The order was given, and the whole of Koto went into action. The grain and grass army began to move, and all the merchants from the west were charged and not allowed to leave, and at the same time, the control of the various passes was also strengthened.

Li Rucheng, a merchant from Xiangyang, has been trading on the river since he was young, and is very familiar with the counties on both sides of the river, and is now one of the famous businessmen in Jiangxia, but like all the merchants, although he is rich, he has a low status, not to mention that the officials of the Shi clan look down on him, and even ordinary people sneer at him.

Li Rucheng sat in the study and looked at the bamboo slips. The housekeeper suddenly came in and reported: "Master, Li Fu's shopkeeper is back." ”

Li Rucheng put down the bamboo slips and asked strangely, "Didn't he transport goods to Xiangyang?" It's only been two days, why did you come back? The butler shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

Li Rucheng said: "Tell him to come in." ”

The butler answered, ran down, and after a while, led a tall, thin man in his forties in a green cloth shirt in. When the man saw Li Rucheng, he clasped his fists and bowed, "Master." ”

Li Rucheng frowned and asked, "Why did you come back suddenly?" What happened? ”

Li Fudao: "Back to the master, two days ago, the little one was heading towards the Xiangjiang River with two big barges, but he didn't want to be stopped by the sergeant patrolling the river. It is said that some people are smuggling ordnance, and the movement of cargo ships on the river is suspended. ”

Li Rucheng asked, "Did they search the boat?" What about the losses? ”

Li Fu clenched his fists and said: "Those soldiers didn't search the boat, they just stopped us back." ”

Li Rucheng was surprised, "What kind of truth is this?" If you want to catch smugglers, why not search the boats! Li Fu said: "That's fine." If those soldiers really searched the ship, they don't know how much damage they would have! ”

Li Rucheng nodded.

Li Fu suddenly said something, "By the way, sir, when we were on the river at night, we faintly saw a large number of warships sailing into the nearby harbor, but the next morning, it was normal again. The villain feels that Wu Chenghou may be going to use soldiers! ”

Li Rucheng frowned, "Use soldiers? He was shocked, "Does he want to use troops against Jingzhou?" ”

Li Fudao: "This villain doesn't know. ”

Li Rucheng said in a deep voice: "It is said that Sun Jian is a hero, but I didn't expect him to want to take advantage of the general to fight against the Xianbei people!" What a shameless villain! Li Fu said worriedly: "I heard that Jingxiang is only garrisoned by a corps of General Zhang Liao, if Wucheng Hou really attacks, the consequences will be unimaginable!" ”

Li Rucheng pondered for a moment, stood up, and walked in front of Li Fu. "Li Fu, how do I treat you?"

Li Fu hugged his fists without thinking about it: "The master treats the villain like a mountain, and the villain can't repay it in his life!" Li Rucheng asked: "I want you to do something for me, this matter may be very dangerous, do you dare?" Li Fuzheng said: "Even if it is for the master to go to the soup and step on the fire, the villain will not give up!" ”

Li Rucheng nodded appreciatively, "Very good!" I was not wrong! I want you to find a way to go to Xiangyang immediately and inform Lord Zhuge and General Zhang Liao of the situation here! ”

Li Fu hugged his fists and said: "The villain will live up to his trust!" ”

Li Rucheng asked the housekeeper to take a small bag of silver taels, handed it to Li Fu, and advised: "Be careful all the way!" If it is caught by the Jiangdong Army, it is said that it is a smuggling of goods. ”

"The villain understands, and the villain takes his leave."

Li Rucheng nodded. Li Fu bowed to Li Rucheng and left in a hurry.

……

Xiangyang.

Late at night, Zhuge Liang stood in front of the map and looked at the topographic map of the Jingxiang area, his brows furrowed.

Zhang Liao, who was dressed in military uniform, walked quickly from outside, came behind Zhuge Liang, hugged his fists and said, "Military advisor." Although Zhuge Liang's current identity is the assassin of Jingzhou, Zhang Liao's generals still habitually call him a military advisor. Zhuge Liang turned around and asked with a smile, "Wen Yuan came over so late, there must be something?" ”

Zhang Liao smiled: "I really can't hide anything from the military advisor." ”

Zhuge Liang returned to the hall and asked Zhang Liao to sit down. Zhang Liao was not polite to Zhuge Liang, so he sat down on the left. Zhuge Liang walked to the right side opposite Zhang Liao and sat down.

Zhang Liao said worriedly: "I just received a routine report from Luoyang, and the situation in Bingzhou is really worrying!" The routine report that Zhang Liao mentioned refers to the daily situation report sent by the General's Mansion to various places at a certain time. Routine reports are generally only sent to the county level, and officials below the county level have to inquire about the current situation in the world if they want to know the current situation in the county.

Zhuge Liang nodded, "Although the population of Xianbei people is far inferior to ours, they are all natural riding and archery experts!" With a population of 3 million, there is no problem with sending 2 million soldiers! What I'm most worried about now is that the Xianbei people have made up their minds to sweep the Central Plains! If that's the case, the real sinister battle is yet to come! Zhang Liao was worried.

Zhuge Liang smiled: "There is good news, it was just delivered today. Cao Cao is indeed sincere and wants to cooperate with us to deal with the Xianbei people! Cao Cao has ordered Xun Yu to be the general of the protector of the country, and the four generals of Xiahoudun, Zhao Yun, Wen Chou, and Gao Lan are stationed in Daijun and are waiting for the opportunity. The number of troops Cao Cao will use this time, I estimate that it will exceed 600,000! ”

Zhang Liao showed excitement, "I didn't expect this Cao Cao to be a hero!" After a pause, he said with some worry: "Cao Cao has 1.6 million army and 200,000 navy, even if he sends 600,000 troops to deal with the Xianbei people, the troops in his hands are still very rich, I am worried about ......"

Zhuge Liang understood Zhang Liao's worries, shook his head and said, "Impossible, there are two reasons. First, although Cao Cao was cunning, his vigilance against foreign races made him unwilling and unwilling to do anything to us at this time; Second, and most importantly, Cao Cao's grain reserves are simply not enough to support a two-front war! I have calculated that the food in his hands is enough for 600,000 yuan, how long will you receive support for a year. To sum up, Cao Cao couldn't have had other ideas, if he didn't have enough food, I guess he would send more troops north to fight!

Zhang Liao felt that what Zhuge Liang said made sense, and the worries in his heart were reduced a lot. Seeing that Zhuge Liang frowned, he seemed to be worried about something, and said with a smile: "The military advisor's words have resolved the worries in his heart, but why is the military advisor frowning?" ”

Zhuge Liang smiled and frowned, "I'm worried about Sun Jian." Zhang Liao is a smart person, as soon as he heard this, he understood what Zhuge Liang meant, and thought: "It shouldn't be!" Now our army is fighting a fierce war with foreign races, and the war is difficult! Sun Jian has a reputation as a hero, so he wouldn't have done such a dirty thing, right? ”

Zhuge Liang frowned and said, "It's hard to say. Don't forget, Sun Jianke put away the heirloom jade seal very dirtily back then! ”