In July of the fourth year of Xingping, the eastern capital of Luoyang was sultry, and the originally noisy street market became listless under the exposure of the summer sun, losing the lively scene of the past.

In Taifu's mansion, Li Yan had just received a summons from Youzhou, and after reading it carefully, a happy smile appeared on his face. "The eldest prince is really a big deal this time, he actually took turns to clean up the Yuan army in the eastern Xianbei, the central Xianbei and the northern part of Bingzhou, and there is no need to worry about war on the western front of Youzhou in the next five years!"

Qu Meng on the side said with some expectation: "I really hope that Gongzi will lead the army south as soon as possible, this sick man really needs a change!" ”

Qu Meng has now grown into a big guy, after a few years of experience, he has long faded the greenness on his face, he is now Li Yan's most trusted and relied on subordinate in Luoyang, Li Yan will not avoid him when he makes any decisions.

"Gongzi will definitely come to Luoyang, but at the earliest, it will be after he pacifies Liaodong and integrates the states north of the Yellow River, so before that, we need to continue to persist and be patient." Li Yan is well aware of Liu He's strategic deployment.

Qu Meng said with some concern: "Last year, Cao Cao ran into a wall in Xuzhou, Zhang Miao brothers and Zang Hong rebelled in Yanzhou, and this year Yuan Shao suffered a big loss in Bingzhou, Chang'an direction Wang Situ's henchman General Huangfu Song died suddenly of illness last month, the relationship between Lu Bu and Wang Situ is detached, and the two forces of Li Dao and Guo Yan are constantly rubbing against each other, I am afraid that the surroundings of Luoyang will be chaotic again." ”

Li Yan waved his hand and said: "If they want to be chaotic, let them go to chaos, as long as we stabilize our position in Luoyang, maybe after the chaos is an opportunity!" Have all the families in the city been honest lately? ”

"Zhao Sikong is still the same, and he has not had too much contact with the direction of Chang'an. General Wei (Zhu Jun) did not interfere in political affairs, but only concentrated on training his soldiers and horses. Zheng Gongye (Zheng Tai) is keen on entertaining and entertaining, and often gathers friends in the house to drink and feast. Xun Xiuruo (Xun Yan) concentrates on Taixue annotations and teaches students. Zhang Mengzhuo (Zhang Miao), who has just arrived, is also honest and has not had any contact with our people in private...... Qu Meng replied seriously, carefully combing through the important people in Luoyang City.

"What do you think of Chen Changwen (Chen Qun)?"

"This man has great talents. The means of governing internal affairs are even more superb than those of Jia Liangdao (Jia Kui). ”

"When Gongzi left Luoyang, he left Zhang Yi, Jia Kui and Chen Qun and others with me, and left Shen Xijun and Long Huwei to me, but now it seems that he is strong and weak, and he lacks a general like Zhao Zilong and Taishi Ziyi. Although Deng Hai and Chen Gui are loyal and commendable, and have made great progress after several years of training, they are still a little incapable of coping with the complex situation in the future, and they cannot be generals. ”

Qu Meng remembered that Liu He secretly appointed Tai Shici to go to Xuzhou last year, so his heart moved. Xiang Li Yan said: "When Gongzi left Luoyang at that time, there were not many generals available under him, and the situation in Youzhou was critical, so naturally General Zilong or General Junyi could not stay in Luoyang. ”

Qu Meng's words reminded Li Yan that now that there is no war on the western front of Youzhou, if Zhao Yun and Zhang He are all placed on the western front, it seems a bit of a waste of generals?

"Good. I will write a letter to Gongzi, asking him to appoint a general to sneak to Luoyang secretly to deal with possible changes in the direction of Guanzhong! ”

In the city of Changyi, Cao Cao learned the news of Huangfu Song's death. Immediately gather a few military advisors to discuss the plan.

Cao Cao was the first to speak: "This time the eastward march to Xuzhou and the civil strife in Yanzhou were pacified, thanks to the advice of several military divisions, and now Liu Shiren has defeated Kebineng in the north, and has looted the four counties in the north of Bingzhou. If there is no restriction, I am afraid that Yuan Benchu will not be able to stop his footsteps to the south in the future, and I also ask all the military advisors to give advice. Conspire against Liu Shiren's strategy. ”

Cheng Yu pondered for a moment and sighed: "With Liu Shiren's current strength in the north, if he doesn't make a mistake himself, when he calms the Gongsun Du of Liaodong, he will definitely be overwhelmed when he goes south, and no one can stop him before he reaches the bank of the Yellow River." ”

Cao Cao frowned and asked, "In Mr. Zhongde's opinion, Liu Shiren will be able to march on the north bank of the Yellow River in a few years?" ”

"Two years at the earliest, three years at the latest."

"With Yanzhou's current strength, can Liu Shiren be stopped?" Cao Cao asked again.

Cheng Yu shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Even if the lord can stop Liu Shiren's footsteps in Yanzhou, he can still cross the river from the direction of Qingzhou, or he can go straight to Luoyang from the direction of Bingzhou, and these two directions are now not controlled by the lord." ”

"Liu Shiren is really hateful! Last year, if he hadn't secretly laid out, he first secretly sent Taishi Ziyi to Tancheng, and then sent Lu Zigan to Xuzhou, and now the army under my command should have been sent to Qingzhou, and all the forces such as Kong Wenju and Tian Kai would have been cleaned up! Cao Cao remembered the loss he had suffered in Xuzhou, and couldn't help but look up and sigh, feeling very unwilling.

"Lord, this is not the time to complain." Xi Zhicai reminded Cao Cao softly. "In the opinion of his subordinates, if you want to deal with Liu Shiren, you need to unite the forces of Eryuan and Guanzhong, and even Liu Jingsheng in Jingzhou. Yanzhou alone cannot shake Liu Shiren's foundation. ”

"Please also tell me more about it."

Xi Zhicai said slowly: "Chang'an Huangfu Song died of illness last month, and now there is no one under Wang Yun who is a tiger and a tiger Lu Bu, with Lu Bu's tiger and wolf heart, he will definitely refuse to live under Wang Yun for a long time, if someone secretly instigates it, Lu Bu will definitely turn against Wang Yun." Outside Chang'an, Li Dao, Guo Yan and Zhang Ji and other forces are also calculating each other, and everyone has the ambition to enter Chang'an. If the lord can turn Lü Bu and Wang Yun against each other, and then let Li Guo and other warlords attack Lü Bu, then regardless of whether Wang Yun can support it or not, the ministers of the Chang'an Dynasty will inevitably escort the young emperor to move from Xijing back to the eastern capital Luoyang. ”

After the Guanzhong Rebellion, the lord sent troops to Luoyang together with Er Yuan and Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou, nominally to welcome the return of the young emperor to the east, but in fact he could take the opportunity to cut off Duan Xuan in Hedong, Zhang Yang in Hanoi and Liu He's henchmen entrenched near Luoyang. Only by removing all the obstacles leading to Luoyang from Bingzhou, Jizhou, Yanzhou and Jingzhou, and condensing the strength of these states, can we resist the strong Youzhou army. ”

After listening to Xi Zhicai's analysis, Cao Cao said with some hesitation: "Yuan's original intention to get involved in Luoyang is not a matter of one or two days, I am sure that it will be moved by him, but Liu Jingsheng may not send troops to participate in this matter, and now his main energy is used to prevent Yuan Shu in Yangzhou and Sun Jian in Changsha, but I am afraid that he will not be able to draw troops." ”

Xun You added: "The lord can send someone to Yangzhou to contact Yuan Shu, expressing support for him to send troops to Xuzhou to attack Lu Zhi, Yuan Highway has long had the ambition to be the emperor, and Xuzhou has been plotting for a long time, as long as we transfer our troops to the vicinity of Luoyang, Yuan Highway will inevitably send a large army to attack Xuzhou." Once Yuan Highway sent troops to Xuzhou, the pressure on Liu Jingsheng in Jingzhou would be reduced a lot. The lord can also send people to Changsha to lobby Sun Wentai, and encourage Sun Wentai to take advantage of Yuan's highway to attack Xuzhou and attack Yan Baihu and Liu Miao in Jiangdong region, so that Liu Jingsheng can rest assured that he can send troops to Luoyang. ”

Liu Ye also suggested: "During the period of contacting the forces of various roads, the lord can continue to send troops to Yuzhou to encircle and suppress the remnants of the Yellow Turban entrenched near Runan, so as to avoid the resurgence of Liu Xuande, who fled to Runan, and take the opportunity to strengthen himself." ”

After listening to the suggestions of several military advisors, Cao Cao had a general idea in his heart, and he immediately sent Xun Yu to Chang'an to meet Zhong Xuan secretly and ask Zhong Xuan to start stirring up the situation in Chang'an. Cao Cao also sent a celebrity Liu Shao to Yangzhou to persuade Yuan Shu to send troops to Xuzhou, sent a celebrity Hua Xin to Jingzhou to lobby and contact Liu Biao, sent a celebrity Mao Jue to Changsha to contact Sun Jian, and sent his henchman Ren Jun to Yecheng to contact Yuan Shao.

In Yecheng, Yuan Shao received a letter from Gao Gan not long ago, and learned that the entire four northern counties of Bingzhou had now become a no-man's land, and he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. In other words, although Yuan Shao has redeemed the four counties of Shuofang, Wuyuan, Yunzhong and Yanmen from Liu He, because there is no population there, the senior cadres are not only unable to collect taxes from here, but also unable to levy labor from here, let alone have no source of soldiers.

If it weren't for his acquiescence to Feng Ji leading the Northern Route Army to retreat again and again, and sit back and watch the Xianbei people occupy the four northern counties, there are at least hundreds of thousands of people here. When Zhao Yun led the army to leave Bingzhou, although he took away the remaining tens of thousands of people, he did not force them, but only told these people of Bingzhou the policy of benefiting the people, and the northern people who had suffered a series of military disasters did not hesitate to follow Zhao Yun's team to settle down in the Daqingshan area.

Yuan Shao wanted to send troops to occupy Tian Kai's territory in Qingzhou, but Liu He got in the way and helped Tian Kai withstand the attacks of Chun Yuqiong and Gao Lan. Yuan Shao wanted to lure Kebineng to harm Youzhou, but Liu He not only cleaned up Kebineng, but also beat the North Route Army of Bingzhou to a half-crippled army. Now Yuan Shao is no longer able to launch a large-scale attack on Youzhou, Jizhou and Qingzhou in any direction, as long as Liu He does not take the initiative to send troops to attack him, he will be blessed by heaven.

However, it has never been Yuan Shao's character to sit back and wait, and although he is now powerless to attack Liu He, Yuan Shao immediately set his sights on the territory of Duan Xuan in Hedong and Zhang Yang in Hanoi.

Strategist Tian Feng suggested to Yuan Shao that it would be better to completely abandon the northern part of Bingzhou, combine the soldiers and horses of the Northern Route Army of Bingzhou with the Western Route Army, and then fight to the west of Shangjun in one go, and then go all the way south from the direction of Shangjun, and drive Duan Xuanshi back to Guanzhong or Hanoi from Hedong, or Luoyang and Chang'an.

Xu You also suggested to Tian Feng to contact Cao Cao in Yanzhou as soon as possible, and then send troops from Yanzhou and Jizhou to attack Zhang Yang in Hanoi, and drive Zhang Yang to the Luoyang area on the south bank of the Yellow River, so that whether he occupies Hedong or Hanoi, he can directly approach Luoyang and find a good way out for the future big melee.

Yuan Shao felt that Tian Feng and Xu You's ideas were meritorious, so he decided to go to Bingzhou in person to integrate the Northern Route Army and the Western Route Army, and then send troops to Shangjun and Hedong. As for the matter of jointly attacking Zhang Yang in Hanoi with Cao Cao, it is necessary to wait for him and Cao Cao to reach a consensus before making arrangements. (To be continued......)