As the newspapers in favor of the generalissimo's troops grew louder and louder, the shape around Luoyang became increasingly tense, and Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Nanyang, which were close to Luoyang, significantly increased the alert of the troops, and Cao Cao and Liu Bei seemed to smell the imminent smell of a big war.

Of course, Liu He would not send a large army to fight Cao Cao and Liu Bei at the same time without saying a word, and he still made some efforts to evolve peacefully before the war, but unfortunately did not get a response from Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

Liu He sent a letter to Liu Bei, promising that as long as Liu Bei was willing to lay down his military power and go to Luoyang, then not only Liu Bei could get the post of guard lieutenant among the nine Qings, but Liu Bei's two sworn brothers, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, could also be crowned as Sanpin generals and continue to lead the army to fight, and the rest of the civil and military staff who followed Liu Bei would also be properly settled. Liu He's reputation has always been not bad, if Liu Bei intends to recruit An, he can publish Liu He's handwritten letter to the public, with Liu He's current status, it is absolutely impossible to repay the debt.

However, Liu He's kindness appeased Liu Bei and then became a flattering eye and threw it to the blind, perhaps because Liu Bei was weak in his heart, or because he felt that he was also the uncle of the current emperor, but the treatment he could get was far lower than Liu He's envy, jealousy and hatred, in short, after Liu Bei received Liu He's letter, he did not show it to others, but immediately sent people to Changyi and Xiangyang to contact Liu Biao, hoping to get the support of the two bigwigs.

While the envoys sent by Liu Bei were still on the way, Liu He's envoys to Changyi and Xiangyang had already met Cao Cao and Liu Biao respectively.

The trip to Changyi to meet Cao Cao was Liu He's "foreign minister" Chen Yi, and it was the first time that Liu He had officially sent an envoy to meet Cao Cao since his rise. Cao Cao is a masterpiece in the world, if it weren't for Liu He's birth, he may have unified the north of the Han Dynasty at this time, and his open-mindedness is naturally difficult for ordinary people to reach, although he knows that Chen Yi's coming here is definitely not a good thing, but he still expressed due etiquette and welcome for Chen Yi's arrival.

When Cao Cao saw Chen Yi, he asked with a smile, "Has the generalissimo sharpened his knife?" ”

Chen Yi also replied with a smile: "The generalissimo's knife has always been sharp. You don't have to grind it at all. ”

Cao Cao asked Chen Yi again: "The generalissimo sent you this time, how much official position did you give Cao someone?" ”

Chen Yi replied: "The generalissimo himself said that Cao Gong is brilliant in wisdom and wisdom, and he is a masterpiece in the world, if he is willing to go to Luoyang as an official, he can serve as the prime minister in the future!" ”

"Hahaha......" Cao Cao laughed loudly, as if he was very satisfied with Liu He's ability to look up to him so much. "Luoyang already has a generalissimo, Cao will go again. It's a bit crowded. He also asked Mr. Chen to go back and tell the generalissimo that Cao did not want to work with him, but now that the family has a big business, he cannot abandon the old department that he has followed for many years and enjoy the glory and wealth alone. ”

Chen Yi didn't have much hope when he came, he heard Cao Cao's determination and courage to prepare to collide with Liu He head-on, and he was not in a hurry to get angry, but said sincerely: "Since Cao Gong wants to compete with the generalissimo, Chen Mou can't say anything more. Before leaving. The generalissimo specially confessed that if the sword and soldiers are together, the people will be displaced, and if Cao Gong is willing to abide by several agreements with the generalissimo. After the war, the generalissimo will treat the Cao clan well. ”

Xiahoudun, who was angry when he heard it, said angrily at Chen Yi: "You scholar has such a big tone, now that the two armies have not fought each other, the victory is inseparable, what kind of generalissimo treats the Cao family well." Isn't it ridiculous! ”

Cao Cao raised his hand to stop Xiahou Xuan's roar, and said calmly: "Mr. Chen might as well speak out and listen to it, if it is reasonable, it is beneficial." Cao should abide by it. ”

"One of the principles of warfare is that ordinary people must not be forced to serve as human shields on the battlefield, and they must not burn houses and trees on the march and during retreat!"

"This is a great goodness, Cao agrees."

"The second principle of engagement is to treat the opponent's prisoners well, try their best to treat the wounded and captured soldiers of the other side, and must not arbitrarily kill the opponent's soldiers who have put down their weapons and surrender, and allow the other side to exchange prisoners and money for their own captured soldiers after the war."

"This article is also good, Cao agreed."

"The third principle of warring is that the offensive and defensive sides must not interfere with the peasants' cultivation and harvest, must not destroy farmland and water conservancy facilities, and do not fight against trapped beasts when the outcome of the war is irreversible."

"This is debatable. Cao can promise not to interfere with agricultural affairs, not to destroy farmland and water conservancy, after all, this time it is the generalissimo who wants to attack, these conditions are obviously beneficial to Yanzhou and Yuzhou, but the battlefield situation is changing rapidly, whether the outcome of the war has reached the point of irreversibility, there is no standard for judging, in order to boost the morale of the soldiers, it is not a way to break the cauldron and sink the boat. ”

"Since Cao Gong said so, then abide by the content of the first part of this article, and you can skip it later."

Chen Yi reached three battlefield treaties with Cao Cao on behalf of Liu He, which seemed to be a bit self-tied, but this was exactly the standard of engagement that Liu He wanted to set for future generations. Although war and civilization are naturally a pair of enemies, and when war breaks out, it is the day when civilization is destroyed, Liu He still hopes that through his own efforts, the destruction of civilization by war will be mitigated. The people of the country like to come to a big pit of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people at every turn, or set fire to houses and fields everywhere, and this kind of barbaric behavior that has no scruples and goes against humanity and the way of heaven is really not worth advocating and carrying forward.

Before Chen Yilin left Changyi, he also mentioned that Cao Cao might as well send some young scholars to Jicheng to study, so that they could study without being affected during the war. Cao Cao was noncommittal about this, but after Chen Yi left, he had five hundred scholars selected in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, including his son Cao Zhi, to be sent to the north to escape the war.

When Chen Yi finished his work, the people who went to Xiangyang to meet Liu Biao had almost completed the task assigned by Liu He.

The lobbyist who went to Xiangyang to meet Liu Biao was a clan figure named Liu Hui. Liu Hui, the word Gongsi, a native of Nanyang, is the descendant of Liu Fa, the king of Changsha, he is similar to Liu Biao and Liu Zhang, and others, both are the heirs of the Han family, although because the branch is far away, but it is also regarded as the Liu family, so after meeting Liu Biao, many words can be let go to talk.

Liu Hui first carefully introduced Liu He's plan to implement the new policy to Liu Biao, and also emphasized the practice of Liu Yu's father and son in Luoyang to treat the clan well, and then asked Liu Biao about his attitude towards the implementation of the new policy. Liu Biaomu has guarded Jingzhou for many years, and his political wisdom is naturally not low, and he knows that when Liu Xian asks himself about his attitude towards implementing the new policy, he is actually asking if he is willing to hand over the military power in his hands to the central government.

Liu Biao thought for a moment and replied to Liu Xuan: "I personally understand and agree with the generalissimo's practice of preparing to collect military power from all over the country in Luoyang. However, the situation is not the same in various places, such as Jingzhou, because the north and south span is thousands of miles, and there are Wuxi barbarians and many foreign tribes in the territory, if I immediately hand over the military power to the imperial court, I am afraid that the imperial court will not have time to readjust the deployment, and the whole country will be in chaos. Moreover, Jiangdong Sun and Yizhou Liu Biao have always been eyeing Jingzhou, and if I hand over the military power, I am afraid that I will be killed in the next ten years. ”

Regardless of whether Liu Biao was sincere or not, what he said made Liu Xian difficult to refute. The main purpose of Liu Hui's visit this time was to persuade Liu Biao not to support Cao Cao when Liu He was at war with Cao Cao, and to keep Jingzhou stable. He tactfully reminded Liu Biao and said: "You and I are both descendants of the Liu family, and it is our duty to maintain the unity and stability of the Han family's rivers and mountains. In the future, after dealing with the warlords who support their own troops in various places, they will see each other well. ”

The implicit meaning of Liu Hui's words was to warn Liu Biao that Liu He would allow him not to hand over his military power for the time being, but only if he did not secretly collude with forces such as Cao Cao and Sun Jian to confront the central court. If Liu Biao abides by this agreement, then after Liu He sweeps away all forces in the future, everyone can still sit down and talk about the conditions for co-optation, in short, they will not treat Liu Biao badly. If Liu Biaoyang disobeys the yin, this kind of thing can't be concealed after all, then Liu He will have to completely turn his face with Liu Biao, in that case, once Jingzhou is breached, the fate of Liu Biao's family will be another result.

If you open the territory map of the Han Dynasty at this time, you can clearly see that Liu He's forces have surrounded Yanzhou and Yuzhou, which Cao Cao controlled, on three sides, leaving only the south side near the Yangtze River. And Liu Bei, who is entrenched in the Nanyang area, is sandwiched between Liu He, Liu Biao, and Cao Cao.

If Liu He wants to recover the military power of the world, the first thing he needs to solve is Cao Cao, who is close at hand, and Liu Zhang and Sun Jian, who are far away in Yizhou and Jiangdong, can live in peace for two years for the time being, but Liu Biao in Jingzhou, who is close to Cao Cao, is a variable. If Liu Biao supported Cao Cao with great fanfare, formed an offensive and defensive alliance with Cao Cao, and resolutely opposed the imperial court's resumption of local military power, then Liu He would have to be prepared for a two-front war, or even a three-front war.

On the front line, a war was waged against Cao Cao around Yanzhou.

On the second line, a war was waged near Nanyang against Liu Bei, who was supported by Liu Biao. After solving Liu Bei, he took advantage of the situation to attack Xiangyang and drove Liu Biao to Jiangling.

On the third line, a war was waged against Sun Jian in Jiangdong south of Xuzhou to prevent Sun Jian's father and son from sending troops north to support Cao Cao.

Guo Jia formulated three sets of operational plans for Liu He according to the number of troops under Liu He's current control, among which the most difficult thing was to start a war on three fronts at the same time, and the most feasible thing was to stabilize Liu Biao, concentrate on dealing with Cao Cao, and clean up with Liu Bei by the way.

Liu Biao's lifelong advocacy is the golden mean, he carefully thought about the possible results of two different choices of cooperating with Liu He or confronting Liu He, and finally the idea in his heart was that even if he united Cao Cao, he would not be able to resist Liu He who came with righteousness. Because it was not Liu He's first initiative to attribute military power to the central court, whether it was in the pre-Qin or the former Han Dynasty, the local administrators and even the kings did not have the power to directly control the army, and what Liu He had to do now was only to collect the military power that had been delegated from the imperial court to the states.

Considering that his body is getting old and his three sons are not as ambitious as Liu He, Liu Biao decided to listen to Liu Hui's construction, and when Liu He attacked Cao Cao, he watched from the wall and did not get involved. (To be continued......)