At the junction of Xuzhou and Yuzhou, the three brothers Liu Guanzhang and more than 1,000 soldiers are at a loss and worried about where they will go tomorrow. At this moment, a piece of information that was not much different from the battle report received by Cao Cao was delivered to Liu Bei.

"Is this news true?" Liu Bei asked Sun Qian in astonishment. Sun Qian was one of the only two advisors under Liu Bei's command, responsible for collecting information from various places. The other, named Jian Yong, because Jian Yong was slightly familiar with yin and yang mathematics, and could occasionally achieve good fortune and avoid evil, Liu Bei appointed him as a marching staff officer.

Sun Qian replied: "I have already checked it, it should be true." ”

Liu Bei frowned, and there was a feeling of annoyance in his heart for no reason. Why is this Ao Lie's life so hard, the princes of the Twelve Roads, nearly 200,000 allied troops, have not been able to kill him? If Ao Lie dies, although Liu Bei will not get any tangible benefits, he can at least let out a breath of evil anger in his chest, who let Ao Lie steal his limelight everywhere. Besides, if Ao Lie dies, Liu Xie, the Son of Heaven, will inevitably re-raise a potential Han clan to deter the Quartet, and when the time comes, won't his opportunity come? But now, Ao Lie is still alive and well, which makes Liu Bei's heart as disgusting as eating a fly.

Of course, Liu Bei's thoughts were completely guessed by himself, Ao Lie didn't have the intention of stealing the limelight from him at all, it was Liu Bei's jealousy that made him unconsciously distort the facts. As for Liu Xie's practice of re-picking up another Han clan relative, it would be even more illusory, except for Ao Lie, Liu Xie would never trust anyone so much, even if he was a Han clan relative.

"This Yuan Shao, who killed a thousand knives, is so vicious! When he bumped into him one day, I stabbed him to death with a spear to avenge Brother Mo Han! Zhang Fei's eyes widened and he roared angrily.

Guan Yu was angry in his heart, and his red face was about to turn purple: "Fortunately, Ao Jun Hou Fu has a great life, if something really happens, my big man will suddenly lose a giant pillar." ”

Guan and Zhang. You said it word by word, which made Liu Bei's heart even more resentful. If someone else said such a thing now, maybe Liu Bei would immediately draw his sword and behead him. When he was full of indignation, Sun Gan's words made the anger in Liu Bei's heart disappear.

"My lord, I heard that it was a letter from Xuzhou Thorn Shi Taoqian and Beihai Taishou Kong Rong to Ao Junhou Bao." Sun Qian said unintentionally.

Liu Bei immediately grasped the key information in this sentence: "How did you know the Dao?" Sun Qian said with some hesitation: "Actually, I'm not sure." I heard that at that time on the battlefield, there was a person who reported to Ao Junhou and told him that the future was dangerous. This person, I know. It is the deputy general under the Tao envoy's account, but there are many people in the world who have the same name and surname, so I can't be sure. ”

Liu Bei lowered his head and thought in his heart: "Answer? The person surnamed Ka is rare in the world, so it is speculated that this person should be the deputy general under the Tao Envoy Jun's account. Among the princes' alliance, only Tao Yuanjun, Kong Beihai and a certain did not participate in the encirclement and suppression of Ao Lie, and a certain did not tell the matter, and even the second and third brothers did not tell them the details of the ambush. Then the person who leaked the news. There are only Tao Qian and Kong Rong. ”

Thinking of this, Liu Bei suddenly felt that there was a great opportunity in front of him, and after getting up and walking away for more than ten steps, he beckoned Jian Yong. Liu Bei instructed him in a low voice: "Xianhe, you arrange for a few veterans of Zhuo County to go to Jizhou to spread the news, and say that they will be sent to Ao Lie. It is Xuzhou Mu Taoqian. Remember, don't let them reveal their identity, just spread it secretly. Other than that. This matter must not be known to the second and third brothers. ”

Jian Yong asked in a surprised low voice, "Lord, what do you mean by this?" Liu Bei smiled mysteriously and said softly: "Xuzhou, it's a good place, you said that if we can take Xuzhou as the foundation, why worry about the great cause?" Jian Yong stretched out his hand and touched the back of his head, and asked inexplicably: "But what does this have to do with going to Jizhou to spread the news?" ”

Liu Bei turned his head, looked at Jian Yong, and said in a low voice: "Xianhe, you are a person of learning. You don't have to learn this way of power. "As a generation of heroes, Liu Bei's perspective on problems naturally has its own uniqueness. Jian Yong couldn't see it, but Liu Bei saw it very clearly. In order to block the mouth of everyone in the world, or in order to be able to have enough strength to protect himself in a voice of condemnation, Yuan Shao will definitely take Jizhou as the foundation, and then use Tao Qian's message to Ao Lie as an excuse to send troops to attack Tao Qian, so as to hold Xuzhou in his hands. After Jizhou and Xuzhou are in hand, Qingzhou has become a situation of being trapped, and it is within reach. When Yuan Shao sat on the land of Sanzhou, who in the world would dare to talk about today's affairs?

Therefore, Liu Bei asked Jian Yong to send people to Jizhou to spread the news, and let Yuan Shaozhi Dao to report to Ao Lie was Tao Qian. Liu Bei planned a grand plan for Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao couldn't help but be moved, when Yuan Shao took Jizhou, he would definitely attack Xuzhou according to Liu Bei's plan at the moment. What Liu Bei has to do now is to rush to Xuzhou before Yuan Shao raises troops, rely on his own benevolence and righteousness, take the first step to gain Tao Qian's trust, and then wait for Yuan Shao to lead the army to come, and he is taking the opportunity to profit from it and hold the military power of Xuzhou in his own hands.

Thinking that in the future, he will own the whole of Xuzhou, and the bright prospect of tens of thousands of people with armor and string control under his command, Liu Bei's face couldn't help but show a smug smile. At that time, he will be able to justifiably proclaim himself Xuzhou Mu, and he will be a hero of the world.

Luoyang, in the Deyang Palace. The ground in the main hall was scattered with fragments of various precious jade.

Bang - the sound of collision sounded, and another precious jade was thrown to the ground by Liu Xie, falling to pieces. "This is the so-called Fourth World and Three Princes? Is this called boldness and loyalty? Look at what Yuan Shao has done! What does he want to do? Do you want to cut off my Optimus Pillar? Liu Xie gasped and roared angrily at the civil and military officials.

Even Cao Cao and Liu Bei got the news, and Liu Xie had no reason not to know about it. After Ao Lie's rectification of Luoyang, Liu Xie directly held more than 10,000 sergeants in his hands, and his confidence in speaking became much stronger.

Wang Yun, who secretly colluded with Yuan Shao, was already in a cold sweat on his back at this moment, and his court clothes were wet. He never expected that Yuan Shao and the other princes of the Twelve Roads would not be able to take down an Ao Lie when they joined forces! Fortunately, the end of the matter is not bad, otherwise, once the news of his own internal response spreads. I'm afraid that Liu Xie, who is in anger, will not hesitate to cut off his white head. Secretly made a color to the henchmen, Wang Yun motioned for them to go out to persuade Liu Xie to calm his anger.

At that moment, the two ministers stood up and told Liu Xie that Yuan Shao and others were from famous families and were the cornerstone of the imperial court, and they occasionally did wrong things, but they were not guilty to death, and asked Liu Xie to spare Yuan Shao and others. Their words made the anger in Liu Xie's heart burn even more intensely. As the son of the Han Dynasty, does he not even have the power to punish a person? However, Liu Xie was not stupid, although he was angry in his heart, angry that Yuan Shao and others were bold enough to dare to ambush Ao Lie halfway, Liu Xie also understood that although he regained control of the government with the help of Ao Lie. He even personally mastered an army of 10,000 people, but these could not completely change the weak side of his own emperor.

The Great Han since fifty years ago. There were faint signs of the local princes separating one side. For a long time, the majesty of the royal family has fallen to the freezing point, if it weren't for Ao Lie's timely appearance, I am afraid that Liu Xie, the son of the Han Dynasty, would have been the king of the dead country long ago. In getting along with Ao Lie. Liu Xie's thinking and character have been subtly changed, and the way and angle of looking at problems have been imperceptibly. It is also very different from the historical Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Liu Xiezhi said, freezing three feet is not a day's cold, the disadvantages of the big man are not so easy to eliminate, he can't and has no ability to easily decide the life and death of some top families. It is even more impossible to take back the military power from the princes who have been divided for a long time.

Be forbearant and patient, and watch the time and wait for change. These eight words were quietly told to Liu Xie by Ao Lie on the night before the class teacher, so that Liu Xie kept them in mind, and took these eight words as the purpose as the central idea for dealing with the contradictions between the government and the opposition. At this time, these eight words echoed in Liu Xie's mind, allowing Liu Xie to gradually calm down the anger in his heart and sit back on the dragon chair.

The existence of the Shi clan has lasted for thousands of years, and most of the power of the imperial court has been dispersed, and the privileges they have are by no means something that the current Liu Xie can eliminate. As the two confidants of Wang Yun said, the scholar clan is still the cornerstone of the imperial court at this stage. Therefore, Liu Xie also understood that no matter how angry he was, he must not give an order to kill Yuan Shao openly, otherwise it would inevitably provoke a strong reaction from the scholars everywhere, and even provoke a small number of radical family patriarchs to raise troops to rebel, in that case, it would make the Han who had just settled down fall into turmoil again.

However, Liu Xie regarded Ao Lie as his own brother, and Ao Lie repeatedly saved Liu Xie in times of danger, if he couldn't protect Ao Lie's interests on this matter, Liu Xie's heart would be really difficult to settle. When he was in a dilemma, Liu Xie looked at Liu Yu for help. Because of Ao Lie's relationship, Liu Xie also has great trust in Liu Yu, and when he encounters difficult things, he always asks Liu Yu.

Liu Yu understood Liu Xie's thoughts, so he went out and said, "Start playing the saint." Yuan Shao and others openly raised troops to besiege the champion Hou who was personally crowned by the imperial court, and should be executed by Ling Chi. However, Yuan Shao and others were first-time offenders, and they had previously made the work of asking Dong and saving the driver, so they could be exempted from the death penalty. But the death penalty can be forgiven, but the living sin is unforgivable, and the Holy One may punish them with a year's worth of money as an example. ”

Zhong Xuan came out and added: "Holy Lord, Yuan Shao and others are bold and reckless, angering Tianwei, they should be stripped of their titles and demoted to one level to show the majesty of the saints." ”

Listening to Liu Yu and Zhong Xuan's words, Wang Yun finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as Liu Xie and Liu Yu are willing to let go, this matter will be easy to handle. Anything that punishes or cuts off a knighthood is not a matter. How many princes are still living on the court's money? Even after the war and turmoil, the imperial court has long been unable to send out Yulu, if it were not for Ao Lie, Wang Kuang and other princes to pay taxes to the imperial court on time, Liu Xie, the son of heaven, may not even be able to eat meat. As for the demotion of officials, it is only a nominal punishment, is it possible that after Yuan Shao is demoted by one level, he will not be able to control the soldiers and horses in his hands? Afterwards, just find a reason to falsely report your merits, and then you can be promoted back again.

To put it bluntly, Liu Yu and Zhong Xuan's words sounded very harsh, but they were all looking for steps for Liu Xie, in order to preserve Liu Xie's majesty as the Son of Heaven in terms of face, Yuan Shao and the others did not have any actual losses at all. In front of the huge family of scholars, Liu Yu, Zhong Xuan and other ministers who were willing to Han had to make compromises in order to preserve Liu Xie's dignity.

Liu Xie sighed in his heart, and a deep helplessness swept through his heart. This is the sadness of the power in the hands of the family, which is greater than the power of the Son of Heaven. Liu Xie, the son of the Han Dynasty, is almost going to be put in the air. Taking a deep breath, Liu Xie made the final decision: "Pass the decree and demote Yuan Shao and others to a higher level and fine them for one year." They were ordered to return to the county immediately, without mistake. The descendants of the dead princes such as Liu Dai, the former assassin of Yuzhou, were sent to the frontier, and they were not allowed to return without conscription. In addition, the clan of King Jing of Zhongshan will be eliminated from the royal family tree and will not be hired forever. In addition to making concessions, Liu Xie expelled Liu Bei, who had always been dissatisfied with Ao Lie, from the ranks of the Han clan. Liu Xie didn't want to see that one day, Liu Bei would be like Yuan Shao again, planning a farce of besieging Ao Lie. (To be continued......)