At the time of the reunion of relatives and friends at the New Year's Pass, Zhuge Liang was invited by his friend Shi Tao to meet at Sima Hui's residence in Da Xian Mountain.

When they arrived at the place, they found that Xu Shu and Pang Tong were also guests at Sima Hui's house, so the five of them cooked wine and sang songs to talk about friendship, and everyone talked about the general trend of the world after chatting about Jingyi.

All five of them are wise and strategic, and they sit around the stove to drink and keep warm, and at the same time express their opinions.

Shi Tao may be drunk, and suddenly hooked the shoulder of Xu Shu beside him, and muttered to everyone: "Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao again this year, it seems that the pacification of the north is just around the corner, and then it will go south to Jingzhou and Jiangdong, and Xiangyang will definitely suffer a military disaster. ”

After hearing this, everyone was silent, Shi Tao looked at Sima Hui again, and asked: "Decao is the master here, let's give everyone an example first, I will not be willing to live in seclusion here and be Mr. Shuijing for a lifetime, right?" ”

Sima Hui said to him: "The scenery here is particularly beautiful, living here and hoeing and hoeing for pleasure, and I can often ask Pang Gong for advice, the war in the Central Plains hometown is withering, and I don't plan to go back."

"Are there any eggs under the nest?" Shi Tao looked incredulous, and asked: "When Cao Cao waives his army to the south, Decao is not afraid of being injured by the rebels?" ”

Sima Hui shook his head lightly: "If the hermits can't be saved, can they live a stable life when they return to their homeland?" Anyway, everything has a fate, and I'm still going with it."

"But this."

"Brother Guangyuan."

Shi Tao shook his head and wanted to argue, but was interrupted by Pang Tong beside Sima Hui waving his hand.

Pang Tong continued: "Although Cao Cao won a big victory in Cangting, he failed to complete a heavy blow to Yuan Shao, Hebei's strength is still not to be underestimated, in addition, Sun Quan attacked Shouchun and openly opposed Cao, Liu Fujun also had the spare strength to the north to contain after dealing with the Jingnan rebellion, Cao Cao was surrounded by enemies on all sides at this time, and I think he may not be able to pacify the north." ”

Xu Shu echoed: "What Shi Yuan said is very true, even if Liu Jingzhou Jingnan is undecided, but he has newly accepted Liu Xuande, this person is very jealous of Cao Cao, now that he is stationed in Wancheng, how dare Cao Cao easily find Yuan Shao to seek battle?" In the end, it is not yet known who will be able to pacify the north and enter the Central Plains."

Shi Tao didn't expect a reason to refute, so he got up and walked to Zhuge Liang's side, staggered and leaned on his shoulder, and muttered while gently patting his hand: "Kong Ming, you often compare yourself to wind music, why don't you say a word?" I remember that your hometown is in Langya, so you never thought about returning to your hometown? ”

"Brother Guangyuan is drunk"

Zhuge Liang got up to greet Xu Shu, and the two helped Shi Tao to lie down on the couch next to him, and then returned to the stove to continue the conversation.

"Although the hometown is good, but the outside world is bigger, Liang plans to travel in all directions, how can he be tripped up?"

Zhuge Liang said, sat cross-legged on the ground: "At this time, the general trend of the world is still in a state of chaos and uncertainty, Yuan Shao had the greatest opportunity, but he failed in Guandu last year, and this year he lost in Cangting, it is impossible to enter the Central Plains, Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and he is currently the strongest existence in the troubled times, but he may not be able to have the last laugh."

Xu Shu asked: "How can you see it?" ”

Zhuge Liang replied: "Jiangdong's performance this year is the most unexpected, that Sun Quan has just succeeded to the throne for a year, he dared to use troops against foreign countries continuously, not to mention killing Li Shu and slaughtering the city in Lujiang, but also daring to take the initiative to provoke Cao Cao;

One route was Huainan to attack Shouchun, and all the way to Huaidong to attack Guangling, the purpose was to control the Huaishui line, and then threaten Xudu with a naval army, and the military style was more radical than Sun Ce;

Cao Cao must now divide his troops to defend, and he can't take advantage of the victory to pursue and seize Hebei, and now the incident of the edict is well known, if Jingzhou, Jiangdong, and Hebei work together, it is not necessary to destroy Cao Cao and carve up the Central Plains."

"Yuan Shao, Sun Quan is hard to say"

Xu Shu frowned when he heard this, and commented: "I have been in Jingzhou for a few years, and I have a certain understanding of Liu Jingsheng, he is more than enough to quell the rebellion in the state, but the ability to expand outward is still a little worse, last year Yuan Cao and the two Guandu battles, Sun Ce was assassinated and Jiangdong is unstable, both sides are excellent opportunities to enter, but he neither chose to go east, nor did he choose to go north, and Liu Jingsheng has a grudge against Sun, at least it is difficult for the two of them to unite."

Zhuge Liang responded with his head: "Yuan's straightforward words are reasonable, Liu Fujun has the ability to keep the success, but he may be slightly older, and he has no ambition to expand the territory."

Pang Tong interrupted the two at this time, and said for Liu Biao: "You can't talk to death, I heard that when Liu Xuande came to Jingzhou, he and Fujun met in Dawangzhuang, not only gave the Son of Heaven's clothes and ribbons, but also promoted him as the leader with Liu Ziyang, and threatened to fight against Cao Cao and Kuang Fu Han together, Liu Fujun's age is indeed not young, but Liu Xuande and Liu Ziyang, the two clan relatives are in their prime, and they can go north on behalf of Jingzhou."

Zhuge Liang smiled and shook his head: "On the scene, how can Shi Yuan be credulous?" Liu Xuande wants to live in Jingzhou, can he not choose something good? In short, how the situation will evolve can only be left to time."

"Speaking of Liu Xuande, I have news here."

Sima Hui, who had been listening, suddenly spoke, looked at Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu, and said seriously: "Liu Xuande is known as a benevolent and righteous person, and he also has tiger generals such as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under his command, and I don't know why he has been unwilling, I heard that Uncle Huang has recently visited talents in Xiangyang, you are all full of talents, it may be difficult to become a career in Jingzhou at this time, why don't you find another way to assist Uncle Liu Huang?" ”

"Assist Liu Xuande?" Pang Tong furrowed his sparse eyebrows, shook his head and pouted: "He was already sending people under the fence, how can I go to vote again?" Wouldn't it be a joke to let your family know? ”

"Huh." Sima smiled at Pang Tong and said, "It's not easy for others to say, with Pang Gong's elegance and elegance, he will never laugh at Shi Yuan like a layman."

"Forget it. I'm not in a hurry."

Pang Tong, as the most talented son of the Pang family in Jingzhou, has better resources than Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu, and he can't look down on Liu Bei's small temple at this time.

Zhuge Liang saw Pang Tong's refusal, and also expressed his opinion: "Like Mr. Shuijing, I like to study in Longzhong, and I am very carefree to make friends in diplomacy, and I have no intention of being a leader, but I am straightforward."

"Me?" Xu Shu shook his head lightly: "As the so-called good birds choose trees to perch, it is not known whether Liu Xuande is the master, and he will not go out for the sake of being a master."

Pang Tong nodded in affirmation: "What Yuan Zhi said is very true, Liu Xuande has no place to stand, at this time, voting for him is like holding a salary to fight a fire, and accidentally burning himself, in fact, it is not that there is nowhere to go today, Jiangdong Sun Quan is a good choice, he is in Shouchun and Guangling to contain Cao Cao, it can be said that he did a good job."

"Forget about Sun Quan" Zhuge Liang hurriedly interrupted and explained: "The Sun family has been in Jiangdong for three generations, and it is still difficult for Yuan Zhi to do anything. ”

"Why are you all talking to me? Xu Shu doesn't have to go out, as Kong Ming said just now, when the situation in the world is unclear, he is now willing to go to the mountains and rivers."

(End of chapter)