Liu Bei was rushing for his life, without a trace of stopping.

Although he was old, he did not delay this escape at all.

All the way non-stop, Liu Bei fled back to Qinshui County, dozens of miles away, and after getting the support of Chicheng, Liu Bei's panicked and depressed heart was a little calmer.

On the one hand, he collected the defeated army here, and on the other hand, he ordered Ma Chao in the Heyang area to abandon the defense on the north bank, and immediately led his troops to Qinshui with more than 10,000 cavalry to rendezvous.

Two days later, Ma Chao arrived with the 10,000 intact soldiers and horses, and Liu Bei's mood became more and more stable.

The defeated soldiers from all walks of life heard that Liu Bei was still there, so they came with ants, Liu Bei gathered the defeated soldiers, and got another 30,000 or 40,000 soldiers and horses, plus Ma Chao's 10,000 soldiers and horses, barely enough to get together 50,000.

The army of 100,000 was broken in half in the first battle, and the rest of the people were terrified and difficult to fight again.

Liu Bei knew that he could no longer compete with Liu Feng, so he decided to rendezvous with Zhang Fei, decisively abandoned Hanoi, and the remaining soldiers and horses retreated to Hedong County, relying on Jiguan and other dangerous places to defend and annex the state.

Liu Bei waited in Qinshui for two days, waiting for an urgent report that Liu Feng's army was approaching, but he never waited for Zhang Fei to come to meet.

Liu Bei's heart became more and more anxious, and he had a vague sense of foreboding.

On the fourth day, Liu Feng's pursuers were no more than twenty miles away from Qinshui, and on this day, Liu Bei finally waited for the bad news that Zhang Fei had died in battle.

The moment he heard the bad news, Liu Bei almost fainted.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, just like Liu Bei's right-hand man, Guan Yu's death a few years ago almost made Liu Bei feel painful, and now Zhang Fei is dead again, both arms are lost, and the heavy blow to Liu Bei can be imagined.

After crying for a long time, Liu Bei could only have grief and indignation, and ordered the whole army to retreat west for a few days, and all 50,000 remnants of the army retreated into Bingzhou, Liu Bei then left Wu Yi to lead an army of 10,000 to guard Shangdang County, and Li Yan to lead an army of 10,000 to guard Hedong County, and led 30,000 remnants of the army to retreat to Guanzhong.

On the Hedong side, although Liu Feng had previously issued a secret order to Wei Yan, ordering him to lead his headquarters to move to the upper reaches of the Yellow River, trying to break through Dayang on the north bank, capture Hedong and cut off Liu Bei's return route.

However, Liu Bei's defense in Hedong was still quite in place, and Wei Yan's troops failed to cross the river, and after Liu Bei retreated into Hedong County, the battle plan on this road could only be declared a failure.

On the Hanoi side, Liu Feng defeated Liu Bei with the main force in Yewang, killing and surrendering as many as 50,000 enemy troops along the way.

Considering that the Shaanxi-Tianjin all the way to Weiyan and the north could not cross the Yellow River, and Liu Bei, who retreated to Bingzhou, had the danger of Taihang Mountain, Zhongtiao Mountain and other mountains, which was not easy to attack, coupled with repeated battles, his soldiers and horses had reached the limit of mental and physical strength, and under all kinds of trade-offs, Liu Bei gave up continuing the pursuit.

After the victory of Yewang, Liu Feng redeployed his soldiers and horses, with Wei Yan leading an army of 30,000 stationed in Hongnong, defending Tongguan to the west, and Gan Ning leading an army of 20,000 to garrison Yewang and Qinshui counties in Hanoi to resist the enemy of the state.

Liu Feng himself, with 50,000 soldiers and horses, rerouted to the east, and went all the way to Chaoge.

Chaoge City is located in the easternmost part of Hanoi County and is the gateway from Hanoi to Jizhou.

After Sima Yi, Jiang Ji and other generations hijacked the Han Emperor Liu Xie and moved to Chaoge, they changed this place to Xingdu, and deployed most of the troops they could control in the area of Jixian to the west of Chaoge.

The number of troops that Sima Yi and others could control was at most 15,000, and the composition of their troops was either county soldiers in the Hanoi area, or servants and tenants of large clans, and only a small part of them were regular soldiers.

Such a patchwork army can resist Liu Feng's army of a hundred battles.

If it weren't for Liu Feng being restrained by Liu Bei before, if he could, he could wipe out the new power that appeared in this accident at any time.

Now, Liu Bei has been driven out of Hanoi in a gray way, and Liu Feng, who has no burden, has led an army of 50,000 to destroy Cao Ying first, and then defeat Liu Bei.

All the judgments were similar to what Pang Tong had expected, when Liu Feng's soldiers and horses had just resisted Huojia County, and the advance was still a hundred miles away from the enemy army in Ji County, the messenger sent by Sima Yi arrived.

This messenger is an old friend of Liu Feng.

This person is Jiang Gan.

Many years ago, when Zhou Yu conquered Jiangling, Cao Ying sent Jiang Gan to say that Zhou Yu would surrender, but Zhou Yu decisively refused.

Later, when Liu Feng coerced the two counties of Xiangdong to rebel against Liu Bei, Cao Ying sent Jiang Gan to lobby and try to persuade Liu Feng to return to obedience, but Liu Feng also politely refused.

The two envoys returned in vain, making Jiang Gan, a famous Jianghuai scholar, a dispensable person in Cao Ying's camp, and since his return from Changsha, he has been idle by Cao Ying.

During the previous Battle of Luoyang, Jiang Gan was serving as the county commander of Sima Yi's hometown Wen County, Sima Yi coerced the Han Emperor to oppose Cao, and I don't know whether Jiang Gan had a grudge against Cao Ying, or if he had already seen the situation clearly and decisively stood on Sima Yi's side.

Jiang Gan's trip to Changsha that year, although it was in vain, but the relationship with Liu Feng left a good impression.

In the big tent of the Chinese army, the warriors were lined up, and Liu Feng was on the upper seat, holding a sword in his hand, and his eyes were as fierce as lightning.

A moment later, the curtain was raised, and Jiang Gan walked in with a scepter in his hand.

Seeing the majestic and intimidating Liu Feng, Jiang Gan still had no fear, only raised the scroll in his hand high, and said loudly: "His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty is here, and Liu Feng still does not kneel to receive the holy decree." ”

It's this set again, it was like this in Changsha back then, this Jiang Gan is really interesting.

Liu Feng sneered, raised his head and said: "The minister is in armor, and he can't kneel to receive it." ”

Back then, Cao Ying was surrounded by strong enemies, and he still dared not to take the Han Emperor in his eyes, not to mention Liu Feng now.

This time, Jiang Gan didn't put more angel scores, even if Liu Feng refused to kneel, he was no longer reluctant, so he unfolded the holy decree and read it out loud: "The great general Liu Feng exterminated the Cao thief, and he had the merit of Kuang Fu Sheji, and he specially added Liu Feng as the great Sima Jiazhong, and supervised the Chinese and foreign armies, recorded the Shangshu affairs, and the Suiyang County ......."

I see.

This series of titles, equivalent to the Han Emperor's military and political power, were handed over to Liu Feng's leadership, although these powers, Liu Feng himself already owned, but the Han Emperor's holy decree, but Liu Feng's power was legally recognized.

Emperor Han's decree is naturally Sima Yi's intention, so it seems that Sima Yi's move has already indicated his intention to submit to himself.

After hearing Jiang Gan finish saying the large number of rewards, Liu Feng bowed his hand slightly: "Thank you, Your Majesty." ”

The left and right generals took the holy decree for Liu Feng, Jiang Gan's expression had become very gentle at this time, and he smiled and said: "Jiang Gan is here to congratulate Da Sima." ”

"Hehe-" Liu Feng smiled, waved his hand and said: "Envoy Jiang has won the award, come here, take a seat for Envoy Jiang." ”

Jiang Gan sat down, the wine, food and fruits were served, and Liu Feng said: "Your Majesty ordered me to assist the government, and allowed me to go to the palace with a sword, so does Your Majesty plan to return to Luoyang in the south, or do you plan to let me lead the army to go to Chaoge to assist the government?" ”

Liu Feng This is a threat to test the surname.

Jiang Gan understood what Liu Feng meant, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty has already discussed with Zhong Da and other ministers, since the rebellious ministers have been executed, of course they want to return the capital to Luoyang." At this moment, presumably Zhong Da and the others have escorted His Majesty to the car, and I believe that they will arrive here in a few days. ”

Sima Yi not only borrowed the hand of the Han Emperor to give himself the title of this person below and above 10,000 people, and took the initiative to send the Han Emperor here, it seems that his submission is still very sincere.

Liu Feng nodded slightly: "Since Your Majesty is willing to return the capital to Luoyang, then I will immediately send someone to repair the North Palace." However, in order to ensure the safety of His Majesty, I plan to send a few capable generals to Chaoge to pick up His Majesty and return to the capital, I don't know what Sima Zhong wants? ”

Jiang Gan did not hesitate at all, and immediately said: "Zhong Da has a word first, from the time when Da Sima receives the order, all important military affairs are subject to Da Sima's decision, and there is no need to listen to the opinions of others. ”

Liu Feng was satisfied, and when he ordered his own pro-army commander Chen Dao and the veteran general Zhang Ren to lead an army of 20,000 to Chaoge to "welcome the car", and at the same time, he ordered Sima Yi and other ministers who "escorted the meritorious" to return to Luoyang one step ahead of the other to prepare for the return of the capital.

In the end, Sima Yi is scheming, although he is in power at the moment, but after careful consideration, Liu Feng still decided to first separate Sima Yi and other famous ministers from the Han Emperor, and directly put this group of people under his own surveillance.

"Mr. Ziyi, when Changsha said goodbye, I didn't expect that there would be a reunion today, it was really a creation to make people, and the world was unpredictable." After the big event was decided, Liu Feng was in a good mood, and he reminisced with Jiang Gan, the old man.

Jiang Gan smiled faintly and said: "Since the incident of the Great Sima according to the Second County of Xiangdong, everything in the world has been under the control of the Great Sima, how can it be unpredictable?" ”

Jiang Gan's rhetorical question seems to imply that when he was in Changsha, he had already seen that Liu Feng had ambitions, so he would plan step by step.

"Haha-"

Liu Feng laughed happily and raised his glass to drink.

After a few glasses of wine, Liu Feng suddenly screened away the unrelated people on the left and right, with a bit of mystery in his eyes, and asked: "Ziyi, you and that Sima Zhongda also have some friendship, I want to ask you, what do you think of this person?" ”

Jiang Gan quickly guessed the meaning of Liu Feng's words in his heart, and immediately replied: "Although Cao Ying is a hero, I think his evaluation of Sima Zhongda is pertinent. ”

Cao Ying once commented that Sima Yi has the appearance of "eagle and wolf", and he must be an extraordinary person.

Jiang Gan's words seemed to imply that Sima Yi was keen-eyed and vicious.

Liu Feng pretended not to understand, and said with a smile: "Sima Yi has a meritorious escort, and he knows the current affairs so well, he has made such a great achievement, after His Majesty returns to Luoyang, I plan to reuse it for him, I don't know what Ziyi thinks?" ”

In history, the Sima family usurped Cao, although history has changed, Liu Feng still has concerns about Sima Yi.

Now Jiang Gan is coming as a representative of Sima Yi and his gang, and Liu Feng's words are naturally testing Jiang Gan.

If Jiang Gan spoke out to protect Sima Yi, it also meant that Jiang Gan chose which team to stand on.

In a harmonious atmosphere, Jiang Gan coughed lightly and said in a low voice: "Great Sima Yingming Shenwu, have you forgotten Cao Ying's previous experience?" ”

(To be continued)