Prime Minister's Mansion, Hall.

Cao Cao was sitting on his side, and the military generals under his command were seated separately.

During Cheng Yu's southward trip to Xiangyang, Cao Cao had abolished the Three Dukes and restored the prime minister. Now, Cao Cao is the prime minister and the regent of the government.

The big and small government affairs of the imperial court are all decided by Cao Cao. i

The forces loyal to the little emperor Liu Xie were once again dealt a huge blow, and the threat to Cao Cao was even less.

Cheng Yu, as the envoy to Jingzhou this time, has the most right to speak. He sat upright, first introduced what he had seen and heard in Jingzhou, and then expressed his judgment and said: "Prime Minister, the old man thinks that Liu Xiu is in charge of Jingzhou, and the threat to the lord is far greater than that of Liu Biao in the past. ”

"However, there are pros and cons, after Liu Xiu's threat is greater, the most directly affected are Liu Bei and Sun Quan. ”

"Now, Jingzhou and Jiangdong should be about to go to war. ”

The old man suggested that the prime minister should not send troops for the time being, continue to train the navy, and then sit in the valley to fight, let Sun Quan Liu Bei and Liu Xiu fight, and when they are finished, the prime minister will sit and reap the benefits of the fisherman. ”

Cheng Yu stroked his beard under his chin and said, "Although Liu Xiu's threat is very great, especially the rhubarb crossbow cavalry and even the catapult used by Liu Xiu's soldiers, they are very powerful. But the prime minister is engulfed in the general trend of the north, and it is impossible for Liu Xiu to resist the prime minister's army. ”

Cao Cao bowed slightly, and his deep voice sounded in the hall, and said: "Zhong Degong, according to your last words, since the prime minister is engulfed in the general trend, Liu Xiu can't resist it, why don't you just wave your army south to defeat Liu Xiu and Liu Bei and sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight." Wouldn't it be a waste of time to do so?"

Cheng Yu Zhengse said: "Although the prime minister is sure of victory, since there is a better way to minimize losses, why not do it, prime minister, it is recommended to be on the wall for the time being." ”

Xun Yu opened his mouth and said: "Prime Minister, Feng Xiao is on his deathbed"

Cao Cao directly interrupted Xun Yu's words and said: "Wen Ruo, if you are filial, you are very clear and clear, and you know that it is the safest way." But before Feng Xiao's death, the most important thing was to take Jingzhou. His last wish must be fulfilled in the shortest possible time. Therefore, for the time being, I did not choose to attack Yizhou, and directly prepared to attack Jingzhou. ”

After a pause, Cao Cao said: "The land of Bashu, many mountains, many steep and critical passes, easy to defend and difficult to attack, to attack Yizhou, I don't know how much time it will take to be in it." Therefore, there is only one goal now, and that is to attack Jingzhou. ”

Although the courtiers under his command tried their best to persuade him, Cao Cao directly denied it.

Cao Cao now only wants to attack Jingzhou.

After Cao Cao swept Yuan Shao, he was invincible in all these years, and even foreign tribes such as Wuhuan Xianbei in the north were already subservient, which contributed to Cao Cao's arrogance.

A small Jingzhou, in Cao Cao's eyes, is not enough to fear.

Besides, he was well prepared.

Xun Yu saw that persuasion was useless, so he said: "The prime minister has decided to attack Jingzhou, so the training of the naval army must also be accelerated again, and the prime minister has decided when to attack Jingzhou."

Cao Cao said: "Send troops in the second half of the year at the latest"

In a word, the time was set.

Xun Yu replied: "The lowly post will supervise the training of the navy according to the time set by the prime minister, and at the same time send a message to General Cao Ren, so that he can also pay attention to the situation in Jingzhou at any time. ”

"Newspaper"

At this time, a soldier quickly walked in and handed a letter to Jia Xu's hand.

After Jia Xu opened it and looked at it, his face was surprised, and then he handed it to Cao Cao and said, "Lord, there is new news in Jingzhou." After Liu Xiu got married, he adjusted the officials and the army in Jingzhou. ”

Cao Cao took the letter and skimmed through it quickly.

After reading it, Cao Cao briefly said the contents of the letter and said, "Now that you all know Liu Xiu's actions, you should understand why Benxiang is in a hurry to attack Liu Xiu." Liu Xiu did not spare his hand, and he was extremely cunning, but it was undeniable that Liu Xiu was an extremely smart and wise person. ”

After a pause, Cao Cao said: "Liu Xiu controls Jingzhou through the army, and in a very short period of time, he can form a huge force. Liu Xiu, this kid, must have caused us great trouble. ”

Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu and said, "Wen Ruo, you have to speed up." ”

"Yes"

Xun Yu nodded, his heart heavy. The situation in Jingzhou is changing too fast, and after Liu Xiu took charge of Jingzhou, it is even stronger and more difficult than Liu Biao's era.

Xinye, Tinghou Mansion.

After Liu Bei learned of Liu Xiu's actions in Jingzhou, he was even more worried. Especially the news that Zhuge Liang reported before, saying that Liu Xiu's heavy weapons made Liu Bei feel powerless in his heart.

It's too difficult to defeat Liu Xiu

Even in the face of Cao Cao, Liu Bei can also achieve the collapse of Mount Tai in front of him without changing his color, but in the face of Liu Xiu, Liu Bei feels deeply weak in his heart, because Liu Xiu's tricks have always been extremely treacherous, and he has never been able to speculate with common sense, which makes Liu Bei unable to parry.

Moreover, Zhao Yun's matter also gave Liu Bei a huge blow.

At the beginning, after Liu Bei sold Zhao Yun, he still hoped that Zhao Yun would be loyal to him and wait for him to save him. In a blink of an eye, Zhao Yun surrendered and became the chief general of the Third Army and the general of Anxi under Liu Xiu.

Obviously, it was no longer possible for Zhao Yun to be loyal to Liu Bei.

"Stampede"

A rush of footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the study.

After a while, Zhuge Liang said: "My lord, Jiangdong envoy Zhang Zhao has arrived, it's time to go and meet." ”

Liu Bei put down the book in his hand, opened the door, looked at Zhuge Liang, and said, "Kong Ming, Zhang Zhao's visit must be for the sake of the union." You've thought about what conditions you have to put forward."

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Don't worry, my lord, everything will be left to you." ”

"Good"

Liu Bei nodded, and then led Zhuge Liang to the hall.

In the hall, Zhang Zhao and Zhuge Jin sat upright.

This time to envoy Xinye, when Zhang Zhao started, he planned to come alone, but thinking that Zhuge Jin was Zhuge Liang's brother, and with Zhuge Jin present, the atmosphere of the negotiation between the two sides might be more harmonious, so he brought Zhuge Jin.

After a short time, Liu Bei took Zhuge Liang into the hall and sat down.

Liu Bei smiled slightly and said, "Mr. Zibu, this time I came, but it was for the sake of the union."

"Exactly"

Zhang Zhao nodded, there was no beating around the bush.

Zhuge Liang took over and said, "Dare to ask Mr. Zibu, how do Jiangdong and us unite and plan to attack Jingzhou?"

Zhang Zhao said: "It's very simple, on the Jiangdong side, the troops will be divided into two ways. One way attacked Chaisang, from Jiangxia to Xiangyang, and the other attacked Changsha County, into the hinterland of Jingzhou. ”

In this arrangement, Jiangdong has done his best and has used his greatest strength.

The two-way army mobilized all the forces in Jiangdong.

Zhuge Liang smiled slightly, and said unhurriedly: "Mr. Zibu, I really don't hide it, according to the consideration of the lord, I plan to go south from Xinye and go straight to Xiangyang." ”

"From Xinye to Xiangyang, the distance is very close, and in a very short period of time, it can have the effect of annihilating Liu Xiu. ”

"However, although this consideration is easy, the lord's biggest problem now is food and weapons. Liu Xiu had given Xinye food before, but it was not enough to support a long-term battle. Each time, Liu Xiu only gave two months of food to ensure that the army was not short of food, but he never gave food storage, so that the army could not hold out for a long time. ”

Zhuge Liang sighed lightly and said, "If there is not enough food, if we go to attack Xiangyang, we will be asking for our own death." Because of the time, it is not allowed. ”

These words instantly made clear their own requirements.

Zhang Zhao understood Zhuge Liang's request, he nodded, and asked, "Uncle Liu, how much food is missing?"

Zhuge Liang said: "At least 80,000 stone of grain. ”

After a pause, Zhuge Liang said: "Mr. Zibu, do you know that when Liu Xiugang was in charge of Jingzhou and Liu Qi issued a notice to establish himself as the state pastor, why did he look like a tiger and respect Liu Xiu as the master?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and said, "The old man doesn't know what is going on. ”

Zhuge Liang explained: "It is because of the matter of grain, after Liu Biao's death, the lord once borrowed 100,000 stone of grain from Liu Xiu. At that time, I thought that there was no problem with 100,000 stone of grain. However, when Gongzi Qi set himself up as the state pastor, when he went to Xiangyang to negotiate, Liu Xiucai said that all the 100,000 stone grain was problematic and could not be eaten. ”

Zhuge Liang had a regretful expression on his face and said: "Officially, because of the problem of food, there was a sudden shortage of food in the army, and the morale of the soldiers plummeted, so that they had to stop fighting, and it also caused Wuling County and Nanjun to lose. ”

After hearing this, Zhang Zhao thought about it for a while and said, "Mr. Kong Ming, Jiangdong's food is not abundant. It is definitely impossible to take out 80,000 stone of grain at one time - sex. The lord sent the old man to Xinye this time and authorized the old man to take full responsibility. The old man knew the situation in Jiangdong, and at most he took out 30,000 stone of grain, which was already the limit. ”

Zhuge Liang glanced at Liu Bei, and when he saw Liu Bei nodding, he said, "Thirty thousand stone grains, some are missing." But in order to attack Liu Xiu, we will go out. Zhang Gong, when does Wu Hou plan to send troops?"

Zhang Zhao said in a deep voice: "Naturally, the sooner the better, when will Uncle Liu Huang be able to send troops?"

Zhuge Liang said: "It will be the first day of the fifth month at the latest, after all, some soldiers under the lord's command have just been recruited, and they have no combat experience and need to be trained." Almost two months later, troops were sent to attack Liu Xiu. ”

Zhang Zhao directly clapped the board and said: "Since this is the case, it is so decided, on the first day of the fifth month, to crusade against Liu Xiu." ”

"Good"

Liu Bei nodded, and once again had a high fighting spirit in his heart