In May of the 14th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao led an army of 80,000 and marched north.

The two sides fought in the vicinity of Zhongshan Kingdom.

By June, Yuan Xi's generals Jiao Touch and Zhang Nan, who were stationed in Yangcheng, rebelled and surrendered.

This Zhang Nan is not Liu Bei and Shen Chen's generals, Liu Bei has generals called Zhang Nan, and Shen Chen also has generals named Zhang Nan.

After they surrendered, Zhongshan could not hold it, and Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi could only retreat to Guangyang, Yuyang and other places.

Seeing that the general trend had gone, the senior cadres of Bingzhou hurriedly surrendered, and Cao Cao accepted him and still appointed him as the assassin of Bingzhou.

At the same time, Xian Yufu, the general of Zuo Duliao, also sent people to express his willingness to submit to him, and was named a liehou by Cao Cao.

In this way, together with Zhang Yan, who defected to Yecheng before, Cao Cao has already won the land of Jizhou, Youzhou and Merge on the bright side.

However, after the defeat, Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi ran to Youzhou, which was the territory of Xian Yufu, and the two sides were at war.

Originally, Xian Yufu should have been able to cooperate with Cao Cao to flank the two, but unfortunately, the Yuan clan had a prestige on the border of Youzhou, and Karasuma from all counties responded to his call.

So the three counties of Karasuma raised troops one after another, and Yuyang Qiping County, where Xian Yufu was located, was surrounded.

At the end of August, Cao Cao led his troops to rescue, captured Zhuojun, and destroyed Karasuma in Guangyang, Yuyang, and Youbeiping.

The two brothers, Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang, were defeated, so they could only escape again, ran to Liaoxi, passed Linyu (Shanhaiguan), and went to Liucheng to join Badun.

At the same time, Gao Gan saw that Cao Cao's troops had arrived in Liaoxi County, and the rear was very empty, so he rebelled, did not listen to Zhong Changtong's advice, and rebelled again, wanting to attack Yecheng.

For a time, Cao Cao's rear was in danger of falling.

Fortunately, Xun Yu's brother Xun Yan was guarding Ye as a captain of the supervising army, supervising the military of Hebei, and the matter of Gao Gan's troops secretly going out of Fukou to attack Yecheng was discovered by him.

At that time, Yu Ban and Zhang Yan were also stationed in the Yecheng area, and under the command of Xun Yan, Cao's army repelled the high-level army that would invade.

When Cao Cao got the news of Gao Gan's rebellion, he wanted to withdraw his troops and go back.

The rest of the generals also thought that it was time to retire.

Because at this time, Cao Cao had already obtained half of Youzhou, leaving only Liaoxi County, Xuansu County, Liaodong Subject, Liaodong County and Lelang County that had not yet been recovered.

These places are very remote, a bit of a chicken rib, and the cost of beating down and the benefits of harvesting do not match at all.

In addition, the high-ranking cadres in the rear may threaten Yecheng, so retreating is a good choice.

Only Guo Jiali ignored public opinion and strongly persuaded Cao Cao to continue the pursuit.

He believes that the Yuan clan has always been a scourge, and now he is colluding with Wuhuan, if he does not deal with it, then the north will always be attacked by the Wuhuan cavalry at any time.

Only by getting rid of Eryuan and completely subduing Wuhuan can the north be stable and there is no need to worry about the invasion of foreign enemies, so that he can free up his hands to go south to quell the rebellion.

Cao Cao thought so, so he mobilized other soldiers and horses in Hebei to attack and annex the state due to the ban on command. He used Tian Chou as a guide and ordered Xiahoudun to sit in Feiru and lead the army to continue the pursuit.

This pursuit is different from the historical soldiers who went out of Lu Longsai and rushed thousands of miles to attack White Wolf Mountain.

Historically, affected by the weather, the autumn rain in the north was continuous, and it was very bitter cold. So much so that the normal road is almost impossible to walk, so it is a strange plan to drill deep in the mountains and old forests.

And this so-called conspiracy almost killed Cao Cao himself.

If it weren't for the life span of his offspring in exchange for the luck of the sky, Cao Cao would probably be wiped out in this battle, and the history of the Cao family would basically end here.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, in a war, you must not take such a risk.

It's the same today.

According to historical records, in the fourteenth year of Jian'an, there was heavy rain in Huainan in the spring in the south, an earthquake occurred in Jingzhou in October, and heavy snow fell at the end of the year in the north.

Snow in winter has almost become an iron law after leaving the Shanhaiguan, especially during the Xiaoice River period.

So after the snow at the end of the year, there is definitely no way to directly raid Liucheng.

So Cao Cao led the army north to Changliao, that is, the area from Huludao City to Jinzhou City in later generations, and garrisoned Changliao.

He planned to build a city here first, first, to wait for the subsequent grain and grass to arrive, and second, to wait until the snow melted next spring, and then prepare to officially attack Liucheng in the north.

In this way, in the fourteenth year of Jian'an, from the middle of the year to the end of the year, Cao Cao only recovered half of Youzhou.

Gao Gan and Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi have not been eliminated.

Compared to Cao Cao's current war to regain the north, the situation in the south is much more complicated.

The first is Sun Quan.

The battle of Hongkou was defeated, and he had no choice but to seek peace with Liu Bei.

took half of Lujiang County and replaced Guiyang County.

In May, he appointed Bu Qi as the Jiaozhou Assassin and the general of the South China Sea, and He Qi as the Taishou of the South China Sea, leading 8,000 people to Jiaozhou.

At the same time, Cheng Pu, Zhou Tai, Lü Meng, Xu Sheng, Lü Fan, Jiang Qin and others were appointed as county magistrates in the areas with the most frequent activities in Shanyue.

These people took hundreds to thousands of soldiers and went to the depths of the mountains in the southeastern hills to pacify all sides.

Jiangdong is seriously understaffed.

Not only low-level soldiers, but also high-level generals are also lacking.

The four veterans, Zu Mao died in the Sun Jian period, and Han Dang and Huang Gai died in the hands of Shen Chen.

Then Zhou Yu, Zhang Hong, Quan Rou, Chen Zong and other senior generals, and the rest of the middle and lower-level generals died countless times.

For this reason, Sun Quan could only appease the people internally, compromise with the clans, and constantly attack Shanyue and Jiaozhou externally, in exchange for population, food, and property to fill Yangzhou.

He's having a hard time now.

The situation in Yizhou is still in a stalemate, Zhang Lu surrounded Chengdu, and Liu Zhang resisted to the death.

By May, Guan Yu sent Zhao Yun as a suspicious soldier, leading 8,000 soldiers, plus 20,000 auxiliary soldiers, a total of less than 30,000, falsely claiming to be 50,000, and went north to Mengtou and Dangshi, as if to attack the ditch.

Zhang Lu was really unmoved, there were many people from Bazhong to Brazil, and these people helped Zhang Lu to fight, and he was not worried about Hanzhong's loss at all.

What's more, he had already sent people to investigate, and found that although Zhao Yunjun was fanfare and mighty, the actual number of people was not that large at all, and most of them were auxiliaries and people.

The strategist Yan Pu said to Zhang Lu that this should be a partial division sent by Liu Beijun to pretend to besiege Wei to save Zhao, not the main force, so Zhang Lu continued to besiege Chengdu.

In Jingzhou, by May, Liu Bei finally planned to set off.

After Liu Qi died of illness in March, it took a month just to manage his funeral.

Immediately after April, Liu Bei was elected as the pastor of Jingzhou by Jingzhou officials.

As a state pastor, he naturally had to appease the people and scholars first, and then listen to the opinions of Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang and Jia Xu, and start to make certain internal arrangements.

After Jingzhou stabilized, Liu Bei finally set off.

May 11, Gangneung.

Early in the morning, Liu Bei had already arrived at the dock outside the city.

On a summer morning, mist rises on the Yangtze River, and the fog is beautiful, and as the morning sun rises, the visibility becomes higher and higher.

There was actually no army on this trip.

Because Liu Bei does not plan to use Jingzhou's soldiers and horses, but uses 50,000 people from his headquarters, it should be enough.

Moreover, the Jingzhou army is still in a situation of reducing the old and weak and training the elite, and it is not appropriate to send troops before the soldiers are well trained.

Therefore, there are actually about 3,000 guards led by Chen Zhi around him.

There are more than a dozen ships and fighting ships parked on the dock.

Liu Bei was followed by a large group of people, Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, Deng Hong, Liu Qi, Liu Xian and other state officials.

In addition to this, there is his family.

Yes.

Liu Bei's family is in Jiangling.

When he was in Jingnan, Liu Bei's family was protected by Guan Yu and had been in Linxiang.

After that, Liu Bei came back from Jiangzhou, cooperated with Liu Pan, Guan Yu, and Shen Chen to defeat Cai Mao, and went north to take Xiangyang.

At this time, there were no soldiers and horses of Liu Bei in Jingnan, Liu Bei's wife, Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi, as well as his son Adou and two daughters, went north with the army and stayed in Jiangling.

From the beginning of this year to the present, a series of things have happened, and Liu Bei has never had the opportunity to bring his family to Xiangyang.

Now that we have finally met, it is time to separate again.

On the edge of the Yangtze River, the river waves are rippling.

Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi accompanied Liu Bei.

"Husband."

Mrs. Mi snuggled up to Liu Bei and said softly: "My husband only came to Jiangling to meet us yesterday, and he will leave again today." ”

Liu Bei smiled bitterly: "Why don't I want to accompany my family?" However, in troubled times, I can't help myself. ”

Mrs. Gan said: "My sister and I both know that my husband is hard to start a business, and I don't expect my husband to be by my side, but I hope that my husband can return safely." ”

Liu Bei looked at the surging river in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "If you have a wife like this, what more can a husband ask for." ”

"Father."

Liu Bei's eldest daughter, Liu Ning, put her arms around Adou, followed by her ten-year-old sister, and asked, "When will my father come back?" ”

Liu Ning is also the daughter of Mrs. Gan and is fifteen years old this year.

At that time, Liu Bei was named the assassin of Yuzhou by Tao Qian, stationed in Xiaopei, and Mrs. Nagant was a concubine, and soon became pregnant with Liu Ning.

The reason why he married Ning was because Lu Bu attacked, and Liu Bei was later forced to flee to Xiaopei.

At that time, Xiaopei was not actually Pei County, where Liu Bang was located, but was located in the northwest of Pei County and northeast of Yu Feng County.

Xiaopei is about 20 miles to the north, and there is Ningmu Pavilion in the south of Fanghe County, and the approximate location is in the southeast of Jinxiang, Henan, and the place where Feng County is due north.

Liu Bei fled here, Mrs. Gan happened to give birth, and Liu Ning was born in Ning's mother pavilion, so he was named Ning.

I saw that she looked like her mother, Mrs. Gan, wearing a goose yellow Luo dress on her upper body, a white long skirt at the hem, and a pair of embroidered head-to-head shoes on her feet.

She has just reached the end of this year, her face is extremely beautiful, her black hair is curled into a bun, her smart big eyes are black, and her small mouth is red under her nose, which makes her whole face delicate and beautiful.

Liu Bei glanced back at her and said with a smile, "It's going to be soon." ”

"My lord."

At this moment, Chen arrived over and said, "The fog has dispersed." ”

Liu Bei said, "Let's go." ”

So saying, he went forward.

The group followed him, approaching the dock.

With an order, the three thousand guards began to board the ship, and Liu Bei stood on the dock and looked back at everyone.

"My lord."

Zhuge Liang arched his hand and said: "You must be cautious on this trip, if you can't defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, please send a letter back to Jingzhou and transfer people to Yizhou." ”

Liu Bei looked at Shen Chen and said, "Xiaoqing, you are in charge of reducing military affairs, how are you now?" ”

Shen Chen replied: "There are more than 200,000 troops left behind during the reign of King Chu, and now they have been reduced by half, and Jingzhou currently has about 100,000 horses, all of whom are young and strong, but they still need training. ”

He has been in charge of this matter since February, and now that three months have passed, he can be regarded as a satisfactory answer.

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Jingzhou military affairs, please leave it to Xiaoqing." ”

"I will live up to the trust of my lord."

Shen Chen has now also changed his name to call Liu Bei the lord.

Because since April this year, Liu Bei was elected as the pastor of Jingzhou by everyone, and he is the rightful lord of Jingzhou.

The era of Liu Biao, Liu Cong, and Liu Qi has passed.

In the future, although Jingzhou is still surnamed Liu, it is no longer Liu of Liu Biao's lineage, and Shen Chen and all Jingzhou officials, generals, troops, and ordinary people have also changed their course and belong to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen, and arched his hand and said, "Xiaoqing, Kong Ming, and all of you, Jingzhou, I will entrust it to you." ”

"The Lord's Edict."

And all the people bowed in unison.

After Liu Bei got up, he planned to get on the boat.

Turning his head, he glanced at the black pressure everyone below.

Suddenly noticed that her daughter Liu Ning was quietly looking at Shen Chen not far away.

After thinking about it for a while, he said again: "Everyone, I don't know when I will come back, there are you in Jingzhou, I am naturally relieved, but I am the only one who can not rest assured." ”

Liu Xian immediately said: "Please rest assured, the two ladies and the princess can follow us to the mansion of the lord of Xiangyang." ”

"Ning'er."

Liu Bei beckoned to his daughter.

Over there, holding Adou with one hand and holding her sister with the other, Liu Ning, who was peeking at Shen Chen, suddenly heard someone calling her name, turned around blankly, and saw that it was her father who called her, and suddenly said excitedly: "Father." ”

She handed Adou and her sister over to her mother and walked to Liu Bei's side by herself.

Liu Bei took her hand and said to Shen Chen: "Xiaoqing, my eldest daughter has always been lively and likes to run around, even the two ladies can't control her, you are comparable to Confucianism, and your martial arts are high, can you teach her to read and learn to be gentle, it is also a good thing." ”

"Uh."

Shen Chen felt weird, and hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Lord, please rest assured." ”

"Then I'll entrust Ning'er to you."

Liu Bei said and took Shen Chen's hand, pressed his hand on Liu Ning's hand, patted it lightly, and said, "I hope Ning'er won't cause you any trouble." ”

At that moment, Liu Ning blushed, and instinctively wanted to retract his hand as if he had been electrocuted, but his father didn't dare to shrink it.

Around, including Zhuge Liang, many state capitals were engaged in it, and their faces were strange.

Shen Chen froze even more, and he didn't dare to withdraw his hand, so he could only show a stiff smile, and nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, I will take care of my little mother." ”

"In this way, I am relieved."

Liu Bei smiled.

Mrs. Gan was suddenly thoughtful.

Everyone also had different faces, and Deng Hong was even more smiling.

Soon Liu Bei put down the hands of the two, said goodbye to everyone, and boarded the ship.

Liu Ning's heart pounded and retreated to Mrs. Gan's side.

Shen Chen was strong and calm, and waved goodbye.

At this moment, the morning sun is rising, and the fog on the river surface has dissipated.

In the midst of the rolling waves, Liu Bei's ship sailed northwest away from the dock and drifted away.

Everyone did not dare to disperse immediately.

Instead, he stood on the dock and watched him leave.

When the fleet disappeared into the vast river, officials at all levels in Jingzhou looked at Shen Chen with meaningful eyes.

Shen Chen only felt that his scalp was numb, and he was busy and wanted to turn his head and leave.

"Xiaoqing, where are you going?"

Zhuge Liang held a feather fan in his hand and stopped him with a feather fan.

Shen Chen said, "Go back." ”

Zhuge Liang covered his mouth and smiled: "Didn't you hear what the lord just said?" The two ladies and the young lady will ask you to escort them back. ”

"Yes, Xiaoqing, let's go first and go back to Xiangyang."

"The two ladies must have a lot of salutes to take, so you can wait for a day in Gangneung."

"Let's go."

Many state capitals and friends laughed one after another, and soon everyone on the dock scattered, leaving only Shen Chen, who looked embarrassed, and Liu Bei's family.

The pro-guards brought by Shen Chen in the distance only dared to look at them from a distance, and did not dare to come.

Shen Chen had no choice but to bite the bullet and say to Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi: "Two ladies, let me escort the two to Xiangyang." ”

Mrs. Mi smiled and said, "I don't need you to escort me, go and escort Ning'er." ”

"Sister."

Mrs. Gan glanced at her, then bent down to Shen Chen and saluted, "Then there is General Lao." ”

Fortunately, Mrs. Gan is sensible.

Shen Chen exhaled a long breath, and then turned her head to look at Liu Ning, her face was red, like a seductive and cute little apple.

"Let's go."

Shen Chen shouted and beckoned the carriage to come over.

He was afraid to look at it any longer, so he couldn't help but want to kiss that little apple-like face.

I suffered from stomach problems for a day, took a lot of medicine, and still didn't get better. I'm just a medicine jar now, and there are all kinds of medicines for lung diseases, stomach problems and fire in front of my computer desk, which is so uncomfortable that I may take a day off tomorrow and really go to the hospital.

(End of chapter)