Seventeen years of Jian'an, spring.

Wuhan, the state capital.

In the corridor, Liu Ji held the bamboo slip in his hand, lifted the hem, walked into the hall quickly, saw Liu Bei flipping through the bamboo slips, and said happily: "Lord, great victory!" ”

Liu Bei raised his head, saw that Liu Ji was so excited, and asked, "Respect for the public, but the war in Hefei?" ”

"Exactly!"

Liu Ji presented the bamboo slips and said excitedly: "Huo Xuzhou's soldiers broke through Hefei, killed Zhang Liao, Li Dian, and Wu Dun, and captured more than 10,000 people. Huo Xuzhou has let Huo Du, He Qi, Gao Xiang, and Zhao Yun divide the four counties of Lujiang, Jiujiang, Guangling, and Xiapi. ”

"What!"

Liu Bei stood up suddenly, his movements were too fast, and he directly knocked over the inkstone, and he didn't care if the ink was sprinkled on his robe.

"Lord!"

The attendant wanted to wipe Liu Bei's robe, but Liu Bei pushed the attendant away, took the bamboo slip himself, and flipped through it.

"Color!"

Liu Bei held the bamboo slip and praised it: "In the past, the infant swept south and swept Chu, and Zhong Miao crossed the Jianghuai River in the north, and the achievements were all the same. However, the baby was irrigated with Han Xin to break Xiang Yu, and Zhong Miao stood out as a fierce opponent, and his work was difficult for the baby. ”

Saying that, Liu Bei sighed and sighed, and said: "Zhong Miao's strategy of building a dredging and cutting down Huai in Wuhan is difficult to achieve. Unexpectedly, where there is a will, there is a way, beheading Zhang, Li, and Wu, and recovering the land of Huainan, only relying on Zhong Miao! ”

Zhuge Liang, who heard the news, walked into the lobby, bowed his hand to Liu Bei, and said with a smile: "Congratulations to the lord, Bashu has not yet gone down, and Huainan has been obtained!" ”

Liu Bei laughed and said: "When double happiness is coming, Cao Cao's generals are not more than Yu Ban, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and other disciples. Now that Zhang Liao is killed in battle, Cao Cao must be furious, and dare to live in Kanxi for a long time? ”

Li Dian and Wu Dun are all ordinary generals in Liu Bei's eyes, but Zhang Liao's courage makes him jealous. At the beginning of the battle of Tianzhu Mountain, Guan Yu was sent to deal with Zhang Liao, which shows that Liu Bei attaches great importance to Zhang Liao. Now that Zhang Liao has died in battle, it is enough to make Cao Cao feel distressed.

"Come on, Qian Zilong will be the general of the army, and the food will be increased by 500 households." Liu Bei commanded.

"Lord, where is Zhong Miao?" Zhuge Liang reminded.

Liu Bei laughed a few times and said, "Zhong Miao has been the general of Zhengbei for several years, and now he should also move his position. And worship Zhong Miao as the general of Zhenbei, increase the number of households in the city by 2,000, and supervise the Jianghuai military. As for the rest of the generals, there will be another reward for their official titles."

"No!" Liu Ji answered the order.

Liu Ji, the word respects. After Liu Fei, the eldest son of Liu Xiang of Yangzhou. When Liu Miao died, Liu Ji was only fourteen years old, but he was in charge of the party and mourned for Liu Xiang normally.

After the death of his father, Liu Ji was afraid of retaliation by the Sun family, so he lived in seclusion in the township, cultivated and studied in the fields, and governed the family well.

When Liu Bei succeeded to Yangzhou as pastor, he promoted Liu Ji as an official. After taking the helm of Wu Chu, Liu Ji entered the Cheqi General's Mansion to take up a post. Since he became an official, Liu Ji has been an orderly director and has been highly used by Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.

When Zhuge Liang saw Liu Ji come out of the court, he said with a smile: "Respect for public opinion, very ambitious, and rigorous in governance." Now that Jianghuai is at the beginning of the year, the counties are disorderly, so why not let Jingyu govern on behalf of the lord. ”

Liu Bei paced slightly and said: "In the hundreds of miles of Jianghuai, the people are scarce, the townships and counties are deserted, and it is not easy to govern Jianghuai!" ”

Zhuge Liang stroked the feather fan and said: "Jianghuai is not prosperous, why the Northern Expedition?" ”

"Every time there is a war in Jianghuai, it is necessary to send Jiangzuo soldiers rations. However, Jiangdong is more than 400 miles from Shouchun, how difficult is it to mobilize military rations? Today, he should serve as a virtuous official in the Jianghuai region, and the farmers and the people will be rejuvenated in order to rejuvenate the Jianghuai. ”

For Cao Cao or Liu Bei, the withered Jianghuai belongs to a place where input is greater than output. In order to maintain the battle line, it is necessary to constantly send troops to the border to garrison the border, and it is necessary to transport hundreds of miles of grain to the front line.

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said, "Does Kong Ming have a strategy?" ”

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "Hundreds of miles in Jianghuai are not a place for soldiers to fight chaotically. The east is in the west, and the south is in the north. Therefore, with a bright view, Guangling County should be said to be safe, why not order Liu Jingyu to serve as the Taishou of Guangling, gather people in Tuntian between Jiangbei and Huainan for hundreds of miles, and restore vitality. ”

Although Zhuge Liang is far away in Jianghuai, he also knows a lot about the situation in Jianghuai.

Cao Cao's core forces were in Yan, Henan, and Hebei, and Xuzhou was handed over to semi-independent warlord agents such as Zangba and Sun Guan. The area north of Hefei and south of Shouchun may become a new point of contention between Cao and Liu.

Therefore, on the whole, the pressure in Huaixi is greater than that in Huaidong for hundreds of miles. Guangling County in Xuzhou is far away from the front of the Huai River, but it can become a rare Taiping area in the Huai River area.

"What should Chang Feng do, Lone once named him Guangling Taishou." Liu Bei asked.

Zhuge Liang shook the feather fan lightly and said with a smile: "Promoted to knighthood, reappointed as the Taishou of Xiapi, obeyed the orders of Zhong Miao, and stationed in dangerous places." ”

Changfeng once belonged to the warlord system of Xuzhou, and after Huo Jun moved south, he was stationed in Jiangdu and became a semi-independent warlord attached to Liu Bei. It is not impossible for him to be stationed at the border of the Huai River in Xuzhou, as long as the honor and treatment are enough.

"From Kong Ming's meaning!"

Liu Bei retreated excitedly, only to find that his clothes were stained with ink, and said with a smile: "I was happy to hear about the war, but I lost my temper unexpectedly." ”

"Change the robe for the lord!"

"No!"

Liu Bei stretched out his arms, asked the attendants to change his clothes, and said with emotion: "If the war in Jiangzhou can be as smooth as the war in Hefei, I am afraid that Gu Gu has already entered Bashu to comfort the people." ”

Zhuge Liang sat on the side seat and said with a smile: "The war in Jiangzhou is not the same as that in Hefei. Hefei is isolated in the north of the Yangtze River, two or three hundred miles away from the Central Plains, and it is difficult to rescue in a hurry. However, Jiangzhou is the gateway to Bashu, and Liu Zhang gathers the strength of the whole state to defend it. Unless the soil is a mountain and the car hits the door, it is difficult to break. ”

Liu Bei seemed to realize that he had said the wrong thing, and said with a smile: "If Liu Zhang surrenders easily, why does Gu need to send the three generals Guan, Zhang, and Gan to lead the army into Shu?" and wait for the news of the battle report of the three generals. ”

The war in Bashu was not without progress, Zhang Fei's troops entered Brazil County, and Brazil was too guarded by Pang Xi to surrender. At the same time that Zhang Fei forced into Jiangzhou, Guan Yu and Gan Ning led the navy westward, and successfully passed through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River under the arrival of Meng Da and Fa Zheng.

The three generals arrived at the city of Jiangzhou and began to besiege the city.

Liu Zhang's eldest son, Liu Xun, commanded the army to defend Jiangzhou City, and appointed Zhang Ren, Liu Bi, and Leng Bao to defend against the enemy, and scattered all the money in the treasury to buy people's hearts.

Under Liu Xun's desperate resistance, the three generals failed to attack, adopted the suggestions of Pang Tong and Fa Zheng, and then besieged the city and used engineering equipment to attack the city.

When Liu Zhang learned that Zhang Fei had attacked Brazil County and Liu Bei tore up the alliance, he was so angry. In addition to ordering his son Liu Xun to hold the city, he also ordered Deng Xian and Wu Yi to lead 10,000 people to support Jiangzhou City.

Guan Yu personally led Lu Meng into battle and defeated the second general. Deng Xian retreated into Jiangzhou City, and Wu Yi led the army to surrender to Guan Yu and stayed under the tent to supervise it.

All in all, everything is going in a good direction on the Bashu battlefield today, but as Liu Bei said, if Jiangzhou can be successfully won, the Bashu war will be much easier to fight.

"The lord is wise!"

Zhuge Liang bowed his hand and said: "I don't know if the lord can answer the doubts in Liang's heart today?" ”

Seeing Zhuge Liang so solemn, Liu Bei raised his hand and said, "Kong Ming, please speak!" ”

"The lord is about to succeed in the future, and he sits in the south, and I don't know whether he wants to make his son an heir, or he wants to make a son Zen an heir. Gongzi Feng, the eldest son of the Lord and Justice; Gongzi Zen, the eldest son of the lord's father-in-law. Each has its own strengths, so please ask the lord to make an early decision. Zhuge Liang asked.

"Kong Ming is a slave?" Liu Bei asked.

"Yes!"

Zhuge Liang said: "Gongzi Chan, the son of the lord's bloodline. Intelligent, benevolent, respectful and filial. After it grows up, it should be able to succeed to the throne of the lord. ”

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said: "Lonely also means to be a slave, but the slave is young, and he can observe one or two." ”

"No!"

(End of chapter)