At the end of June of the sixth year of Zhang Wu, for the people of Xiangyang, the biggest news was naturally the frequent news of His Majesty's Northern Expedition.

The western front of Guanzhong was recovered, and the Han Dynasty was returned to the old capital, and many people were talking about it, saying that His Majesty was likely to move the capital to Chang'an, but some people thought that now was not the time to move the capital to Chang'an, so His Majesty would not move the capital immediately.

This point of view is indeed correct for discerning people, and there has been no news of the imperial court recently to contribute to the move of the capital to Chang'an, and the people of Xiangyang are still the people of the imperial capital.

However, soon another piece of news spread throughout the south, and after the battlefield on the Western Front, the Huainan Battlefield on the Eastern Front, the general Guan Yu also won the victory.

Although he did not recover Guanzhong like the hussar generals, he defeated Cao Xiu and continued to besiege Hefei, which made the city of Hefei crumbling, and Huainan was just around the corner.

For a time, the people of the Han Dynasty were in an extremely optimistic assessment of the situation of the Northern Expedition. Everyone is elated, and the young and strong who want to join the army are like carp crossing the river.

It's just that people often look at the surface, and those who really have vision still see deeper things.

For example, Cao Wei's real heritage.

Xiangyang Anle Hou Mansion, the former idle An Le Hou is sitting in the backyard at the moment looking at the newspaper, there is Zhuge Liang's autographed article on it, a hand "Northern Expedition Table" is quick-witted, sprinkled with more than 1,000 words, and now Liu Bei Group is in a good situation.

There is another person beside Sun Quan, this person is Fu Jun, the housekeeper of the Anle Hou Mansion, who was also Sun Quan's housekeeper in Jianye Wuhou Mansion before, and is a close confidant of Sun Quan's inner house.

Since the treachery of the Sima family and Liu Yukai's killing of the emperors of the first dynasty, the late Han Dynasty was still relatively friendly to the princes and royal families who surrendered.

Like Zhang Xiu, Zhang Yan, Liu Cong, Ma Teng, Zhang Lu and other princes accepted by Cao Cao in history, except for Ma Teng, who was killed because of Ma Chao's rebellion, the rest ended well.

and Cao Pi's treatment of Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty, and Sima Zhao's treatment of Liu Chan later, are all okay.

It can be seen that in the late Han Dynasty, there was still faith and righteousness, and in the face of the old monarchs and ministers of the previous dynasty, the new dynasty often did not kill, but mainly pacified.

The same is true for Sun Quan.

Liu Bei was originally benevolent and righteous, so naturally he would not assassinate him, not only gave him a mansion, but also asked him to allow all the servants of the Marquis Wu's mansion to be brought to Xiangyang to serve him.

Those who were willing to submit to Jiangdong were in the Han Dynasty, and those who were unwilling to submit were also given mansions and land, so that they could enjoy their old age in peace.

Like Zhang Zhao and Zhang Zibu, he is reluctant to go out, and he is currently living in a house in the west of Xiangyang City, just like Sun Quan.

At this moment, there is silence in the Anle Hou Mansion, and it has been raining in Xiangyang recently, and the raindrops are beating on the pavilion, making a crisp sound.

Sun Quan's face was ruddy, and in the past few years of recuperation in Xiangyang, he has become more and more mellow, eating and drinking every day, not having to think about those messy things, but making him healthy.

Fu Jun knelt down next to him, frowned and said: "Wu Hou, Cao Pi has lost consecutive battles, Liu Bei is gaining momentum, I am afraid that he will really let him dominate the world in the future." ”

Sun Quan shook his head with a smile and said, "You only saw that Cao Pi was defeated on the surface, but you ignored that Cao Pi owned the entire north. He has sent less than 300,000 troops now, do you think this is all the soldiers and horses of the entire Cao Wei? ”

"What does Wu Hou mean?"

Fu Jun was surprised: "Cao Pi is hiding his strength? ”

"He's not hiding his strength."

Sun Quan said: "He is just consuming Liu Bei's soldiers and horses, and now it seems that he has lost both ways, but even if Liu Bei gets Guanzhong and Huainan, what will happen?" There are no people in the two places for thousands of miles, and if they continue to attack Henan in the north, the main force in Cao Wei's rear will be exhausted, and it is impossible for Liu Bei to succeed in the northern expedition. ”

This is a situation that anyone who has ever been involved in the struggle for world dominance can analyze.

It looks like Cao Pi is now in a fiasco.

The problem is that Cao Pi still has a large number of reserves in Luoyang, Henan, and Hebei, and the main force has not suffered any losses in Henan.

The current situation is just that Cao Pi has lost the defense line of Guanzhong, and Cao Xiu has been defeated in the eastern direction, but Hefei is still embedded in the hinterland of Huainan like a nail, and Guan Yu has not yet obtained the entire Huainan region.

Therefore, Liu Bei had already exhausted his old life, but Cao Pi only dispatched less than two-thirds of his troops and horses, holding the defense line on his own border, waiting for Liu Bei to spend money and food on the Northern Expedition.

Even if the Western Front is defeated now, will Shen Chen really be able to storm Tongguan for thousands of miles?

Obviously too difficult.

Cao Jun's background is exhausted, and he waits for work at ease, no matter how powerful Shen Chen is, if he forcibly attacks Tongguan, he can probably only touch a nose of ash.

Therefore, Sun Quan believes that even if Huainan is lost, Cao Pi still has the opportunity to fight the whole country.

At that time, it was the time when the Southern Han and the Northern Wei were at war for life and death.

"That Cao Pi ......"

Fu Jun hesitated: "Cao Pi sent someone to find me and asked me to talk to Wu Hou about contacting the old department......

Sun Quan stroked his beard and groaned, and after a while, his eyes were calm and said, "This matter has to be done." ”

"Really?"

Fu Jun said: "But now that the south has been fully mastered by Liu Bei, wouldn't it be if he noticed it?" ”

Sun Quan sighed: "This is Lone's last chance, if you can seize the opportunity, Lone can return to Jiangdong and sit on the entire southeast." ”

"Really? Wouldn't it be too risky? ”

Fu Jun was a little worried.

Although he is now a prisoner, at least he has no worries about food and clothing, and Liu Bei did not restrict him too much.

In addition to not being able to go back to Jiangdong, at least you can still walk around Xiangyang.

"Nature."

Sun Quan said: "Think about it, originally Cao Pi and Liu Bei fought, Cao Pi waited for work, plus there were many soldiers and horses, the victory or defeat was about three seven, Cao Pi got seven, Liu Bei got three. ”

"Hmm."

Fu Jun nodded in agreement, it is recognized that the heritage and national strength of the north are stronger than those of the south.

"But now that Shen Chen and Guan Yu have won a big victory, Cao Pi's style of playing to consume Liu Bei is no longer applicable, and he will inevitably want to repel Liu Bei's main force as soon as possible, and then rush to the aid of Guanzhong and Huainan to recapture the defensive line."

Sun Quan analyzed: "Then once Cao Pi is in a hurry to start a war and transfers all his troops and horses from the north to the south, the two sides will have a thorough competition of national strength, and the victory or defeat will only be five or five." Once Liu Bei achieves the final victory, then Lone will never be able to turn over, how can Lone sit still? Only by letting Cao Pi win can Lone have a chance to return to Jiangdong. ”

Fu Jun said: "But now many of our old departments in Jiangdong are from Liu Bei, like Zhuge Jin and Lu Xun, who have now become Liu Bei's squires, often accompanying him. Of the Jiangdong scholars we can find, who can work for us? ”

Zhuge Jin, Lu Xun?

When these two people were mentioned, Sun Quan's face changed slightly, and a trace of hatred flashed in his eyes.

Zhuge Jin was actually okay, because he surrendered when he was in a desperate situation, and it was for Zhuge Liang's sake that Liu Bei did not embarrass him.

But Lu Xun, the villain, prepared early, and buried his last bit of soldiers and horses, so that even if he wanted to flee north, when he went to Cao Pi, he had no army to protect him and was captured by Guan Yusheng.

Now every time he thinks of Lu Xun, Sun Quan can't wait to kill him.

However, Lu Xun is indeed talented, and he is like a fish in water under Liu Bei, and now he has become a middle-level official in Shangshu Province, and he follows Liu Bei to give advice, which is deeply valued by Liu Bei.

So even if Sun Quan wanted to kill him, he couldn't kill him.

"It doesn't matter."

When Sun Quan heard Fu Jun's words, he gritted his teeth and said: "There are hundreds of wealthy families in Jiangdong, and these people regard the land as their life. Hasn't Liu Bei been looking for an excuse to strip them of their land? If you don't believe it, there is no one among these people who does not resent Liu Bei. ”

Fu Jun thought for a while and said, "Wu Hou, I know that there are many people who are unwilling to go out to Liu Bei. Liu Bei is now exchanging his official position for land, and when he goes to the south, he has to hand over a lot of land and population. Some big families would rather not stick to their ancestral business than hand over the land and population. But Liu Bei still robbed them of a lot of their land, maybe there will indeed be a lot of people, but it's just ......"

"Just what?"

"It's just that I'm thinking, if I contact these people, how can I guarantee that these people won't betray Wu Hou?"

Fu Jun said: "Wu Hou think about it, now Liu Bei is at the critical moment of the Northern Expedition, if there is a big chaos in the rear, it will definitely affect him, and Cao Pi may win a big victory if he doesn't say it well." Therefore, it is very important whether there will be chaos in the rear, if we want to start an uprising, those wealthy families may report this matter to Liu Bei if they don't say it well, which is a great achievement. ”

Betraying the lonely?

Sun Quan suddenly fell into deep thought.

Fu Jun is right, the stability of Liu Bei's rear is related to the Northern Expedition, and it must be very important.

If he set off a rebellion at this time, it would indeed be unfavorable to the situation of his Northern Expedition, and might even allow Cao Pi to take advantage of the situation to achieve victory against him.

Therefore, if someone can report the rebellion in the rear, it will inevitably reward that person, so under such a entanglement of interests, even if someone is dissatisfied with Liu Bei, they will still choose to defect and defect.

After all, there are three dissatisfied people in the Jiangdong family, one is that the Liu Bei group exploits their land and population and suppresses their basic base.

The second is that the Jiangdong family joined too late and its political status was too low.

The third is that Liu Bei's attitude towards them does not pay attention to them, there is a Jingyi family, and there is no need for the Jiangdong family.

Therefore, it is normal for some Jiangdong families to be resistant to Liu Bei Group.

But if Sun Quan is reported, these three will naturally become different.

Liu Bei will definitely promote the whistleblowers in a big way, and at the same time, he will also relax their fields and population, and improve their political status, which will not be much stronger than the already fallen Sun Quanchao?

It can even be said that if you really do this, there must be many people who say that they can't say that Liu Bei can't do it, and the family that misses the Sun family chooses to defect.

As the leader of the Sun Wu regime with the highest degree of integration with the family, Sun Quan understands the urine nature of the family better than anyone else.

Thinking of this, Sun Quan's face suddenly became serious, and he nodded seriously and said, "Yes, what Bo Liang said is very true, Gu was almost in a hurry, and he broke a big deal." ”

Fu Jun asked, "Then according to Wu Hou's meaning, do we still contact them?" ”

"Contact!"

Sun Quan said in a deep voice: "But not in the name of Lone, I will make a list of several people, all of them are Lone's trustworthy and loyal people, let them come forward and contact them in the name of Cao Pi when the time comes, and this matter should be kept as secret as possible, the less people know, the better." ”

"Yes."

Fu Jun responded, and now that Sun Quan was imprisoned in the mansion, he was the only one who could take advantage of the opportunity to go out of the mansion to contact people.

The next day, Fu Jun immediately left the Anle Hou Mansion and began to act according to Sun Quan's deployment.

And in July, the situation in the north changed again.

After Cao Xiu's defeat, Cao Pi knew that it was obviously impossible to keep his head in the dark and wait for work at ease, so he could only mobilize the rear reserve troops and horses to increase troops to the south.

The Cao army on the Henan front has reached 150,000 soldiers, Huainan has also increased 80,000 troops, plus the defenders of Tongguan, Hedong and Bingzhou, Cao Wei's army of more than 400,000 troops, except for a part of the northern border, almost all of them were dispatched.

Even the soldiers and horses used to quell the rebellion in Hebei, Qingzhou and other places were transferred back, so that the civil unrest in the rear intensified, and more than ten large and small forces were in rebellion in the rear of Cao Wei, making his rear very unstable.

It's just that compared to large-scale rebellions, these rebellions are small-scale civil unrest in various places. Now the northern families basically support Cao Wei, so these minor troubles Cao Pi have been handed over to the family to deal with.

Although this is undoubtedly another opportunity for the family to grow, after all, the captured population and the land seized by the family after the rebellion will not be nationalized, and will eventually fall into their pockets, but it is better than letting the civil unrest develop more and more vigorously and threatening Cao Wei's rule.

So in a sense, there's no way around it. The imperial power could not suppress the family too much, and could only barely achieve balance.

Now Cao Wei's background is exhausted, and he and Liu Bei officially start a desperate battle between national strength.

The size of both sides is too large, and almost all of them use their lives.

The most intuitive manifestation of this is that since the second half of this year, the work of recruiting soldiers has become more and more arduous, and many young and strong people have been conscripted into the army every day, and then they have been incorporated into the ranks and started training.

Too many young people enlist in the army, which will inevitably hinder the development of agriculture, making the quality of life of the people at the bottom relatively worse than in the previous two years, and making it more and more difficult to survive.

The only good news is that Liu Bei has accumulated a lot of grain and grass in the past few years of recuperation, and the logistical pressure is not large, but in general, the manpower directly used by both sides has exceeded one million, and a large number of young and strong laborers have been sent to the front line, which is a serious loss of national strength for the Han and Wei countries.

Until the sixth year of Zhang Wu and the second half of the seventh year of Huang Chu, that is, in November 226 AD, the two sides were still in a stalemate.

Shen Chen sent all the cavalry to Henan, and he occupied Chang'an with tens of thousands of foot soldiers and threatened Hedong. After Guan Yu repelled Cao Xiu, he continued to surround Hefei, and the city of Hefei was crumbling and was already at risk of being breached.

In the Henan direction, both sides have increased their troops to varying degrees, especially after Shen Chen sent 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry over, Liu Bei's mobility on the plain was greatly enhanced, and his strength increased by leaps and bounds.

This made Cao Pi's original psychology of being anxious for a decisive battle gradually calmed down, and at the end of the year, his body was in trouble, and he often coughed constantly.

At the moment of tense confrontation between the two sides, Jingzhou Nanjun, the capital of the Han Dynasty, Xiangyang Prime Minister's Mansion.

Zhuge Liang obtained a secret message.