Under the courtyard porch, several people sat in columns.

Liu Bei asked the three strategists, and Sun Quan sent people to negotiate peace and ask for Jiaozhou.

Shen Chen smiled: "If he wants, give it to him, let him get it himself." ”

"Although Jiaozhou and Yangzhou are bordered, the part that directly borders is only south of Yuzhang and Huiji."

Liu Bei said: "There are all continuous mountains, the road is impassable, the envoy means that now Jiangdong is making a memorial for Zhou Yu, and wants to invite people to Jiangdong to negotiate." ”

"It's been almost two months, and Zhou Yu hasn't been buried yet?"

Shen Chen smiled dumbly and said: "Being Sun Quan's courtier is really tiring, tired of living, and suffering from death." ”

"You can't say that."

Liu Bei waved his hand and said: "In ancient times, the Son of Heaven died, and it happened from time to time that the spirit was suspended for a year and waited for the princes of the Quartet to mourn, what does Kong Ming think of this matter?" ”

Zhuge Liang pondered: "Sun Quan is afraid that he wants to reach some kind of deal with us, and he is afraid that Cao Cao will know, so he wants to invite us to go to Jiangdong for talks in the name of condolence for Zhou Yu. ”

"Would Sun Quan be so willing to accept his fate? I don't believe it, I'm afraid this kid is playing some bad idea. ”

Shen Chen touched his chin and thought.

Liu Bei said with a smile: "After all, this matter is also a promise to Sun Quan's covenant conditions, if I don't abide by it, won't it make me lose my trust?" Since he wants to talk, let's talk, I will send Gongyou as an envoy to Jiangdong in the name of condolences to Zhou Yu, what do you think? ”

Zhuge Liang said: "I'll go too, although Jiangdong is newly defeated, I think it's best to take Yizhou first." Yizhou is now in serious civil strife, Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are fighting endlessly, seeing that the city is about to be unable to hold, if it cannot be intervened immediately, in case Yizhou is obtained by Zhang Lu, it will be even more difficult to go west to Yizhou, so it is now necessary to negotiate peace with Jiangdong. ”

Liu Bei turned his head to look at Shen Chen and said, "Xiaoqing, what do you think?" ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded and said: "It is true that Yizhou should be taken first, and if Jiangdong is taken, Sun Quan will rely on the Yangtze River to defend the river." Although our fleet defeated the Jiangdong ships, the number of sailors is now less than 30,000, and if we want to take Jiangdong, we must retrain the sailors, otherwise it will be extremely difficult. ”

That's what is very realistic in front of them.

If you attack Jiangdong, you must have a naval army, Cai Mao's Yangtze River Naval Division is actually still there, and has surrendered, and Huang Zu's Jiangxia Naval Division is less than 30,000 left. Combined, the two armies may have numbered about 60,000 men.

The problem is that Jingzhou has been fighting for many years, Cai Maoxi attacked Yizhou and returned defeated, Huang Zudong also suffered heavy losses in Yangzhou, coupled with more than civil strife, the morale of the soldiers and horses was low, and the fighting spirit was close to nothing.

If you want to retrain an elite navy, build their military soul and backbone, and exercise their courage, it will take at least a year or two to integrate.

You can wait a year or two to fight Jiangdong, but Yizhou can't delay it.

Because according to the latest news, just like Liu Bei's counterattack on Liu Zhang in history, Zhang Lu's army is like a bamboo, and it has surrounded Luocheng for half a year, and now Luocheng is guarded by Zhang Ren and Liu Zhang's son Liu Xun, and it is difficult to resist, and Chengdu is also in danger.

The main reason is that Yizhou's soldiers and horses lost a lot, Zigui lost 30,000 Dongzhou soldiers in the first battle, and later Zhang Lu attacked Yizhou, Pang Xi was also defeated again and again, plus Cai Mao was involved, a mess.

Under various factors, the number of troops in Yizhou that can fight is very small, less than 30,000 people, and they are defeated and retreated by Zhang Lu's army, and they cannot hold on.

Therefore, it is the best choice to hit Yizhou first.

Liu Bei said: "Although I want to keep my promise and cede Jiaozhou to Sun Quan, if I want to fight Cao Cao, I must unify the south. The Sun clan must also be eliminated, since you all said that Yizhou should be taken first, then I should stick to Jingzhou, rectify the soldiers and horses, and train sailors, is that so? ”

"Yes."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Now that the Jingzhou army adds up to more than 200,000, we must cut the old and weak, leave the elite, take 50,000 soldiers from Xichuan is enough, and the rest of the army, one is to guard against Jiangdong, and the other is to practice all day long, and after Xichuan is captured, we can march into Jiangdong." ”

Shen Chen also said: "Yes, even if I think that Sun Quan's future troubles and difficulties are much stronger than Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, but with the current situation, we should still protect Jing's benefits, develop steadily, and then try to do other things." ”

"That's good, just use the words of Xiaoqing and Kong Ming to protect Jing and gain benefits, and after Yizhou is calmed down, then attack Jiangdong."

Liu Bei looked at Shen Chen and said, "Xiaoqing, I promised my subordinates those Dongzhou soldiers that I would take them back to Yizhou." If there is a change in Yizhou, I may go to Xichuan immediately, and Jingzhou will be entrusted to you at that time, what do you think? ”

Shen Chen said solemnly: "I will live up to the general's trust!" ”

At that moment, several people discussed some other things, such as eliminating the army, training soldiers, pacifying the family, and managing the people's livelihood.

These things will be handled by Shen Chen.

He was responsible for reducing the old and weak in the Jingzhou army, as well as training the soldiers.

Xu Shu was in charge of Liu Beijun's military affairs.

And Zhuge Liang is responsible for coordinating the overall situation, which is equivalent to Xun Yu's position in Shangshutai.

The main reason is that Liu Bei's strategist group is far from being as comprehensive as Cao Cao's strategist group, or that the reserve talent is insufficient.

In addition to the five major strategists, Cao Cao's strategist group also has second-line strategists such as Mao Jue, Dong Zhao, Lou Gui, Cui Yan, Hua Xin, etc., and the rest of the famous strategists are countless, according to statistics, there are more than 100 of them.

And Liu Bei's early strategists Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, and Jian Yong were basically just lobbyists, and they were okay to deal with some paperwork, and they were thinking too much about the army, the country, and the world.

After arriving in Jingzhou, he finally got two capable strategists, Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang.

Xu Shu is good at military affairs, a bit like Xun You, good at tactics.

Zhuge Liang is a hexagonal warrior, political, military, strategic, economic, diplomatic, legal, except for the force value may be slightly worse, almost everything, even invention and creation, literary level, ideological level is excellent.

But he is alone, and he lacks skills.

Although there is now an additional Shen Chen, Shen Chen is like a strengthened version of Cheng Yu, both civil and military, and his internal affairs ability is far less orderly than Zhuge Liang's, he can only provide advice, and if he does practical things, he may not do it well.

Therefore, Liu Bei's talent pool can be said to be still insufficient.

Now that Jingzhou is pacified, Liu Bei needs to do the following things.

The first is to stabilize the interior, manage the people's livelihood, appease the family, rectify military affairs, restore the economy, and select talents.

Second, it is necessary to station troops in the Three Gorges area and prepare to attack Xichuan.

And Liu Bei himself has to actively prepare for the second thing, so Jingzhou's affairs can only be handled by Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang.

Among them, he entrusted the entire Jingzhou to Shen Chen, which means that Shen Chen is the main one.

This is not only a responsibility, but also an unconditional trust.

Because in the case of Shen Chen's overall power, if he chooses to stand on his own and backstab, then Liu Bei has almost no foothold.

It can be seen that Liu Bei entrusted his net worth and life to Shen Chen.

After the small meeting, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, and Shen Chen walked out of the mansion, and it was already in the afternoon, and the southern spring was early, the sun was shining, and the weather was comfortable.

The gentle breeze blew in his face, blowing the long hair on Shen Chen's sideburns gently and covering his face.

Shen Chen pulled his long hair behind his ears and squinted his eyes to look up at the sky.

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Now that the eldest prince is seriously ill, let the lord come to Fuzhou affairs, and the lord will prepare for the attack on Xichuan and entrust the state affairs to Xiaoqing, which is to hand over the future to Xiaoqing." ”

Shen Chen nodded, and said with a little seriousness: "Yes, I just feel that the burden on my body is extremely heavy, if I don't do a good job, wouldn't I have failed General Zuo." ”

Xu Shu said: "What are you going to do with this first step?" ”

Shen Chen said: "I will rectify the military affairs, and the work of manure the land, cultivating new fields, and the work of retrenching the retired soldiers and resettlement of displaced people after the reduction may be handed over to my brother." ”

The three of them walked side by side, people came and went on the street, and the guards around them protected them, but everyone saw Shen Chen, who was wearing a blue brocade robe, the merchant made way for him, the people took off their hats to salute, the scholar bowed his hand to him, and everyone respected him.

Not only because Shen Chen fought well, but also because he taught his children, and the doctrine had been spread, including Longzhong Township and Xinye County, and the "Shen's Scripture Collection" was printed into a volume, even if he was not his disciple, he would buy it and watch it.

Therefore, Shen Chen is now not only a general who can fight well, or a strategist who is good at planning, but also a Jingzhou Confucian who is proficient in the Seven Classics and even constructs new doctrines.

This Confucian status is also one of the reasons why he is widely respected.

Shen Chen nodded slightly to everyone who saluted him, and said as he walked: "Then again, my brother is going to Jiangdong, what do you think Jiangdong wants to do when he suddenly invites us to discuss in the name of Zhou Yu's memorial?" ”

Xu Shu pondered: "Now that Jiangdong has experienced the defeat of Hongkou, it is no longer able to seek to seize Jingzhou, if I am Sun Quan, I will find a way to recuperate and make up for the loss." At the beginning, the lord promised to give Jiaozhou to him, although Jiaozhou is remote, but rich in spices, wood, treasures, if you can connect Jiaoyang, maybe you can recover some vitality, so I am afraid that I want to use Jingnan to send troops. ”

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "I think Sun Quan has a lot of ambitions, and this time I am afraid that I want to carve up Jingzhou with Cao Cao, but I was just broken by Xiaoqing." Yuan Zhi is right, now Jiangdong's vitality is greatly damaged, and it really needs to be made up. Therefore, under the pretext of the original covenant, he used Jingnan to attack Jiaozhou, and if he deployed troops in Jiaozhou, he might have the intention of peeping into Jingnan. ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded and said, "Sun Quan's wolf ambition will not give up. Maybe I just want to peek into Jingnan, although Jiaozhou and Yangzhou are connected, there are too many mountains and mountains on the way, and there is a lot of miasma, even if it is won by Sun Quan, it is difficult to grow much. Only Jingnan is relatively rich, such as Changsha County and Lingling County, whose population has exceeded one million, and it is connected to Yuzhang Nanchang, and it is also fast to send troops, which is probably his idea. ”

Xu Shu said to Zhuge Liang: "Kong Ming, since this is the case, then when you go to Jiangdong, just find a way to refuse." ”

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Let's look at this matter again." I don't think you have to say no. ”

Shen Chen smiled: "Brother really thought of it. ”

Zhuge Liang said: "What did you think of? ”

"Give him a loan."

"Why do you want to borrow from him?"

"Brother is testing me?"

"Just see if what you think is the same as what I think."

"What does my brother think?"

"Divide and strike."

"Hahahahaha."

Shen Chen laughed out loud and said, "Brother is really the same as I thought. ”

Xu Shu was confused and asked, "What happened?" ”

"You don't need to refuse, just give him a loan."

Shen Chen explained: "The Jiangdong Army attacked Jiaozhou, Jiaozhou was remote and traveled a long distance, didn't he divide his troops to weaken Yangzhou's strength? Yangzhou does not have many soldiers and horses, so it can no longer pose a threat to Jingzhou, and after General Zuo pacifies Xichuan, wouldn't it be much easier to go back and eliminate Sun Quan, who had divided his troops for himself? ”

That's the strategic intent.

At this point, Sun Quan seems to be a bit stupid and insists on handing over the state.

Jiaozhou is a piece of chicken ribs.

During the period of Emperor He, Jiaozhou had a population of more than 500,000 households and more than 2 million, and was rich in spices, wood, treasures and so on.

From the Qin and Han dynasties, Panyu in the Han Dynasty and Guangzhou in later generations were already treaty ports, and the five-baht coins of the Han Dynasty unearthed in Southeast Asia and the Philippines in later generations are the best proof.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, due to the chaos in the north, many people moved to the south, Jiaozhou was not affected by the war, and the population development was much higher than that of the Hedi period.

Including ethnic minorities, the population could be close to five million.

It sounds good, if Sun Quan connects Yangzhou and Jiaozhou, it seems that he can grow, and the population under his rule is close to 10 million.

But the problem is that Jiaozhou is too TM biased.

Not even to mention Jiaozhou, even Jingzhou in the Han Dynasty was a remote area, except for Nanyang, including Nanjun and Jiangxia to the south, all places were remote and wild places for the Central Plains people.

Wang Cang wrote about this in the poem, "Jing Man is not my hometown, what is a long period of prostitution." The ark is a big river, and the sun is sad about my heart. ”

It can be seen that Jingzhou Jiaozhou is remote.

Due to the long distance, the mountains, the inconvenient transportation, the miasma and other problems, it was difficult for him to develop the rule of Jiaozhou.

Even if he relocated the population of Jiaozhou, sent people to serve as the county governors to collect local taxes, and did maritime trade, so as to make up for the losses of Yangzhou, it would be difficult to bring him too many substantial benefits.

Moreover, the local people are not only ethnic minorities, but also the Han people do not submit to the king, and the clan power still exists after 2,000 years. The population that can actually rule may be the county seat, and the royal power cannot go to the countryside, and the benefits obtained are not as great as imagined.

When the time comes, Sun Quan really sent troops over, and if there were fewer troops, the local people would not pay attention to him at all, and perhaps they would unite a small number of people to resist his rule.

It would be more interesting to send more troops, Yangzhou was empty, and he only needed to wait for Shen Chen to train the sailors, and the army would press the border, and Sun Quan would be gone.

So since Sun Quan himself wants to make a stinky move, then naturally let him go, why stop it?

"Just."

Zhuge Liang put his hands behind his back, looked down at the walk, and said with a little doubt: "It's just the pros and cons of trying to seize Jiaozhou, Sun Quan shouldn't know it, why do you want to do this?" ”

"It's not like to wait for General Zuo to take Yizhou, taking advantage of the emptiness of Jingzhou's troops, to plot to seize Jingnan or Jingzhou."

Shen Chen shrugged: "What idea he has, you will know it when you think about it." ”

Xu Shu said: "Then if we lend him the way, won't we lure the wolf into the house?" They have a strong naval army, really take Jingnan, block the river, I am afraid it will be difficult to help. ”

"Lure the wolf into the house?"

A smile appeared on the corner of Shen Chen's mouth: "Wrong, this is called closing the door and beating the dog." Sun quan? If he dares to come, he will not return! ”