Liu Bei followed Zhuge Liang's advice and sent Jian Yong as an envoy to visit Nan Ye with gifts and congratulate Liu Yi on his accession to the throne. Sun Quan and Cao Pi also sent envoys to celebrate. The idea of the two of them is very simple, that is, they want to marry Nan Ye first, kill Liu Bei when Nan Ye and Liu Bei are fighting, and then fight against Nan Ye.

For the gifts sent by the three families, Nanye did not refuse to accept them all, and then returned the gifts one by one. Especially for Jian Yong, Nan Ye was even more hospitable as ever, and had a secret conversation all night. By the time Jian Yong left, he had no longer the nervousness he was in, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was in a mood.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang have been nervous since Jian Yong set off. Because of the relationship with the newspaper, for example, the people today already know that the Han Dynasty is divided into three, and the two Han States and one Wu State have become a strong trend. In order to distinguish the two Han kingdoms, the common people called the Han kingdom established by Liu Yi as the Southern Han Dynasty, which had both geographical and Nanye relations. The Han kingdom founded by Liu Bei is known as the Northern Han Dynasty. There is a nursery rhyme in the market: There must be a war between the Southern Han and the Northern Han. This is also the reason why Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang are uneasy.

When it comes to fighting, Liu Bei is no stranger. Even in the face of a powerful enemy, Liu Bei has never been timid. Because he has faced almost all strong enemies in his life, he can still run if he can't beat it! But this time is different from the past, Liu Bei's foundation has been established, and there is no way to run at all, so he can only fight against the water. What's even worse is that with the expansion of the territory, the disadvantage of insufficient talent reserves under Liu Bei began to appear, Guan and Zhang Er will be one in Yanzhou, the other in Merge, and only Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and Chen Zhi in Yuzhou. Once Nan Ye came to attack, Liu Bei didn't even have a general to lead the troops, which made Liu Bei have a headache.

Zhuge Liang also realized that Liu Bei's situation was not optimistic, but he couldn't panic, and he had to pretend to be confident to comfort Liu Bei: "Your Majesty only needs to strictly guard the city, and there is no need for a general to go out, I have my own plan to retreat from the enemy." ”

Liu Bei had no other way but to believe in Zhuge Liang at this time. Of course, Liu Bei can also hope that Jian Yong will bring back good news, but this possibility is too low, and Liu Bei might as well believe that Zhuge Liang can retreat Nanye's soldiers. Although Liu Bei did not want to start a war with Nan Ye in his heart, if Nan Ye called, Liu Bei would not be able to be arrested.

Time passed day by day, Liu Bei suffered a lot every day, Zhuge Liang seized all the time to train his soldiers, and ordered Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to assemble the soldiers and horses of the two states to the south and prepare for war with Nan Ye.

On this day, Liu Bei was discussing with Zhuge Liang, and the guards in the palace hurriedly came to report: "The messenger sent by General Jian asks to see him." ”

When Liu Bei heard the news, he hurriedly invited the envoy in and asked, "Can Xianhe still be safe?" How is the movement of the national division and military horses? ”

Although the messenger was sweating profusely and panting, he still smiled and said, "Back to Your Majesty, General Jian is all right." The national division also did not move troops. The general sent the villain back first to reassure His Majesty that the national teacher had said that the alliance between the two families was still good, and there was no intention of attacking each other. Here is the general's handwritten letter, please read it by Your Majesty. ”

Liu Bei couldn't believe it when he heard this, and it wasn't until he read Jian Yong's handwritten letter that he was sure that everything was true. What is said in the letter is no different from what the messenger says. Liu Bei handed the letter to Zhuge Liang and said: "The national teacher really can't bear to attack each other when he thinks of the old feelings, but I have to worry too much." ”

Zhuge Liang was not as optimistic as Liu Bei when he read the letter, he knew how important the word orthodoxy was. Liu Yi and Liu Bei both considered themselves to be orthodox in the Han Dynasty, and this contradiction was completely irreconcilable. Nan Ye did not move troops at this time, Zhuge Liang could still understand, after all, he had just finished the crusade against Cao Pi, and all families needed to recuperate. But Nan Ye still wants to make an alliance with Liu Bei, and he also sends a return gift, which is a bit incredible.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhuge Liang was still puzzled, so he said to Liu Bei: "There are only a few words in the letter, and it is not possible to determine whether it is the plan of the national teacher." Your Majesty should also prepare carefully, and wait until you see Xianhe to make a final decision. ”

Liu Bei thought so when he heard this, and continued to be careful, but his mood was much better, and he was not as uneasy as a few days ago. A few days later, a visit to Malaysia reported that Jian Yong had returned to Yuzhou. When Liu Bei heard the news, he led a group of civil and military officers out of the city to greet him, and saw Jian Yong followed by a team of dart masters, transporting dozens of carts of gifts, and came to the city gate.

Jian Yong saw Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang coming out of the city to greet him in person, so he hurriedly dismounted and walked to the front of the house and saluted: "How can Weichen be virtuous?" Dare to have His Majesty Lao personally come to greet you! ”

Liu Bei looked up and down, and saw that Jian Yong was really safe and happy, so he was relieved a lot, and said with a smile: "Jiaozhou is far away, Xianhe has a heavy responsibility and has worked hard all the way, and I should go out of the city for ten miles." I wonder if Xianhe's mission will go smoothly? ”

Jian Yong waved his finger behind him and said with a smile: "The national teacher is very satisfied with His Majesty's gift, and he also left the official Panhuan for many days, and instructed the lower officials to thank His Majesty for his generous gift when he comes back." These gifts are given back by the national teacher, Your Majesty, please see the gift list. With that, Jian Yong handed over a gift list.

Liu Bei unfolded it and saw that there were many things on the gift list, all of which were Jiaozhou specialties, silk, porcelain, books, furniture, clothing, and food...... It can be said that there is everything, although there are no valuables such as gold, silver and jewelry, but in terms of value alone, the gold and silver that you give yourself cannot buy so many good things. Besides, Liu Bei is not short of gold, silver and jewelry, but the exquisite clothes and some rare fruits in Nanye's gifts can't be bought with money.

Liu Bei was very happy about Nan Ye's generous return gift, but what made him a little unclear was what the gift written in the first line of the gift list was for. Normally, the first gift on the gift list should be the most valuable, but the first line of this gift list is simply written with the word "map". So Liu Bei pointed to the gift list and asked Jian Yong: "I don't know what the map on this gift list is?" ”

Jian Yong knew that Liu Bei was going to ask, and replied cautiously: "The national teacher handed over a scroll of maps with vermilion lacquer seals on them when the lower officials were leaving. He specially instructed the lower officials not to check it, and he must hand it over to His Majesty and the Prime Minister in person. ”

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were both curious when they heard this, but they didn't ask any more questions about the secret, so they took Jian Yong into the city to set up a banquet to catch the wind. At the banquet, Jian Yong only said some things about what he had seen in Jiaozhou, but did not say the details of his meeting with Nan Ye, and Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang also deliberately avoided important questions. It was not until the banquet dispersed that Liu Bei ordered Chen Zhi to invite Jian Yong to the mansion and sit with Zhuge Liang to discuss the matter.

At this time, the map given by Nan Ye was spread on the desk of the study, and the map was drawn in the land of Yuzhou, Bingzhou, and Yanzhou, in addition, in the west of Bingzhou, north of Sili, and east of Xiliang, a very large area was also drawn, and its area was even broader than the three states under Liu Bei's rule combined, and the word "Xiongnu" was marked on the map.