In early April of the sixth year of Jian'an, Kuai Liang died of illness.

Liu Biao cried bitterly, saying that he had lost Kuailiang, such as losing his humerus, which made him extremely sad.

After the burial of Kuailiang, Jia Xu entered the Hussar General's Mansion very low-key and became the new Hussar General Changshi.

At the same time, an astonishing news spread throughout Jingzhou.

In June, Liu Biao sacrificed heaven and earth in the eastern suburbs, rode the Son of Heaven to ride the public opinion, relied on the specifications of the princes and kings, prayed to the heavens and the ancestors surnamed Liu, and said that he would raise troops to defeat Cao.

Then he became the Son of Heaven, established himself as the Duke of Chu, raised an army of more than 200,000, stationed troops in Nanyang counties, and began to make full preparations for the attack on Cao Cao.

However, it is said that there are 200,000 troops, but in fact there are only 80,000 or 90,000 people, because he still has to arrange troops and horses to guard against Liu Zhang and Sun Quan.

Now the whole Jingzhou has become turbulent, and with the war, many small and medium-sized families and Haoqiang have begun to migrate south again to the Jingnan area.

A large amount of grain, grass, baggage, weapons, and vehicles set off from Xiangyang and were transported to the front lines such as Wancheng and Duyang.

Longzhong Township, this day is late June, Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang practice martial arts every day, now they are getting older, their physique is getting stronger and stronger, their strength and knowledge are improving day by day, even Gan Ning was invincible before, and now they can fight seven or eight rounds and then be killed.

The mountains and forests outside the Zhuge family manor are verdant, the grass and trees are vigorous, there is a waterfall in the back mountain, and a lot of pebbles have accumulated on the ground attached to the waterfall, Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang sent people to clear the pebbles out of a vacant land, and often practice martial arts here.

Today, in addition to the two, there is also Xu Shu, Xu Shu's swordsmanship is extraordinary, and now Gan Ning has been promoted to Zhonglang General by Liu Biao, leading the troops to sit in Wuyin, and only to find Xu Shu to help train martial arts.

After practicing swordsmanship, archery, fists and feet all morning, Huang Yueying took Anu and other slaves to bring fruit snacks and lunch.

The open space was transformed into a small school field, with an arrow target and a jousting field, and a pavilion was built in the direction of the waterfall, and at this moment in the middle of summer in June, the sun was scorching, and the three of them sat on the mat in the pavilion, feeling the coolness brought by the waterfall.

"Liu Jingzhou sacrificed heaven and earth a few days ago, called himself the Duke of Chu, and prepared to attack the north."

Xu Shu was holding a courgette in his mouth, that is, a cucumber, and the whole person was lying on the table without any image, and said while gnawing on the cucumber: "What do you think Liu Jingzhou thinks, why do you dare to attack Cao Cao?" ”

Zhuge Liang was peeling a peach, that is, a grape, like a cucumber, which was brought back by Zhang Qian from the Western Regions, and after peeling it, he didn't eat it himself, but handed it to Huang Yueying next to him, and the husband and wife looked at each other affectionately, and said with a smile in their mouths: "You have to ask Ah Chen about this." ”

Shen Chen was numb at that time.

Boy.

Stuffed dog food, right?

Feed my mouth, huh.

Is this a human thing?

"What does this have to do with me....."

Shen Chen shrugged, "Yes, I admit it, I rejected Cao Cao in the north and let Liu Jingzhou grow, but I didn't instigate him to be the prince and go north to attack Cao." ”

Zhuge Liang glanced at him, smiled and didn't speak.

Xu Shu finished biting the cucumber in two bites, swallowing even the most bitter cucumber root, clapping his hands and saying: "Now that Liu Jingzhou is strong and strong, do you think Cao Cao can resist?" ”

"It's hard to say."

Shen Chen touched his chin, and he suddenly found a serious problem.

That is, he seems to have helped Liu Biao too hard.

How strong is Liu Biao now?

Historically, he did not occupy Nanyang, and before pacifying Jingnan, his territory was only Nanjun and Jiangxia County.

Jing Nan only belonged to him in name, but Zhang Xian's prestige was higher than his.

At that time, the population of Nanjun was 740,000, Jiangxia was 260,000, and the total population controlled by Liu Biao was just over 1 million, with only 30,000 or 40,000 soldiers and horses.

Therefore, when Zhang Xiu arrived in Nanyang, Liu Biao needed Zhang Xiu to help him use Nanyang as a buffer zone for the north and south to resist Cao Cao's attack.

Because Cao Cao's strength was much stronger than him at that time, he was not without troops in Nanyang, but he was attacked by Cao Cao, Cao Hong and others one after another, and suffered heavy losses, so he could only choose to give up Nanyang, a land with a population of one million.

After Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Biao could almost only give up Nanyang, but he was not able to compete with Cao Cao in Nanyang, and his repeated attacks were defeated, and the soldiers and horses suffered heavy losses.

It wasn't until later that he pacified Zhang Xian and completely controlled the four counties of Jingnan that his strength grew, but the timing was already very bad at that time.

At that time, the population of Changsha County in Jingnan was 1.05 million, Lingling 1 million, Guiyang County 500,000, Wuling County 250,000, plus Nanjun and Jiangxia, and the population under Liu Biao's rule finally reached 3.7 million.

And even more than that.

Because of the war in the north at that time, a large number of people moved to Jingzhou, and there were countless famous and Confucian families who took refuge in the direction of Jingnan.

According to historical records, from the Zhongping period to Jian'an, the population of Jingzhou rose from 3.7 million to 6.2 million, and if you count the population concealed by the family, this number may break through to about seven or eight million.

Therefore, five years after Jian'an, that is, after the pacification of Zhang Xian's rebellion in 200 AD, Liu Biao's strength can be said to have skyrocketed, and the history books say that his armor has reached more than 100,000.

It's a pity that after the end of the official crossing, Cao Cao's fame shocked the world, plus Sun Quan pacified Jiangdong, and began to attack Liu Biao many times to avenge his father.

This makes him dare not make any moves, even if he is strong, and only dares to secretly claim the emperor's position in private.

And now?

Now Shen Chen helped him stubbornly defend Nanyang, forcing Zhang Xiu to not be able to surrender to Cao, and the population of more than one million in Nanyang was saved.

In addition, Shen Chen collected a large number of displaced people from Guanzhong and Henan, and captured hundreds of thousands of remnants of the Yellow Turban, which greatly enriched the population of Nanyang, making the population of Nanyang close to the two million mark.

Under the tuntian system, Liu Biao had abundant grain and grass, and the people under his rule had more than four or five million in advance, so in the second year of Jian'an, around 197 AD, Liu Biao already had the super strength of 100,000 people with armor.

Immediately after that, Zhang Xian's rebellion was quelled and the entire Jingnan was obtained.

In history, Liu Biao only had six counties in Jingzhou, and his population was 6.2 million, and now with the addition of Nanyang, which belonged to Cao Cao in history, the population on paper directly exceeded 8 million, and if you count the hidden population of the family, it may even be around 10 million.

And what about Cao Cao and Yuan Shao?

At present, only Yuan Shao can barely compete with him.

According to historical records, the population of the four states of Yuan Shao should be about eight or nine million.

After Wang Fen's rule alone, the population of Jizhou recovered to more than 5 million, and Qingzhou had more than 1 million, plus Youzhou and Bingzhou, close to 10 million Dingkou.

Cao Cao is not strong.

His territory is actually larger than Yuan Shao, before the start of Guandu, there were Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Sili, and even Guanzhong all surrendered to him, and the population on paper was more than 10 million.

But the land of Henan is too broken, unlike the north, where only Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan compete for power, and the harm to the people is not particularly great.

In addition, the plague epidemic and the war continued, and the people of Henan migrated to Yangzhou and Jingzhou in large numbers, and a lot of territory was because he got Liu Xie, and he surrendered on the surface, no matter how big the territory was, it was of no practical significance.

So at that time, the actual population under Cao Cao's rule was only Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Xuzhou, and Xuzhou was half slaughtered by him, with a total population of only three or four million.

Historically, he defeated Yuan Shao in Guandu, and moved all the population of the Nanyang Basin to Henan, seized the time to recuperate, quickly controlled Sili, Xuzhou and other places, and carried out the tuntian system everywhere, and the population and strength grew rapidly.

After Yuan Shao died of illness, he immediately recovered Hebei and gained most of the world, with a total population of 15 million.

In this way, on the eve of Chibi in history, Cao Cao's population was 15 million, Jingzhou's Liu Biao was 6.2 million, Yangzhou's was 4.3 million, plus the population of Yizhou, Guanzhong, and Xiliang, the total population of the country was almost more than 30 million.

This is also in line with the speculation that during the Three Kingdoms period, the family concealed a large number of people.

After all, according to the records of the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", the total of Wei, Shu and Wu in the late Three Kingdoms period was only 8 million, and as a result, after the Jin Dynasty dominated the world and re-censused the population, the official population of the Western Jin Dynasty became 16 million.

Then in the first year of Yongkang, that is, in 300 AD, the Western Jin Dynasty was unified in 280, and in just 20 years by 300, the population of the country became 35 million.

Pigs don't give birth to pigs like that.

Therefore, under the circumstances of great historical changes, it has become the current population of Yuan Shao in the north of eight or nine million, Cao Cao in Henan has a population of three or four million, and Liu Biao Jingzhou has a population of 10 million.

Liu Biao became the head of the princes in the world, with a total army of 200,000.

Although Cao Cao had more than 100,000 troops before and after Guandu, he could be attacked by Shen Chen and beaten half-crippled, and at present, the main force has not been lost, there are still 30,000 or 40,000 Guandu elites, as well as 20,000 or 30,000 second-line troops.

The population ratio of the two sides is 10 million to 3 or 4 million, and the ratio of troops is 200,000 to 780,000, and the advantage is Liu Biao, so it is no wonder that his ambition is vigorous.

So from this point of view, Shen Chen slashed Cao too hard, and helped Liu Biao too strongly, it's really hard to say who loses and who wins.

After all, to some extent, this is another battle of Guandu.

And the last battle of Guandu, Cao Cao basically relied on luck, and now if he comes again, he may not have the same good luck as last time.

"If Liu Jingzhou arrives in person, and then sends a good general to slowly figure it out, confront Cao Cao for a long time, exhaust his military spirit, and cut off his grain and grass, maybe it is really possible."

Zhuge Liang suddenly said: "However, Liu Jingzhou will not come in person, nor will he choose to confront him for a long time, but will be in a hurry, if I am Cao Cao, I will use his impatience to lure the enemy deeper, and I will be able to break the enemy." ”

"That's right."

Shen Chen sighed: "Liu Jingzhou's biggest problem is that he is too old. When you are older, you can't run around, and you can't be as energetic as when you were younger. ”

In history, Liu Biao died in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, which means that he still has almost seven years to live.

But Liu Biao didn't know when he would die.

Maybe it's not long, maybe it's more than ten years in the future, so he will be more anxious than young people to pacify the world as soon as possible, rather than choosing to fight a war of attrition with Cao Cao.

More importantly, although he has a lot of soldiers and horses, the elite level is not as good as Yuan Shao, and the strength of the Jingzhou army in the entire Han Dynasty is at most a second- and third-line army.

Even Sun Quan of Jiangdong could beat the Jiangxia Navy, the strongest of the Jingzhou Army, from time to time, not to mention the army under Liu Biao.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang guessed Liu Biao's psychology, coupled with the lack of elite level of his own soldiers, he thought that he would be in a hurry and was likely to cause a big defeat.

"If that's the case, once Liu Jingzhou is defeated."

Xu Shu suddenly got up from the seat, looked at them with wide eyes and said, "Then isn't Jingzhou going to be in civil strife?" ”

"Yes, Jingzhou may indeed have civil strife."

Zhuge Liang groaned.

"Shall we go to Jingnan?"

Xu Shu suggested: "Recently, many people have been running to Jingnan. ”

Shen Chen waved his hand and said, "No, it's really not okay to have me." Liu Jingzhou didn't recruit me to fight, you know what he thought, it's just that he is afraid that I will break Xu Du and really welcome the Son of Heaven back to Jingzhou, then he will be in big trouble, so I am now full of troops and horses, even if there is civil strife, what waves can I stir up? ”

"Do you have enough men?"

Xu Shuhu said suspiciously: "Last year, your attack on Yingchuan seemed to have a lot of results, but in fact, Cao Cao's elite was not there, and you attacked from the rear. ”

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Brother Yuan, don't you hear that there are not many soldiers but fine, if there are a rabble, even if there are millions of soldiers and horses, there is nothing to be afraid of." Back then, Guangwu Shizu, didn't thousands of people break Wang Mang by hundreds of thousands? ”

"You burned Xu Du to shock the world, everything you say is reasonable."

Xu Shu shrugged: "But if this big defeat happens, Liu Jingzhou's health is not good, in case he accidentally falls ill, who is the master of Jingzhou?" ”

"The son Liu Qi is generous and reasonable, but Liu Jingzhou loves the second son and not the eldest son."

Zhuge Liang groaned: "This is not a good thing. ”

Shen Chen suddenly came to his senses and said to them: "Two brothers, aren't you planning to go out?" ”

Out of office?

Xu Shu raised his head and looked at the sky.

He was older than Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen.

He is thirty years old this year, and he has been trapped in Jingzhou for many years, but he can see that although Liu Biao is ambitious, his military talent and age are hard injuries, so he is reluctant to go to Liu Biao.

Now if you sit and watch the world, Liu Biao seems to be strong and strong, but he is in a hurry, and the soldiers and horses are all rabble, and the future is worrying.

So if you look around, it seems that only Jiangdong and Yizhou can come out.

But it's too far away.

Thinking of this, Xu Shu shook his head and said: "At least under Liu Jingzhou, I don't want to be a leader, let's take a look at the situation after this year's war." In case the son-in-law Liu Qi inherits the position, he can try to assist the left. ”

"The eldest son is really good."

Shen Chen nodded, he had also dealt with Liu Qi, he was generous, humble and polite, and he deserved to have such a good relationship with Liu Bei in history, and the two of them could be regarded as like-minded companions.

However, Liu Qi is actually not the young man in many people's impressions, in fact, he is almost forty years old, his father Liu Biao is sixty, Liu Qi and Liu Bei are not a few years old, and they will die of illness in a few years, and they are not the masters.

Zhuge Liang looked at Shen Chen and asked, "Could it be that Ah Chen, do you want to assist the eldest son of Zuo?" How did your grandfather deal with it? ”

"I just can't deal with it."

Shen Chen smiled bitterly and scratched his head: "The sixth grandmother also supports the second son, and now the eldest son's situation is too difficult." ”

His sixth grandmother is indeed virtuous, the problem is that virtuous is virtuous, and the clan still has to take care of it.

Liu Cong married Cai Yan's daughter, and his sixth grandmother is a cousin, Liu Cong is his cousin-in-law, how can his relatives not support it?

"Well, it seems that in the future, I am afraid that the second son will inherit the throne."

Xu Shu frowned.

This second prince has a weak personality and has no courage to understand the master, I am afraid that even if he is the lord of Jingzhou, he is like Liu Xie, who is controlled by the ministers, and the consequences are unimaginable.

Shen Chen shook his head and said: "The second son is really indescribable, if he is the master, Jingzhou is afraid that it will fall into a civil strife." Sun Quan will not let go of this opportunity, and Liu Zhang will not let go of this opportunity. ”

"Are we really going to hide from Jing Nan?"

Xu Shu muttered to himself.

Shen Chen smiled slightly, looked at the two of them, and said softly: "I have a candidate, if he is here, he will be able to sit in Jingzhou and stabilize the Quartet." ”

"Who?"

Xu Shu hurriedly asked.

Shen Chen lowered his voice, like a pyramid scheme, and the demon muttered, "Have you heard of Uncle Liu Huang?" ”