Chapter 156 Zhuge goes south
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were hesitant. They felt that what Liu Feng said was a bit too exaggerated, but after thinking about it carefully, they felt that what he said was quite reasonable.
At this moment, news suddenly came from outside that the scouts sent to investigate Jiangdu were back.
Liu Feng and others did not bother to continue discussing the deduction, and directly called the scouts in.
A few of the cavalrymen were dusty, but fortunately they had no wounds on their bodies. They had obviously never encountered an enemy.
The faces of these cavalrymen were full of joy. When they saw Liu Feng, Zhao Yun, Tai Shici and others, they immediately knelt down and said: "Report to the general, we have found out the situation. Sun Ce abandoned the city last night and brought him with him. He led all Yuan Shu's troops to cross the river at night. "
"At this time, Jiangdu was already an empty city. Jiangdu's elders sent someone to inform Beizhi, asking the general to send state troops to station in Jiangdu. "
< br>The words of these cavalrymen immediately made Zhao Yun, Tai Shici and others speechless, and they all turned to look at Liu Feng.
Liu Feng was also stunned. This Sun Bofu was really a ruthless man, leaving no escape route for himself.
No, no, Sun Boxu is also a smart man. What he is playing is the time difference.
If the sneak attack on Dantu succeeds, then Jiangdu will naturally not be needed, and it will be left to the Xuzhou Army to escape and attack Jiangdong.
If the sneak attack fails, then he can cross the river and come back. By the time the Xuzhou Army receives the news, he will have already returned to Jiangdu, and there is no need to worry about the city changing hands.
As expected of Sun Bofu, he is really smart and dangerous.
Liu Feng suddenly remembered something and asked: "Are the Sun family members still in the city?"
"I don't know."
The cavalryman shook his head honestly: "We did not enter the city, but rushed back to Guangling to report the news."
"You did a good job."
Liu Feng was satisfied. He nodded and said to Zhao Yunjin: "Uncle, these scouts know the importance and the general situation. They are not greedy for credit and take the return of information as their top priority. My nephew thinks that my uncle can commend them."
Zhao Yun was so good that he was immediately promoted to the first-level official position of the leader of the cavalry, and all ten people were rewarded with a hundred coins each.
The cavalrymen were immediately overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Zhao Yun and Liu Feng for their promotion and reward.
Liu Feng had asked about the Sun family members before, but he was actually concerned about Zhang Hong.
Sun Ce took the initiative and decided to abandon the city. There was a high probability that he would not leave his family members in Jiangdu anymore. He had either sent them to Liyang early, or he had arrived at Dantu now.
As for Zhang Hong, I don’t know if he will continue to stay in Jiangdu or follow Sun Ce to Jiangdong.
Immediately, Liu Feng held a brief discussion with Zhao Yun and Taishi Cili, and decided to take Taishi Ci as the main general to lead the headquarters and the Qianzhao Department, with a total of 2,000 people going to Danyang to take over the garrison.
Lianzhao is not in the city at this time. He has been taking care of the horses injured in the battle in the stable recently, trying to rescue them.
After Qianzhao's careful care during this period, the injured horses gradually recovered.
Because he had been confined to the city, Qianzhao took these horses to the outside of the city to relax this morning.
Horses are very delicate animals. They are as delicate as a little princess. Horse hooves are prone to wear, ankles are easily broken, legs are easily fractured, gastrointestinal tract is prone to loose stools, and even psychological problems are easy. Something went wrong.
Even if the horses are kept in captivity, they must often run out of the city, otherwise the horses will develop various psychological problems over time, especially the injured war horses.
At this moment, Qianzhao just finished his work and rushed over. When he learned that he had missed the discussion, he hurriedly apologized to Zhao Yun.
Naturally, Zhao Yun would not punish him, but asked him to prepare his troops immediately and prepare to follow Tai Shici.
As long as those war horses could run away, they all followed the lead and headed for Jiangdu.
Qianzhao went to prepare himself. In the afternoon, Taishi Ci and Qianzhao left Guangling with Buqu and galloped towards Jiangdu.
A team of 2,000 people can travel much faster than a team of 20,000 people. Moreover, it is already June, the days are long and the nights are short, so the marching time is greatly increased.
Zhao Yun, Liu Feng and others all estimated that Tai Shici and the others would be able to reach Jiangdu City by dark at the latest.
At the same time, Zhao Yun and Liu Feng also arranged flying cavalry to report to Tancheng and Yuzhou Liu Bei's office to report to them the situation in Guangling and the changes in Jiangdong.
On the Jiangdong side, just as Liu Feng expected, after Sun Ce appeased Dan Tu, he left two thousand men to guard Dan Tu, and personally led an army of four thousand to march into Qu'a without any delay.
It’s just that Sun Ce didn’t delay, but Liu Yao didn’t run too slowly.
When Sun Ce arrived at Qu'a in the evening and went to the village, Liu Yao had already reached Jurong.
Sun Ce didn't know this. He only saw the Qu'a defenders' banners in order and the soldiers' spirits high, and he was overjoyed.
Xu Kun was a little puzzled and asked in confusion: "Cousin, why are you so happy? Although Qu'a is not a fortified city, the high morale of the defenders can't be a good thing, right?"
"Cousin You are wrong."
Sun Ce was in a good mood and said with a mysterious smile: "Think about why the morale in the city is so high."
Xu Kun then began to think deeply and thought for a moment. , tentatively replied: "Could it be that Liu Yao gave them more rewards?"
Sun Ce burst into laughter.
Xu Kun then touched his head and smiled: "Cousin, could it be that I guessed wrong again?"
"No, what my cousin said is very reasonable, which is exactly what Ce Zhi likes. "
Sun Ce pointed at Quacheng and said: "Cousin, what I am most worried about is that Liu Yao will abandon the city and flee after receiving the news. In this case, although I am not afraid of him, I will be afraid of Jiangdong. But now, he actually encourages the troops in the city and wants to hold on to the city. This is really a blessing from God."
Sun Ce became more and more proud as he said it, and couldn't help but wave his riding whip: "As long as I break Qu'a, capture Liu Yao alive, and then use his name as Yangzhou Mu to spread the word to Jiangdong to make him disobedient, won't it be far more satisfying than fighting him for one city and one place?"
“I was worried about him running away, but I underestimated his courage.”
Sun Ce was in a good mood, and even had the intention to joke: "If I really capture Liu Yao this time, I will entertain him nicely to repay him for not escaping."
Tell me, Sun Ce haha After laughing, Xu Kun suddenly realized that this was the case, and finally started laughing along with Sun Ce.
Sun Ce and Xu Kun were so complacent that they mistakenly thought they had blocked Liu Yao in Quacheng, but Liu Feng in Guangling received an emergency.
“They have already set off?”
Liu Feng looked at the dusty messenger in front of him and asked for details carefully.
The messenger hurriedly replied: "He has indeed set off, taking his family members and belongings, as well as more than a hundred clan soldiers, a total of more than 20 carts, and more than 200 people, and they are heading towards Guangling."
Liu Feng confirmed: "Oh, are you sure you are going to Guangling?"
"This..."
The messenger hesitated and shook his head: "Reply to the young master, It cannot be confirmed. However, the news released by the Zhuge family said that they would go by water. It is true that if they go by land, it will not only be an eyesore, but also inconvenient, and it will also slow down the speed."
Liu Feng nodded.
That's right, the person he has been staring at is none other than the Langya Zhuge family.
It was Liu Feng who spread rumors everywhere in Langya County that the Zhuge family was going south with tens of millions of wealth. It's just that Liu Feng did good deeds without leaving his name and tried every means to eliminate traces, which made Zhuge unable to find his benefactor.
The reason why Liu Feng did this was not to create rumors while he was idle.
In fact, Zhuge Xuan is as stubborn as a stone in the toilet.
Zhuge Xuan had a very close relationship with Liu Biao. Historically, before his death, he also entrusted Zhuge Liang and other juniors to Liu Biao.
And Liu Biao did indeed live up to Zhuge Xuan. In the future, Zhuge Liang would be able to farm and study in Longzhong, invent the waterwheel, and improve agricultural tools, all of which would require money.
Where did Zhuge Liang get the money? Someone is obviously looking after him.
Later, Zhuge Liang's wife was the daughter of Huang Chengyan, a famous scholar in Jingzhou. Zhuge Liang's two sisters also married into the top wealthy families in Jingzhou, the Kuai family and the Pang family respectively.
If you divide the scholars in Jingzhou into different grades.
The top three families are undoubtedly Kuai, Cai and Huang.
Not only were these three families prestigious, powerful, and wealthy, they also immediately invested in Liu Biao and received extremely generous returns, pushing the other four major families that were originally tied into the second echelon in one fell swoop.
The head of the second echelon is the Pang family where Pang Degong lives. The Junwang family in Nanjun can be understood as the Jingzhou version of the Zhou Yu family.
For this reason, when Liu Bei came to Jingzhou and took refuge with Liu Biao, and was placed in Xinye as a vassal by Liu Biao, many people went to Liu Bei's place to burn cold stoves, but the Pang family never went.
Not only are the two sides too far apart, but also because the Pang family is not as powerful as Liu Bei.
The candidate they had in mind was the Sun family of Jiangdong.
That's right, the Pang family is the Jiangdong leading party in Jingzhou.
Because the Pang family invested in Liu Biao too late, they were suppressed by the Kuai family and Cai family who were originally equals.
However, the Kuai family and Cai family are still old friends with Cao Cao. If the Kuai family and Cai family continue to lead the entire Jingzhou to defect to Cao Cao, then the Pang family will be suppressed even more to death. Therefore, the Pang family chose to bet on Jiangdong, which shows how strong the Pang family is.
The Zhuge clan was only a second-rate noble family in Langya, with a family rich in wealth.
As a result, when they arrived in Jingzhou, the sisters married Kuai and Pang, and the children married the Huang family's legitimate daughter. Without Liu Biao to match them up and pay a huge price for it, could this be possible?
If nothing else, Wang Can, one of the Seven Sons of Jian'an, lived in Xiangyang and was not married. Why didn't anyone come to him for marriage?
Don’t underestimate Wang Can’s family background. Wang Can’s great-grandfather served as a Third Duke, Sikong, and Taiwei. Wang Can’s grandfather also served as an official to the Third Duke, and was a Situ in the Ling Emperor Dynasty. .
In Wang Can's father's generation, although he didn't have time to become the Third Duke, his position was still extremely prominent.
He is the long history of General He Jin.
When Kuai Yue was in the General's Mansion, he was still the younger brother of Wang Can and his father, Wang Chang.
The relationship between Liu Biao and Zhuge Xuan is far more like a model of mutual understanding between king and minister than the relationship between Kuai Yue and Cai Mao.
Although Zhuge Xuan was jointly performed by Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, anyone with a discerning eye knows who he is loyal to.
In order to defend Yuzhang, he risked his own life and refused to escape. He was also grateful to Liu Biao for his kindness.
Liu Biao probably later cultivated the Zhuge family in this way because he was grateful to Zhuge Xuan for repaying him with his life, and at the same time he also wanted to build a horse's bones. What surprised Liu Biao was that Zhuge was actually a potential stock.
At the beginning, Liu Feng tried to let Liu Bei conquer Zhuge Xuan, and was even willing to make Guangling the governor.
Liu Feng was actually very excited about his clever plan at the time. Liu Bei didn't understand the mystery of this move at the time.
Liu Feng described to Liu Bei in detail Yuan Shu's current situation of being beleaguered on all sides, and his eagerness to cease war with Liu Biao.
If at this time, we use Liu Biao's former official Zhuge Xuan to serve as the prefect of Guangling, then even though Zhuge Xuan is close to Liu Biao, he will still be far away from Liu Biao in the important county.
When Liu Biao heard the news, he would definitely be happy, because even if Liu Bei conquered Zhuge Xuan and recommended him to become the governor of Guangling.
But it still cannot offset the old official relationship between Zhuge Xuan and Liu Biao. Liu Biao can still influence Zhuge Xuan, and even influence Guangling through Zhuge Xuan. This is equivalent to letting him pick up Guangling in vain. Can he be unhappy about this?
Of course, Liu Biao will also carry a burden, which is to assist Guangling County where Zhuge Xuan is located.
If Yuan Shu dares to attack Guangling, then Liu Biao must contain Yuan Shu.
Although Zhuge Xuan could be influenced by Liu Biao, he also wanted to be loyal to Liu Bei. After all, he himself was recommended by Liu Bei.
Yes, the dual allegiance system of the Eastern Han Dynasty was so magical.
In this way, Liu Feng can easily keep Wuhou's family, and even Zhuge Jin can also take it into his pocket. In addition, an uncontrolled Guangling County can be exchanged for stability on the southern border.
The best thing is that the price paid was Guangling County, which was originally not under the control of the state capital. But after the state government pays this price, it will be controlled by the state government.
Liu Feng only felt confident. After listening to Liu Feng's analysis, Liu Bei followed his advice and immediately sent state envoys to Langya to conquer Zhuge Xuan.
But Zhuge Xuan refused.
He simply refused.
He even refused a little arrogantly and said some unpleasant things in private, mainly to compare Liu Bei with Liu Biao.
How can a border army warrior compare with eight celebrities?
Liu Bei and Liu Feng were really angry at that time.
Liu Feng never expected that his plan, which he had calculated so carefully and all parties involved took it into consideration, would actually lose in the hearts of those involved.
Not only did this wave of conquests not bring any improvement to Liu Bei, who was in adversity at the time, but it also caused his already low reputation to drop another notch.
After all, the scholars here in Xuzhou are also watching.
People have a steelyard in their hearts. Liu Bei eagerly went to conquer Zhuge Xuan, but was rejected.
As long as the local scholars in Xuzhou feel that they are no worse than Zhuge Xuan, they will most likely not agree to Liu Bei's conquest unless you give a higher price.
But what Liu Bei gave Zhuge Xuan was the prefect of Guangling, so what higher price could he give?
Isn’t it possible to let Xuzhou Mu out from under his butt?
So Liu Bei also deeply hated Zhuge Xuan.
If it hadn't been for such a festival, after Liu Bei captured Langya, Liu Feng would have long ago persuaded Liu Bei to personally honor the corporal and go to invite Zhuge Xuan to come out.
But to hate Zhuge Xuan is to hate Zhuge Xuan, and to love Wuhou is to love Wuhou.
After all, Liu Bei didn't know the history of later generations, so it can be ignored, but Liu Feng really couldn't let go of Wuhou.
Even though Marquis Wu abused me thousands of times, I treat Marquis Wu like my first love.
This can be regarded as a true portrayal of Liu Feng's heart.
So, if you can't do it with literature, then you can do it with martial arts.
Liu Feng knew that Zhuge Xuan would definitely go south this year, and most likely he would take the Yuzhou line and the Guangling line.
However, the Yuzhou line is easy to walk near the Xuzhou section, but after leaving Pei State, Runan County is now in chaos.
Several massacres by the Liangzhou Army, as well as the civil war between the north and the south of the Yuan family, have caused Runan County, which was originally the second largest county in the world, to suffer a sharp decline in population, like Nanyang County, the oldest county, and the people are in dire straits.
Riots broke out in the area, and powerful men pretended to be bandits, looting passers-by.
In addition, there are large areas of no man's land in Runan. It is quite dangerous to cross these no man's land with your family and a large amount of belongings.
A mere hundred tribesmen cannot guarantee any safety.
If you go south to Guangling, it will be much smoother. You only need to take a land route, and then you can reach directly by water.
And in history, Zhuge Xuan was once blocked by Yuan Shu. It is expected that it was probably in Guangling County, or Jiujiang County next to Guangling County.
It was because of blocking Zhuge Xuan that Yuan Shu felt as if he had found a treasure. He quickly worshiped Zhuge Xuan as the acting governor of Yuzhang and sent troops to escort him to take office.
It was this decision that made Liu Biao determined to turn enemies into friends with Yuan Shu and formally ceased war.
Later, even if Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, his disciples, old officials, and princes of the Sun family all turned against him, and many heroes from all over the world besieged him, Liu Biao was the only one who did not send troops. Instead, he used his nephew Liu Pan as his Marshal, sent troops to Yuzhang to cause trouble for Liu Yao.
Although this is suspected of land grabbing, to say the least, Lujiang and Jiujiang are both fertile lands, and are connected by the Yangtze River waterway, so their value is far higher than that of Yuzhang.
Some of this may be due to the death of Zhuge Xuan.
Guangling was not under Liu Bei's control before, and Liu Feng could only think of solving the problem in Langya.
The best way is to hold Wuhou hostage.
Yes, that’s right, it’s hijacking by force.
Because Zhuge Xuan is a stinking stone in the pit, a die-hard loyalist to Liu Biao's faction. In troubled times, a person with such a character is actually worthy of respect.
But Liu Feng couldn't accept Wuhou's departure, so he could only feel sorry for Mr. Zhuge Xuan.
Liu Feng's specific plan was to spread rumors, use money and silk to attract people's hearts, and gather bandits to attack the migrating Zhuge family's convoy.
When the Zhuge family's convoy was in danger, he appeared here on the grounds of hunting, defeated the bandits, and rescued the Zhuge family.
Subsequently, it was natural to take Zhuge family hostage and return to Tancheng on the grounds of safety, and then communicate with Marquis Wu privately in the name of asking for retribution.
As long as you treat people with sincerity and show your sincerity, with Marquis Wu's emotional intelligence and IQ, he will definitely be willing to stay voluntarily.
In this way, everyone will naturally be happy.
However, this method is actually quite crude and full of flaws. Only a fool would think that he could hide it from Zhuge Liang.
So Liu Feng plans to focus on the word "honesty", and he will naturally show his favor to Marquis Wu when the time comes.
Thank you to the boss of BYWAN!
Thank you for your great support.
Cai Yan had considered this issue a long time ago. He had previously gone to Hedong to conquer Pijia's family, which was a foreshadowing.
In addition, I would like to recommend a book to everyone. It is the masterpiece of my good friend Pastry. The book is very interesting. You can read it. Don’t be fooled by the name.
(End of this chapter)