Chapter 134 Zhou Tai Offers Suggestions
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin looked at each other, and then Zhou Tai spoke: "Today during lunch break, my old brother and I talked about the old water business."
< br>Speaking of this, Zhou Tai's face flashed with a trace of rosy. It was obvious that this water business was not that serious.
“Later, an old brother mentioned that when he was smuggling salt in Jiangdu two years ago, he discovered that there was a secret passage under the water gate of Jiangdu County, which could lead directly from outside the river to the city.”
“Oh. ? ”
Liu Feng suddenly became energetic: "Is that secret passage still there now?"
Zhou Tai looked back at the old brother and motioned for him to answer.
The man took two steps forward and replied: "Reporting to the young master, the secret passage is actually a piece of gravel in the water, which happened to block the water gate of Jiangdu, making it impossible for the water gate to fall to the bottom. There is probably just the right amount of space left. There is enough space for one person to get through."
The man said, gesturing in mid-air, letting Liu Feng understand what he meant.
According to Liu Feng's estimation, the gravel in the water should not be naturally formed.
There was indeed no system for discussing salt in the Eastern Han Dynasty. From an official perspective, there was no distinction between official salt and private salt.
But for the people, in salt-producing areas, salt from other places is illegal salt, which needs to be cracked down and eradicated because it affects the production and sales of salt in one's own country and is an intruder.
When salt goods from other places want to enter, many of them are just like smuggling. It is not an exaggeration to call them smuggled salt.
Both Guangling and Yangzhou are large salt producers. Even Yanzhou produces well salt, so they have strict sales limits between them.
But there are always some people who cross boundaries in order to pursue greater interests and wealth, especially desperate water bandits like Zhou Tai.
But the point is not this, but that there is a problem with Jiangdu's city defense.
This is valuable information.
Liu Feng pondered for a moment and then asked three questions: "How long has it been since you last entered and exited that secret passage? Are you sure that the secret passage is still there? If you were asked to do it again now Are you willing to go to Jiangdu and quietly check whether the secret passage is still there? "
Although this information is important, its value lies in the secret passage.
Zhou Tai and others have been living happily on the river for two or three years. If time has passed and the secret passage has been discovered and blocked by Jiangdu, or destroyed, then if the Xuzhou Army formulates a battle plan based on this , then something big will happen.
Zhou Tai's subordinates quickly replied: "That secret passage is used by powerful smugglers in Jiangdu County and will not be cut off easily. The last time I went there was a few months ago, and it was still open and there were no obstacles. If you are worried, Chun Yuan will go there in person." It only takes more than half a month to run once and bring the latest situation back to Tancheng."
The distance from Tancheng to Jiangdu is very long, hundreds of miles away.
But fortunately, the familiar road is smooth. If you take the waterway, the journey speed will be greatly improved.
But even so, if you want to complete the round trip within more than half a month, and you still need to find out the information, time is still quite tight.
But he is still willing to boast about Haikou, which shows that the man in front of him is quite motivated and wants to seize this opportunity.
Coincidentally, Liu Feng admires people who are motivated the most.
Liu Feng asked: "What's your name?"
The man's face was full of surprise, and he quickly replied: "Back to the young master, the villain's name is Qian Chun. In Zhou Sima He is temporarily appointed as the captain. "
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin are just Qu Junhou. This man named Qian Chun is actually the captain. It can be seen that he is also the right-hand man of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin.
"Okay! Qian Chun."
Liu Feng nodded at him: "If you can accurately bring the information back within twenty days, I will credit you with a reward! A reward of one thousand, one piece of silk each."
"In addition, You can choose two helpers first, and then allocate you a small boat, a thousand coins, and two pieces of linen for your use on the road."
Qian Chun was excited when he heard this, and his face suddenly turned red. , realizing that he had seized the opportunity, he hurriedly bowed and said: "Thank you, Master! I will do my best to serve you."
Liu Feng nodded, stepped forward and helped him up: "Okay, you have this I'm very happy. It's just a long journey. Please be safe on the road and put your own safety first."
"Sir!"
Qian Chun had never seen such an easy-going nobleman. This was the first time that he had been so close to a nobleman from a state or county.
Hearing Liu Feng's instructions for safety again, Qian Chun burst into tears for a moment, wishing he could die for Liu Feng on the spot.
"Young Master's great kindness and kindness will never be forgotten! Please rest assured, Young Master! But if Qian Chun is still alive, I will find out the truth for you and repay him."
"Okay, okay. , I believe you."
Liu Feng patted Qian Chun on the shoulder and pulled him up from the ground.
He turned around and told Zhou Tai: "Youping, you can go to the state capital tomorrow to collect the goods. We will arrange a fast boat for Qian Chunhao to get on the road as soon as possible."
"Yes, young master!"
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were also very happy to watch. Qian Chun was their old brother and he dared to fight. However, because of his humble background, no nobles took notice of him, so they had to sell private salt first. To make ends meet, the two of them simply turned into bandits and roamed the river.
Now that I can be favored by the young master, and then I can make great achievements, the day when I will succeed is not far away.
After the arrangements were made, Liu Feng felt a little excited.
Because Jiangdu is too important.
Geographically speaking, Jiangdu almost blocks the strategic pass at the mouth of the Li Canal, which can shield the threat from the upper reaches of the river.
What’s even better is that the other side of the lower reaches of Jiangdu is entirely in the hands of Liu Yao. Although Liu Yao is not yet an ally of Xuzhou, there is already a tacit understanding between the two families and they are accelerating their approach.
The previous plan Liu Feng made was to detach a force of four thousand to six thousand people, set off from Xiapi State, stationed in Dongcheng, and arrived at the waist of Jiujiang to contain Yuan Shu's army.
If it is combined with Jiangdu, then even if Yuan Shujun wants to move, it will be of no avail.
If we take another step back, even if Yuan Shujun enters Guangling first.
If the Xuzhou Army can recapture Jiangdu overnight, Yuan Shu's army in Guangling City will be cut off from its return path and will immediately become a turtle in the urn.
This shows how important Jiangdu is, a city on the bank of the river.
If there is a chance, Yuan Shu may be able to cause a big fight in Jiangdu.
**********
Man Chong's return journey went smoothly. When he met Cao Cao in Juancheng, he narrated the entire process of his mission.
Cao Cao was quite dissatisfied: "This Liu Xuande is so kind that he wins people's hearts everywhere. Bon Ning must not let him deceive him with his clever words."
Man Chong knelt down on the seat, his body Before straightening up, he and Cheng Yu had similar habits in front of Cao Cao.
"Ming Gong's advice, Chong will keep it in mind."
Man Chong didn't think that Liu Bei was deceiving him with his clever words. His attitude of being courteous to the virtuous and eager to seek talents was not what he wanted. Can you just pretend?
However, Man Chong was naturally not stupid enough to argue with Cao Cao about this. Instead, he changed the subject lightly: "What do you think of Duke Ming's proposal to Liu Shijun? In Chong's opinion, it is indeed beneficial to our two states."
Cao Cao sighed: "What Boning said is true, but given the current situation, if we make a treaty rashly, our state will suffer a big loss. If we want to go back on it in the future, we may be known as a breach of trust, so we need to be cautious."< br>
Man Chong instantly understood Cao Cao's thoughts. It was not that he did not want to negotiate for peace, nor was he indifferent to the conditions, but that he wanted to take the initiative.
What is initiative?
After destroying Lu Bu and regaining control of Yanzhou, he took the initiative.
After thinking for a moment, Cao Cao made a decision: "Let's put this matter aside for now. I will make a decision after I meet with Wen Ruo, Zhicai, and Zhongde to discuss it. I will also meet with Lao Boning."
Man Chong does everything he can and nods to accept orders.
Cheng Yu, who was mentioned by Cao Cao, had already arrived at Shouchun, Yuan Shu's residence.
The administrative seat of Yangzhou should have been in Liyang, but Yuan Shu just squatted in Shouchun and did not move. This has practical benefits.
Many people look at the map of the Three Kingdoms and think that Yizhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou are extremely large. In terms of territory, they can really compete with the three pillars of the north.
But in fact, most of the population in Yizhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou are concentrated in the north, while the south is an area with little development or even an area to be developed.
For example, in Yizhou, the main population is concentrated in the north of Chengdu. Even in the plains south of Chengdu, the population is not large, because it will be invaded by the southern barbarians, let alone the mountainous areas.
Like Jingzhou, the main population is concentrated in the area north of the Yangtze River. Although the four counties in Jingnan are large in area, the population of the entire four counties combined is the same as that of Nanyang County in the north. Less than ten percent of the population.
The most populous areas of Yangzhou are the two counties of Lujiang and Jiujiang in the north of the Yangtze River. These two counties are not large, but have a population of more than one million. They are both mature and prosperous places with fertile land. They also have products such as salt, iron, silk, tea, and most importantly, copper mines. .
In addition, Li Yang was close to the Yangtze River and was at war with Liu Yao, while Shouchun was settled in the rear and relatively close to Yuzhou, which facilitated the expansion of Yuzhou's influence.
In addition, Shouchun was a developed city with a large population and prosperous commerce, so Yuan Shu refused to come out even once he entered Shouchun.
Cheng Yu found Yan Xiang, the chief registrar, who had a good reputation and a reputation for wisdom. He could be used as a test. After all, there was a deep hatred between Yuan and Cao.
In the Battle of Kuangting the year before last, Cao Cao beat Yuan Shu severely, and even chased Yuan Shu for six hundred miles, from Fengqiu in Yanzhou to Lujiang in Yangzhou.
But at the same time, Cao Cao actually secretly sold a favor to Yuan Shu. If Cao Cao was really murderous, how come he won three battles in six hundred miles, but still failed to round up Yuan Shu?
It's not that Cao Cao doesn't have the ability, it's just that he doesn't want to do it.
Yuan Shu is the King of Skeletons, not the God of War with Donkey Carts. His ability to escape is really far behind those of Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
Just look at Yuan Shu's final defeat. When he wanted to surrender to Yuan Shao, he couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried, and finally died of embarrassment, you can see the mystery.
Yuan Shu may deny this favor, but he must know it in his heart.
“Your envoy has come all the way, but has he found a place to stay?”
Yan Xiang was shocked when he heard that Cheng Yu was Cao Cao's envoy.
Cheng Yu, however, had a lot of leisure time. After saluting, he said: "My lord asked me to ask for a meeting with the general. There is really a major matter that concerns the general. I wonder if you can introduce me to it."
< br>Yan Xiang thought for a while and asked: "I wonder what the envoy is talking about?"
Yan Xiang actually asked this casually, because in his opinion, Cheng Yu would avoid talking about it 90% of the time. , and asked to talk to Yuan Shu in person.
What I didn't expect was that Cheng Yu was unexpected. He came out with a straight message: "It's Xuzhou Liu Xuande's intention to go south to Guangling."
"Going south to Guangling?"
Yan Xiang was horrified and said with disbelief: "How is this possible? Liu Bei just used Langya more than a month ago. Even if his troops don't need to rest, Xuzhou doesn't have so much food and grass. The baggage is heavy."
Cheng Yu replied seriously: "As far as Yu knows, these grains come from Xiao Jian of Ju County. He has three to four hundred thousand shi of grain in his warehouse. The stored grain collected by Nian Langya."
Yan Xiang froze immediately, and after a while he smiled bitterly and said: "That's how it is."
After a while, Yan Xiang stood up and said, "Sir, please be here. I will report the matter to my lord later in the mansion. If you need it, please feel free to give orders to your servants.”
After speaking, Yan Xiang hurriedly left, leaving the butler to entertain Cheng Yu.
Cheng Yu didn't have any requirements. He just asked someone to arrange a lunch, and then he sat back and waited for Yan Xiang to come back.
When Yan Xiang found Yuan Shu, he was chatting and laughing with the fortune teller.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the art of prophecy had reached a point of craziness. Yuan Shu himself believed in this very much. He even used prophecies from multiple angles to find evidence that he should be emperor.
Seeing Yan Xiang coming in a hurry, Yuan Shu stopped talking and looked at him curiously.
Yan Xiang walked up to Yuan Shu and said in a low voice: "My lord, please evacuate the idlers. I have something important to report." The fortune tellers and fortune tellers who were talking with each other left.
"Jing Xi, what happened to make you so panicked?"
Yuan Shu comforted Yan Xiang, and then said to the beautiful maid in the palace: "Hurry up and serve tea to the master. ?”
Yan Xiang calmed down and said, “My lord, Cao Cao has sent someone.”
"What?"
Yuan Shu, who had been telling Yan Xiang not to panic just now, was shocked: "Cao Cao is the follower of that maid's adopted son. Why did he send people to my place?"
Yan Xiang continued to answer: "It has something to do with Liu Bei of Xuzhou."
Yuan Shu frowned and said in confusion: "What's going on? Why do I get more confused the more you talk about it? This has nothing to do with that mat weaver. What does it have to do with Liu Daer, who is on duty?"
After Yan Xiang sorted out his thoughts, he replied: "Cao Yanzhou sent an envoy to inform us that Liu Xuzhou wanted to take advantage of the situation to go south and regain Guangling. Let me wait. Prepare early to avoid being caught off guard. ”
"How is this possible?"
Yuan Shu also said what Yan Xiang just said: "Liu Da'er just conquered Langya. Even if the cost is small, he will still need 70,000 to 80,000 shi of food, right? He just did it last year. Cao Mengde looted and didn't harvest this summer. Where did he get so much food?"
When Yan Xiang repeated Cheng Yu's answer, Yuan Shu was immediately dumbfounded and cursed Xiao Jian. .
"Why can't I find one of these idiots in the counties around me?"
Yuan Shu was furious and felt that Liu Da'er was really lucky.
He had been in alliance with Tao Qian for several years, but in the end, Liu Bei stole the fruits. Now Xiao Jian has sent hundreds of thousands of stones, food and grass. It's really hard to guess God's will.
Yuan Shu pulled Yan Xiang and asked: "Then what should we do?"
In the original plan of Yuan Shu and his counselors, Liu Bei would not have enough food to go south to Guangling until the end of this year at the earliest. .
By which time, Sun Ce should also break through the Yangtze River defense line and capture Danyang and Wu Commandery.
In this way, Guangling, which is only separated by a river and is still close to itself, does not need to send troops to attack. It only needs to send a heavy general to lead troops across the river and take office.
But if Liu Bei takes action in advance, he will either give up Guangling or mobilize troops to fight for it.
But here’s the problem. If we want to mobilize troops now, it will be difficult to mobilize troops and horses. Secondly, there will be dense rivers on the road and communication will be poor.
The best way is to go down the Yangtze River, but Liu Yao's Niuzhu is blocked halfway, making it impossible to sneak across.
This is a big problem.
Yuan Shu and Yan Xiang looked at each other, and neither of them could think of a good solution for a while.
After a while, Yuan Shu finally spoke: "Jing Xi, let's call everyone together to discuss it. Let Yang Hong, Li Ye, Qiao Rui, and Zhang Xun come."
Yan Xiang responded and went out. Gather the crowd.
Soon, everyone came together, and Yuan Shu told everyone the news brought by Yan Xiang.
Suddenly, everyone present was in an uproar.
This is completely different from what was planned.
There was a feeling of being caught off guard.
Chang Shi Yang Hong was the first to speak: "There are only 400,000 shi of food in the state capital, and it still needs to be supplied to the Liyang front line. If we have to mobilize troops with tens of thousands of people, we can rely on the river. The monthly cost should be 20,000 shi. If we go by land, it may cost 30,000 to 40,000 shi.”
Qiao Rui counted on his fingers: “I heard earlier that Liu Bei surrendered the Taishan Army and expanded it by several thousand. We have already reached 50,000 troops. Even if we only come to 20,000 people, our troops will still need 20,000 to 30,000 people to meet the enemy.” I'm afraid it can only last four months."
Yuan Shu's face turned red with suppressed emotions. Most of the food on his territory was concentrated in the Shouchun Treasury, and was used to attack Guangling. What should I do? Is my life over?
In fact, he also knew that the reason why his subordinates were arguing with him was just because they didn't want to fight.
Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun know best that the elites who can fight are all in Liyang. Many of their subordinates are former gangsters, bandits and even remnants of the Yellow Turbans.
Although they have spent a lot of time reorganizing and training in the past two years, Yuan Shu's generals do not have much confidence compared to the Danyang Army, Taishan Army and the Xuzhou Army composed of Liu Bei's northern troops.
Don't look at Liu Feng's lack of interest in the Danyang Army. He knew that the Danyang Army's confidence had long been shattered by Cao Cao, and its discipline was particularly poor and its combat power was low.
But that is compared to Cao Jun.
Not to mention Liu Bei's northern tribe and Taishan Army, even the Danyang Army is also famous in the south.
Isn’t it just last year that Sun Ce was beaten by Danyang Shanyue, escaped the siege alone, and went to Shouchun to cry to Yuan Shu.
Different from the novels, the generals of Yuan Shu's army in official history were very self-aware and never underestimated heroes like Cao Cao and Liu Bei. They often forced Yuan Shu to go into battle himself.
(End of this chapter)