfan thief responded violently, and immediately two soldiers escorted a lewd man up to the castle tower......

This is the usual trick used by horse butchers, every time they go to a place, they are bound to search for local ruffians or hooligans, these people can not be on the table, nor can they be of much use, but there is a great advantage, that is, they are extremely familiar with the local humanities and geography, and they are typical of the head snake.

With the help of these land snakes, the horse butcher can often easily learn the truth he wants to know.

Gan Ning's eyes widened, his eyes showed murderous intent in his eyes, and he said to the lewd man: "You can answer whatever General Ben asks, if you dare to have half a false word, you will not be forgiven!" ”

The lewd man was frightened, knelt down in front of Gan Ning, kowtowed like pounding garlic, and said repeatedly: "If the general has any questions, just ask, the villain knows everything." ”

Gan Ning stretched out his hand and pointed at the middle-aged man and asked, "Who is this person?" ”

The lewd man said in a loud voice: "This person's surname is Zhen Mingyi, he is the county order of Xuyi County, and the one standing next to him is his wife, the three men are Zhen Yi's sons Zhen Yu, Zhen Yan, and Zhen Yao, and the woman with knotted hair standing next to him is their wife, and the five women with hair are Zhen Yi's daughters, named Zhen Jiang, Zhen Tuo, Zhen Dao, Zhen Rong, the youngest is called Zhen Luo, these five sisters are famous beauties from far and near, hehe, hey, hey~~"

Zhen Yi saw that his identity was revealed, and he knew that there was no hope of escaping, so he couldn't help but sigh and look dead.

"It turned out to be Lord Zhen." Ma Yue smiled coldly, and said with a fake fist, "General Ben has always respected the scholars, come on, and don't loosen the ties for Lord Zhen's family." ”

"Yes."

Some soldiers had already rushed forward to untie Zhen Yi.

"You don't have to." Zhen Yi turned around and dodged, and said coldly, "You have always respected the scholars? Hmph, the name of the horse butcher, who doesn't know and who doesn't know in the world? Today, since Zhen's family has fallen into your hands, if you want to kill or chop up, just listen to it, why pretend to be that ugly face? ”

"Presumptuous!" Dian Wei was furious, took out the double iron halberd and put it on Zhen Yi's neck, and shouted, "You dare to be rude to my father-in-law, aren't you tired of living?" ”

"The people are not afraid of death." Zhen Yi raised his head very shamefully and said suddenly, "Why are you afraid of death?" ”

"Dian Wei, don't be rude."

"Humph!"

Ma Yue drank clearly, and Dian Wei had to retreat with his halberd.

Ma Yue smiled and said, "Lord Zhen has this reaction, I must have heard about what General Ben did in the counties and counties of Yangzhou, yes or no?" ”

Zhen Yi said coldly: "It's like thunder." ”

"Haha, that's good." Ma Yue looked up to the sky and laughed twice, and said loudly, "Fang Jin's Han family is declining, and the world's heroes are rising together, Ma is not talented, and he also wants to emulate the pre-Qin as the hegemon of one party!" However, if you want to achieve hegemony, it is not enough to rely on hundreds of thousands of Xiliang iron horses, but also need a large number of literate and hyphenated scholars to help, but this general bears the name of a butcher, and the world's scholars are discouraged, so he can't wait for the world's scholars to serve. ”

Zhen Yi sneered: "I am quite self-aware. ”

Ma Yue was not annoyed, and said with a smile: "Therefore, General Ben has no choice but to make this decision and send troops to rob it!" ”

Ma Yue didn't say nonsense, this time the troops went out of Xu and Yang, attacked the backyard of the Kwantung coalition army, and forced the middle route coalition army to collapse and retreat, although it was the main reason, but robbing the military rations and the literati of Xu and Yang counties was also an important purpose of this trip! Guan and Liang are remote and sparsely populated, and are at a disadvantage compared to the Central Plains, but this is not the biggest disadvantage.

The biggest disadvantage of Guan and Liang is actually talent.

The northwest is remote, there are very few talents that can be hired, and in the land of the Central Plains, literati are at their fingertips, if Ma Yue does not try to change this situation, what will he use to confront the huge talent group of the Central Plains in the future? Just rely on Jia Xu and frustration? No matter how good the two are, they will eventually die of old age. Just with Professor Guan Ning's eight hundred disciples? How many talented talents can emerge in the middle?

"Rob?" Zhen Yi sneered disdainfully, "Even if you can snatch all the scholars in the world, I'm afraid that no one will work for you, the notorious butcher?" ”

"That might be." The corners of Ma Yue's mouth suddenly bloomed with an evil smile, and he walked in front of Zhen Yi's eldest daughter Zhen Jiang in two steps, reached out and picked up Zhen Jiang's chin, and said neatly, "If General Ben is not dazzled, this Miss Zhen Jiang should not have a word person, right?" ”

"You!?" Zhen Yi's face changed, and he said hurriedly, "Horse butcher, what do you want to do?" ”

"What? Nothing! Ma Yue's expression suddenly turned cold, and Huo Ran turned to Dian Wei and said, "Dian Wei! ”

Dian Wei took a step forward and said quickly, "What does the lord command?" ”

Ma Yue stretched out his hand and pointed at Zhen Jiang, and said to Dian Wei: "This general will allow Miss Zhen Jiang to be your wife, and you will be married tonight!" ”

Zhen Jiang looked at the fierce and vicious Dian Wei, Cha Dian Wei was only wearing a thin straight jacket, and the placket was open to reveal thick and black chest hair, and he looked like a beast, thinking that he might have to sleep with this evil man in the future, Zhen Jiang couldn't help but look bleak, only to feel that he was dead in the arms of his sister Zhen Tuo and Zhen Dao.

Dian Wei grinned, and said with a smile: "Thank you, lord." ”

"Presumptuous!" Zhen Yi was in a hurry and shouted, "Butcher, Jiang Er is the old man's daughter, what kind of thing are you, how can you make decisions for the old man's daughter?" ”

"General Ben is nothing." Ma Yue smiled coldly and said abruptly, "But Lord Zhen's entire family is in the hands of this general, can't he be the master of Ling Yuan, huh!?" ”

Zhen Yi looked miserable when he heard this.

Ma Yue glanced at the dejected Zhen Yi, a faint trace of regret suddenly flashed in his eyes, and Guo Tu's figure appeared in front of him again. In fact, the kidnapping of Xu and Yang Shizi to Guanzhong was Guo Tu's last plan! It's a pity that Guo Tu didn't have time to see his own strategy and achievements with his own eyes, so he died in a hurry.

Guo Tu's legacy is actually to wreak havoc on the scholar class in the Central Plains, rob if you can, rob if you can't, and kill if you can't rob it, in short, you want to make the entire Central Plains scholar class like a pear field, even if you can't kill it all, it will hurt its vitality, and then reintegrate the scholar clan who was captured in Guanzhong, and cultivate a new scholar class that has the interests of the Xiliang military group under Ma Yue's rule, with the support of this new scholar class, Ma Yue may have the strength to compete with the warlords of the Central Plains.

From Jingzhou to Yangzhou, Ma Yue attacked the city all the way and plundered the land, and wherever the army went, the private soldiers of the slaves of the Shi clan were killed, and the wealth and grain were taken and plundered, but unlike the previous 800 Liukou period, the horse butcher even robbed people.

Along the way, the scholar family like Zhen Yi has at least taken hundreds of captives, and Gan Ning's Jinfan Navy used two full ships to fit all the personnel of these scholar families. The ambitious horse butcher prepared to transport the warriors back to Guanzhong by water, along with the looted grain.

Then, on the basis of these captive scholars, a new group of scholars was cultivated.

In order to cultivate new nobles, it is necessary to reintegrate these captive nobles, and intermarriage is the most direct and effective way of integration.

For example, Zhen Yi, as long as he forces his five daughters to marry Ma Yue's cronies, or simply marries Ma Yue himself, the future of the Zhen family can be closely linked to the prosperity of Ma Yue Group. Even if Zhen Yi doesn't want to be an official under Ma Yue, what about his grandchildren in the future? Whether these children who were born and grew up in Guanzhong can still hate horse butchers like Zhen Yi, it's really hard to say.

Zhen Yi said miserably: "Ma Yue, butcher!" Even if you use great means, the old man will never help the abuse. ”

"When you get to Guanzhong, Lord Zhen has time to make a wise choice, and General Ben will never be strong." Ma Yue said this, Huo Ran turned to the Jiangxia thief Chen Hu who was standing behind him and said, "Chen Hu, except for Miss Zhen Jiang, take Lord Zhen's family on the big boat. Show General Ben carefully, if there is a slight mistake, General Ben is the only one who asks. ”

Chen Hu said sharply: "Please rest assured. ”

"Report ......" Chen Hu had just escorted Zhen Yi's family away, and suddenly a small school hurried up to the city tower and said quickly, "Lord, it's not good!" General Li Meng has been arrested! ”

"Huh?" Ma Yue's heart sank when he heard this, Huo Ran turned around and stared at the junior colonel who came to report the news, and said in a deep voice, "What did you say?" Say it again! ”

The little colonel gasped violently twice, and said hurriedly: "General Li Meng, on the orders of the lord's army, led the brothers to sweep the villages and towns around Xuyi County, and the army went all the way to the south, ransacked more than ten villages, and robbed dozens of ox carts of grain, and was about to transport it back to Xuyi City. ”

Ma Yue said coldly: "And then? ”

The little colonel gasped: "Then General Li Meng divided half of his troops to escort the grain back to Xuyi, and he led the remaining five hundred cavalry to kill the manor, I don't want to have five or six hundred soldiers in the village, and the marching array is like a regular army, General Li Meng led the army to attack, but he was killed, and the brothers and General Li Meng were all captured alive, only the villain fought to get out of the encirclement and came to report to the lord. ”

"Five hundred Xiliang Iron Cavalry can't even deal with just five or six hundred Zhuang Ding! What kind of gang should this be!? Ma Yue said awe-inspiringly, "Have you ever asked the ruffians nearby, what is the surname of the owner?" ”

Xiao Xiao said: "I asked, the owner's surname is Lu Mingsu, the word is respectful, and he is only a weak crown!" ”

"Lu Su?" Ma Yue frowned and said, "The weak crown is so difficult to deal with, won't it be even more powerful in the future?" It doesn't look like an unknown person, waiting for General Ben to meet him in person! ”

Now what the horse butcher lacks is talent, and if he has the ability, whether it is useful or not, he must be arrested first, and even if he can't be arrested and taken to Guanzhong, he must be killed, so as not to leave others with disasters in the future. There's a saying that kindness to one's enemies is cruelty to oneself, isn't it?

……

Luoyang.

The Xiliang army retreated in great strides, and has been withdrawn to Hangu Pass, and the thirteen-way Kwantung coalition army followed and advanced, taking advantage of the situation to recover Luoyang, the news spread, and the princes of all walks of life celebrated each other, and they were excited because of the recovery of the eastern capital Luoyang, so they asked the Son of Heaven to return the capital to Luoyang.

However, it was at this time that some rumors began to spread among the Kwantung coalition forces.

……

Late at night.

When Sun Jianfang wanted to go to bed, his confidant Xu Shu suddenly knocked on the tent.

After seeing the ceremony, Xu Shu asked in a low voice, "Has the lord heard some rumors?" ”

Sun Jian said: "What kind of rumors? ”

Xu Shu said: "There are rumors in the army that Liu Biao, Li Xu, Chen Ji, and Xu Gong's South Road Coalition Army has been wiped out, and the horse butcher has actually led 30,000 iron cavalry from Wuguan into Jingxiang, and then went straight down the Yangtze River to Yangzhou, at this time the counties of Yangzhou under Yuan Shu have been turned upside down by the 30,000 iron cavalry of the horse butcher!" ”

After the defeat of the Southern Route Alliance, Li Xuan was directly killed, Liu Biao, Xu Gong, and Chen Ji were afraid of losing face in front of the world, and reluctantly gathered thousands of troops to set up a large camp in Xiangyang Beixiao, bluffing, coupled with Cao Ying's deliberate blockade of the news, the people of the world did not know that the South Route Coalition Army had been defeated.

Sun Jian frowned and said, "If the armies of Xu Gong and Chen Ji are defeated, how can there be no news coming?" If you don't listen to this kind of absurd rumor, don't listen to it. ”

Xu Shu shook his head and said, "Shu thinks that these rumors are not groundless. ”

"Oh?" Sun Jian's face changed and he said, "You can talk about it." ”

Xu Shu said: "At the end of last year, the general Yuan Shao and the prime minister Cao Ying left Yingchuan at the same time, and handed over the middle road coalition army to Yuan Hussar (Yuan Shu) under the command, and then until the first three months of spring, Cao Ying did not return secretly, and the general Yuan Shao has not returned so far, can the lord know where the general Yuan Shao and the prime minister Cao Ying have gone?" ”

Sun Jian said: "Where did you go?" ”

Xu Shu said: "As far as you know, the general Yuan Shao has secretly returned to Jizhou, but the prime minister Cao Ying led 20,000 elite soldiers to Wancheng. ”

"Yuan Shao returned to Jizhou, and Cao Ying went to Wancheng?" Sun Jian was puzzled, "Why is this?" ”

Xu Shu said: "The general secretly returned to Jizhou, presumably to prepare to threaten the horse butcher's lair from the north road. As for Prime Minister Cao Ying leading the army to Wancheng, it is likely that he knew in advance that the horse butcher would lead the division south and prepare to intercept in Nanyang, but by mistake, the horse butcher went out of Jingxiang from the south of Wuguan, and Cao Cheng was empty! ”

Sun Jian said in horror: "If the horse butcher has really led 30,000 iron horsemen from Wuguan to Jingxiang south, I am afraid that the Southern Route Coalition Army has really been defeated and destroyed, but why hasn't Xu Gong and Chen Ji had any news coming?" ”

"That's exactly what I'm worried about!" Xu Shu said in a condensed voice, "It seems that some people don't want Yuan Shu and the rest of the world to know the news that the Southern Road Coalition Army was defeated and that the 30,000 iron horsemen of the horse butcher had ravaged Yangzhou." ”

"Who?" Sun Jian said sharply, "Whose intentions are so vicious? ”

Xu Shu asked coldly, "Who else can there be?" ”

"You mean~~" Sun Jian said in horror, "Prime Minister Cao? Why did he do this, the highway general has no grudge against him, and he has no enmity in the near future, and this general has never offended him. ”

Xu Shu said in a condensed voice: "But General Yuan Shu is the candidate with the widest rule, the largest population, the most abundant money and food, and the most soldiers and horses among all the candidates in the world, except for the horse butcher!" Prime Minister Cao Cheng concealed the truth and did not report it, which could not only weaken the strength of General Yuan Shu, but also use the coalition army to attack the Xiliang army, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. ”

"Understood." Sun Jian said awe-inspiringly, "Yuan Zhi, do you want to convey these words to General Highway?" ”

"It depends on what the lord's ambition is." Xu Shu said this, and said quietly, "If the lord is willing to be Yuan Shu's minion for the rest of his life, he can tell him this, but if the lord wants to achieve a hegemony and become an important minister of the Kuangfu Han family, he should not tell Yuan Shu these words." ”

"Yuan Zhi is saying~~" Sun Jian said in a condensed voice, "Let the army of horse butchers wreak havoc in Yangzhou?" ”

"Yes!" Xu Shu said in a gloomy voice, "Yuan Shu is too powerful and harmful to the lord, if you can use Ma Yue's butcher's knife to weaken General Yuan Shu's strength, why not?" Moreover, the horse butcher ravaged Jiangbei also had a great benefit, which could force the scholars of Jiangbei to move their families to Jiangdong, so that the talents under the rule of the lord would flourish. ”

Sun Jian said: "What if the horse butcher crosses the river and attacks Wu County, what should we do?" ”

"Don't worry, my lord." Xu Shu smiled and said, "At present, it is nearly May, and the land of Jiangdong will soon enter the annual rainy season, and the Xiliang army has been in the northwest for a long time, and is familiar with the arid climate in the northwest, and it is difficult to adapt to the humid and sultry climate of Jiangdong. ”

Sun Jian nodded and said, "Well, what Yuan Zhi said is very reasonable. ”

"And~~" Xu Shu took a breath and continued, "Now that the situation is gradually becoming clearer, Shu can almost guess the overall strategy of the horse butcher and Jia Poison Shi." ”

"Oh?" Sun Jian said happily, "I heard it in detail. ”

Xu Shu said: "Although there are as many as 200,000 Xiliang soldiers and servant barbarians under the command of the horse butcher, there are only tens of thousands of elite soldiers who can really fight, and there is a lack of food in the army, so it is difficult to confront the coalition army for a long time, so the core of its strategy is to force the coalition army to collapse and retreat!" ”

Sun Jian nodded and said, "That's how it happened." ”

Xu Shu said again: "At present, the horse butcher's partial division is moving to Yangzhou, if nothing else, it will continue to go north to invade Xuzhou, and even Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Qingzhou, plus the Xiliang army has withdrawn from Luoyang, the coalition army must lack enough aggressiveness after conquering Luoyang, and then hear that there is a fire in the backyard, and there is a chance that the army will disperse and retreat." ”

"This is also the reason why Cao Ying deliberately blocked the news, right?" Sun Jian said, "If the coalition forces disperse and retreat at this time, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry will definitely make a comeback, only with Cao Ying's military strength, Luoyang will definitely not be able to hold it, if Luoyang falls, Cao Ying's Yanzhou will face the threat of the Xiliang army alone, and no matter what you want to do after that, you will feel thorns in your back." ”

"That's right." Xu Shu said in a condensed voice, "If nothing else, Cao Ying is likely to lobby Yuan Shu to take the lead and lead the coalition army to attack Hangu Pass!" As long as Hangu Pass is defeated, Cao Jun will be able to rely on the natural danger of Xiongguan to block hundreds of thousands of Xiliang Iron Cavalry to the west of Hangu! In this way, Cao Ying can sit back and relax. ”

Sun Jian said: "What should we do? Will it support Cao Ying, or will it sabotage his plot? ”

Xu Shu said: "Judging from the current situation, it is difficult for the coalition army to solve the threat of the horse butcher in one battle, so having Cao Ying sitting in Yanzhou to block the troops of the Xiliang Army is beneficial and harmless to all the princes in the eastern part of the country. However, in the long run, Cao Ying's talent is a hundred times better than that of the Yuan brothers, and Tao Qian, Lu Bu and others are even more difficult to compare. ”

Sun Jian pondered for a moment and asked Xu Shu: "Can Cao Ying's trouble be worse than that of the horse butcher?" ”

Xu Shu shook his head and said, "No." ”

Sun Jian gritted his teeth and said, "Then support him." ”

……

Lu Bu's big tent.

Chen Gong arched his hand to Lu Bu and said: "General, now that Luoyang has been restored, the 23rd Route Coalition has succeeded in the battle against rebellion, and there is no need for the coalition army to continue to exist. ”

Lu Bu was puzzled: "Gongtai's words are bad, although Luoyang is restored today, the horse has not been eliminated, and the battle against rebellion is far from successful. ”

Chen Gong sighed, he wanted to break Cao Ying's plan (Xu Shu can guess, Chen Gong can also guess), but after thinking about it, he also had a fight with Cao Ying's master, Cao Ying can be unkind, but he can't be unjust, so he dispelled his thoughts again, and said: "In this case, the general should have said nothing." ”

……

Xuyi, the foothills of Nanshan (now Xuyi Mountain).

There is a Xuyi ruffian pointing to the mountain in front of him and leaping to the horse: "General, the mountain in front is called Xuyi Mountain, and the village under the mountain is called Lu Village, which is Lu Su's manor. ”

"Hmm."

Ma Yue nodded, and looked at Lu Village in the north of Xuyi Mountain, west and south by the river, but east is a vast paddy field, at this time it is the spring ploughing time, the paddy field is full of water, the field is extremely narrow, muddy and difficult to walk, such a terrain is really not conducive to cavalry action, no wonder Li Meng will suffer a big loss here.

Ma Yue asked again: "What does this Lu Su usually like to do?" ”

The ruffian said: "This Lu Su is eight feet tall, very heroic, likes swordsmanship, riding and archery, and is also bold, because of his wealthy family, Lu Su ordered someone to buy equipment and armor, so that the tenants of Zhuang Ding are neatly dressed, and they train in the fields at the edge of the field when they are not working, just like an official and military atmosphere." In autumn, he will also call friends to accompany him to hunt in Nanshan, and when it rains, he will gather acquaintances and friends to teach the art of war in the village, and the young man from far and near all like to associate with him. ”

"Hmm." Ma Yue asked casually, "Who are the people who have a relationship with Lu Su?" ”

"There are a lot, but there are only two people who have the best friendship with Lu Su." The ruffian said, "One of them is called Sun Lang, I don't know what his name is, he was born with brute strength, an iron spear will be opened, and a hundred and ten middle-aged men can't get close, he is a well-known hero!" The other surnamed Zhou is a little white face, who has no ability but caresses a good piano. ”

"Sun Lang? Surname Zhou? ”

Ma Yue shook his head, thinking that no matter if he has the ability or not, he will catch it first.

……

(To be continued)