Chapter 267 Old Masters and Servants
Soon, cavalry galloped over, then carefully explored the ground, and finally raised the flag in their hands towards where Liu Bei was.
The knight is holding up a green flag in his left hand and a blue flag in his right hand, which means passing the first ring and passing the second ring respectively.
One of the rings is the largest. It is a circle with the entire slope as the center and a radius of up to thirty meters. The second ring is smaller, still centered on the earth slope, but the radius has been reduced to 25 meters.
Although the distance seems very large, if the soil slope is regarded as a city wall with a height of three to five meters, as long as the riprap falls into a ring, it will basically be able to touch the city wall. If you reach the second ring, you can basically hit the city wall head-on.
"You're a very good gunner."
Although Liu Bei looked calm, there was a look of surprise in his eyes.
This trebuchet was only tested once, and all two shots hit. This was an extremely outstanding performance during wartime.
Liu Feng naturally would not tell Liu Bei that this involved simple elevation angle projection calculations. Even if he told Liu Bei, he would not understand.
So, he replied: "Nothing but familiarity with your hands."
When Liu Bei heard this, he nodded immediately and praised: "Yes, it's just as it should be."
Following it, the carriage entered the scene, and everyone worked together to transport the two huge rocks away.
Don’t underestimate these boulders. It’s quite troublesome to polish them. It’s okay if there’s nothing you can do during the war. During training, you’re basically required to recover all the stone bullets.
Even if the boulder is broken or even cracked, it is still a good stone and can be used in many ways.
After the first wave of stone bombs was cleared, Liu Feng nodded towards the flag officer beside him, signaling to start the second round of test firing.
The effect of this test firing was even more gratifying. Two stone bullets hit the third ring at the same time.
As time goes by, the two artillery groups have fired seven or eight times, almost all of which landed within the first ring. The best result was as high as the fourth ring, hitting the soil slope.
Not to mention Liu Bei, even Liu Feng is quite satisfied with this result.
With this hit rate, basically attacking the city wall is no problem. You can even try to directly break through the city gate.
This time when he went south, he was different from the past. Yuan Shu was a large warlord with nearly 100,000 troops.
Even though Yuan Shu only had 60,000 people at this time, he was on the defensive side, sitting on a solid city, and he also had the population in the city, so he could replenish consumption and increase his troops at any time.
And Liu Bei had to mobilize his troops and conquer the fortified city with tenacity.
If you are unlucky, you may be able to fortify the city. Not counting the cost of going to the sea, if Yuan Shu finds a flaw and turns defeat into victory, the situation will be really ugly.
Although Liu Feng looked down on Yuan Shu strategically, he did not dare to despise the opponent tactically.
Especially Yuan Shu, his strategic vision is actually not bad. One of the big reasons why his performance is so poor is that he is not down to earth.
Therefore, when it was time to send troops, Yuan Shu still dared to send troops. After all, Liu Bei was not Cao Cao, and he did not break Yuan Shu's courage.
If Liu Bei and his son dared to underestimate Yuan Shu because of this, they might suffer a loss.
Now there are counterweight trebuchets and supporting artillery batteries, which greatly improve Liu Bei's army's ability to attack fortified cities while reducing casualties.
In this era, although there are many siege methods such as well gates, car rushes, and soil attacks, the most basic one is inseparable from ant attack, and this is precisely the part that causes the greatest casualties.
The counterweighted trebuchet can greatly reduce the casualties caused by ants. It not only has the ability to open roads, but also has the strongest suppressive firepower.
Liu Bei was naturally overjoyed to acquire such a siege weapon.
After all, Ruyin, Shenxian and Shouchun were all fortified cities along the way.
That night, Liu Bei was very happy and announced that all the artillery crews would be given extra meals. Each person would be given two pounds of meat, full corn tubes, and a jar of wine for every ten people.
"Father, everything is ready now. You can prepare in advance to write a memorial to the emperor."
After dinner, Liu Bei took Liu Feng to chat, and Liu Feng mentioned something. Business.
This time, the expedition south to attack Yuan Shu was based on emotion and reason, and it was based on legal principles and moral principles, and would definitely get the unanimous support of the emperor, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.
At this time, the world is still nominally fighting for hegemony between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, because they still occupy the positions of leaders of the two major camps in the world.
Liu Bei took the initiative to attack Yuan Shu southward, which was a huge surprise at least for the emperor and Yuan Shao.
Cao Cao may be a little cautious, but with the support of the Emperor and Yuan Shao, he can only choose to support it.
So the rightful name is in Liu Bei's hands.
Therefore, Liu Feng had already calculated the time and asked Liu Bei to report to the court one month before sending troops to take part in Yuan Shu's unruly and domineering behavior.
Not to mention anything else, he couldn't wash away at least three crimes.
First, send troops to attack Lu Kang, the governor of Lujiang, and force Lu Kang to death.
Second, detaining the imperial concubine Ma Rixi, forcibly seizing the imperial concubine’s envoys, and indiscriminately enfeoffing officials is tantamount to rebellion.
Third, hide the jade seal passed down from the country.
These three items were enough for the imperial court to deprive General Yuan Shuzuo of his title and brand him as a traitor.
Don't underestimate this, it will have an immeasurable and huge effect in disintegrating the hearts of the Yuan Shu Group. At critical moments, it can even withstand the power of tens of thousands of troops.
Liu Bei nodded slowly. He had also been dissatisfied with Yuan Shu for a long time.
Whether it is his origin, qualifications or friendship, he is a type of person that Yuan Shu looks down upon.
Yuan Shu can also win over people, but the ones he win over are either celebrities or bandits who praise his bad feet. A small warlord with a bottom line like Liu Bei has never been able to get into Yuan Gongli's eyes. Naturally, He is not worthy of being won over by Yuan Shu.
But the reason why Yuan Shu is hated by people and dogs is because he behaves like a mad dog and likes to offend people everywhere.
Even Liu Bei, who is relatively broad-minded, can't stand Yuan Shu's virtue, and he really wants to kill him.
Liu Bei trusted Liu Feng's opinion and immediately said: "As a father, I will make a report to the court and list Yuan Shu's major crimes."
I didn't expect Liu Feng to do so. Feng Que stopped him and said, "Father, it's too early to go up to the table at this time. I just want you to prepare early."
Liu Bei was stunned for a moment and asked doubtfully: "Then when should I go up to the table?"
"The most appropriate time is when Yuan Shu is blocking him."
Liu Feng replied: "My father went south this time to take over Runan County. However, Yuan Shu actually sent troops to obstruct it and resisted stubbornly. In this way, my father reported to the court and punished Yuan Shu took it more naturally."
"Good!"
Liu Bei suddenly said: "I know it."
In the following days, Liu Beijun accelerated his activities. With the speed of transporting supplies, Xiang County and Chengfu have accumulated a large amount of grain, grass and weapons, and will send troops south at any time.
Just at this time, Yuan Shu's envoy from the south arrived.
Hearing that Yuan Shu's envoy was actually Yuan Huan, Liu Bei and Liu Feng were both stunned, and then laughed.
This Yuan Shu is quite good at employing people?
If it had been anyone else, Liu Bei might not have even seen him.
But Yuan Huan is not only a talented person recommended by Liu Bei, but also a direct descendant of the Yuan family in Chen County. Moreover, he is not alone. He has several brothers and subordinate brothers, all of whom are quite good. ability.
If they hadn't fled to avoid the troubled times, Liu Bei and Liu Feng would have sent people to Fule to conquer.
Therefore, Liu Bei had to give Yuan Huan face no matter what.
Liu Bei immediately decided to go out of the city to meet Yuan Huan, and then asked the county government to prepare a banquet to welcome Yuan Huan.
As soon as Liu Bei left the city, he ran into Yuan Huan's envoy.
Yuan Huan didn't dare to trust him at all. Whether it was Liu Bei's status as the leader or Liu Bei's current status, he, the Yuan family of Chen County, could not treat him lightly.
Although their family is famous, Liu Bei is also a hussar general, and a senior official who oversees the affairs of Xu, Yu, and Yangzhou. He is no worse than Cao Cao's general.
As soon as Yuan Huan received the notification, he immediately ordered the car to stop, then took the initiative to get out of the car and walked towards Liu Bei.
When they were more than ten steps away, Yuan Huan bowed down and shouted: "Huan, see you, General Hussar."
Liu Bei happily stepped forward to greet Yuan Huan. Lifting him up, he held the opponent's hands and said with sincere concern: "Yaoqing has come a long way and has had a hard journey. A banquet has been prepared in the city to wash your hands. Yaoqing can enter the city with you as soon as possible."
Yuan Huan was immediately grateful, and then the two of them boarded the car together and headed back to the city.
After returning to the city, Liu Bei had already prepared fresh water and new clothes for Yuan Huan to wash up.
Wait until he freshens up, then invites us to meet him in the main hall.
"Yaoqing, it has been three years since we parted ways in the past. How have you been these past few years?"
Liu Bei started to miss the past. Three years ago he was the governor of Yuzhou under Tao Qian's command, and Yuan Huan was the first talented person in his life.
At that time, Yuan Huan, like Chen Qun, fiercely opposed Liu Bei's visit to Xuzhou, and told Liu Bei that Xuzhou's shortcomings were like the mouth of a volcano, almost saying that Liu Bei could not control it.
But when Liu Bei decided to go to Xuzhou, Chen Qun and Yuan Huan made different decisions.
Chen Qun followed Liu Bei to Xuzhou, while Yuan Huan went south to the Jianghuai River, wanting to take refuge in Jiangdong to avoid the military disaster, but was detained by Yuan Shu and used by him.
Of course, this does not mean that Yuan Huan is less loyal than Chen Qun, but that their situations are different.
Chen Qun was already Liu Bei's farewell driver at that time, but Yuan Huan did not agree to Liu Bei's conquest, so he was still in vain.
Comparing the two, Yuan Huan can naturally come and go freely.
Therefore, Liu Bei did not resent Yuan Huan for leaving him. On the contrary, he valued Yuan Huan quite a lot. After all, this was the first talented person in Liu Bei's life, and he had a bit of a white moonlight.
After hearing Liu Bei's words, Yuan Huan looked ashamed, and he raised his hands in embarrassment and said: "Huan's ordinary eyes don't recognize the hero of the envoy, so he can't follow you and leave halfway. I'm deeply ashamed."
Yuan Huan was really not being polite when he said this, it was indeed what he was thinking.
Three years ago, he felt that Xuzhou was a big pit, and whoever went there would be unlucky. As a result, Liu Bei went. Not only was he not unlucky, he also eliminated Langya, restored Guangling in the south, and defeated Yuan Shu in just three years. , King Qin went north.
After only three years of separation, when we met again, Liu Bei was already the fourth person in the world.
Among the officials and ministers, only the Great Sima Yuan Shao and the Great General Cao Cao were still above Liu Bei.
But of these two people, one is the Yuan family of Runan, with a surname of Zhong in the world. His disciples and former officials are all over the world. When he started his family, he was given to Jizhou by Han Fu.
The other one was also an official. He held two thousand stone positions and held military power in Luozhong. He started out as a prefect of a county, and had a clan named Cao and a Xiahou clan.
What does Liu Bei have?
Nothing.
Reluctantly, there is Guan Zhang Zhao, but who recognizes Guan Zhang Zhao at this time?
At best, I think Guan Zhang Zhao is a good general.
Yuan Huan always felt that it was right to persuade Liu Bei not to go to Xuzhou at that time, but now he is really shaken.
No way, who allowed Liu Bei to achieve such good results.
After Yuan learned that Liu Bei was appointed General of Hussars and was the governor of the three states, he really doubted his own vision and resourcefulness.
Fortunately, there was Chen Qun who had the same opinion as me at that time. It can be seen that it is not that Yuan Huan is too short-sighted, but that Liu Bei is too heroic, just like Emperor Gao and Emperor Guangwu, who can do what others cannot.
Every time he thinks of this, Yuan Huan feels a little excited, a little annoyed, and a little regretful.
I even daydream about what would have happened if I had not left Liu Bei and went south to Jianghuai, but followed him to Xuzhou?
I heard that Chen Qun has already served as the governor of a county. You must know that Chen Qun is five or six years younger than him, and he is only twenty-seven this year.
The last example of the twenty-sixth county governor was Li Wuling.
Li Jin was almost the same age when he served as the prefect of Wuling.
But because Li Jin had no one in the court, he served as the governor of Wuling for more than ten years, and was later promoted to the governor of Jiaozhou. And Chen Qun can now be regarded as Liu Bei's Yuan Cong hero and a loyal minister, and his future is really unlimited.
Listening to Liu Bei's sincere care, the gratitude in his heart was mixed with shame and regret, which made Yuan Huan stand up and bow down, and said to Liu Bei with tears of gratitude: "Huan has not been able to share weal and woe with you, so I have no shame to see you again." Jun. "
Liu Bei was inexplicably surprised and hurriedly stood up and helped the other person up.
"What do you mean by Yao Qing's words? In the past, Bei himself was in danger, how could he force Yao Qing?"
Liu Bei comforted him and said: "Bei has always known Yao Qing's talents. I will be the one to report to the imperial court in the near future. It was reported that Yao Qing was appointed as an official in Luozhong."
Following that, Liu Bei patted Yuan Huan's hand and said, "Yao Qing, if you don't criticize your master, Yuan Jiujiu is not a good master."
"Your Majesty."
Yuan Huan did not expect that Liu Bei would still be so sincere to him and care about his future. For a moment, he wished he could immediately switch to Liu Bei and work for him.
But even though he was forced by Yuan Shu, he had indeed served him.
Betrayal of his master is a bottom line that Yuan Huan cannot break through no matter what.
Historically, his switch to Lu Bu was not because he abandoned Yuan Shu and went to Lu Bu, but after Yuan Shu attacked Lu Bu and suffered a major defeat.
Yuan Shu was eager to escape and abandoned Yuan Huan, causing Yuan Huan to be captured by Lu Bu, and then he switched to Lu Bu.
Strictly speaking, it was Yuan Shu who was sorry for Yuan Huan, not Yuan Huan who betrayed Yuan Shu.
Liu Bei, however, said with murderous intent: "Don't worry, Mr. Yao, Yuan Gongluo is nothing but withered bones in the grave. This time when I go south, I will definitely defeat Shouchun, capture Yuan Shu, go up to Luozhong, and hand him over to the emperor."
As soon as Liu Bei said these words, Yuan Huan finally remembered his mission.
But this is another dilemma.
Although he knew it was unrealistic, Yuan Huan still said: "Your Majesty, Huan is here to ask for peace."
"Please make peace?"
Liu Bei burst into laughter, and after a moment he sarcastically said: "Yuan Jiujiu only knows who I, Liu Bei, am today?"
Yuan Huan's face turned red, and it was obvious that he was also involved in Liu Bei's words.
Although the original intention of Liu Bei's words was to mock Yuan Shu's "Who is Liu Bei", when it fell into Yuan Huan's ears, it was inevitable that he would also laugh at him for being blind.
However, Yuan Huan was only ashamed of this, but had no resentment.
First of all, Yuan Huan is indeed a kind person, and secondly, he thinks so himself.
At this time, Yuan Huan could only forcefully suppress the distracting thoughts in his heart, and bowed sternly: "Your Majesty, please listen to me. My lord does have the intention to negotiate peace this time, and he is very sincere. Besides, my Lord is still alive, and he is also interested in your Majesty." A good thing."
"Oh?"
Liu Bei asked curiously: "I wonder what Yao Qing said?"
Yuan Huan immediately said: "Huan Let me analyze the current situation."
Liu Bei immediately nodded and said, "Good! Please give me some advice."
Yuan Huan then said: "Since the rebellion in Xiliang, the princes in the world have been arguing and wars have broken out. However, the essence of it is that the Yuan family is in civil strife. If you count the heroes in Guandong, they are nothing more than one for skills and one for Shao."
< br>"But now, Da Sima is about to unify Hebei and is eyeing Henan. The general controls the two states of Yan and Si, and has been allies with Da Sima for many years, supporting each other. It can be said that they are extremely close. Liu Biao of Jingzhou has always been an ally of Da Sima. The two sides have been fighting each other for many years. Sun Polu, a friend of General Zuo, was killed in the battle with Xiangfan. Tao Gongzu left Xuzhou with Shijun. The former general was in ruins and trapped in Yi County. It can be said that his destruction was imminent. Could it be that Shijun could not see it. Is it sinister? "
Liu Bei was stunned, and gradually came to his senses and understood what Yuan Huan was hinting at him.
Originally, there were only two camps in the world: Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao.
Now Yuan Shu's camp is at a clear disadvantage and is about to be destroyed, but Yuan Shao is like a raging fire cooking oil, and flowers are blooming.
Cao Cao and Yuan Shao have been allies for many years since they were young. They support each other. Their friendship must not be comparable to that of Liu Bei, right?
Liu Biao is Yuan Shu's sworn enemy. He formed an alliance with Yuan Shao early and has supported each other for many years from the north to the south. This kind of friendship is not comparable to that of Liu Bei, right?
Besides, Liu Biao is far away in Jingzhou, and Liu Bei’s Xuzhou and Yuzhou are right under his nose.
Even if it's a distant friendship or a close attack, Yuan Shao will only choose you Liu Bei first, not Liu Biao.
After Yuan Huan finished speaking, he kept observing Liu Bei's expression.
Seeing that the other party was deep in thought and silent, he felt happy and knew that Liu Bei had listened to his advice.
Otherwise, the other party can directly reject you instead of being so thoughtful.
Having such a good start gives Yuan Huan more confidence in the next development.
"Your Majesty, you are now granted the title of Hussar General, who is highly valued by the Emperor and is in charge of the affairs of the three states of Xu, Yu and Yang."
Yuan Huan continued to speak while the iron was hot. : "Right now, you are the second most powerful vassal in the world. Now Yuan Shao is trapped with the former general. If he wants to fight against the outside world, he must first settle down at home. Once the former general dies and the clan is destroyed, if you want the Great Sima to let Xuzhou go, you may have to wait and see. It’s just a way out.”
"Your Majesty, do you still remember Han Wen Jie?"
The Han Wen Jie Yuan Huan asked about was the Han Fu gifted to Yuan Shao from Jizhou.
Following that, Yuan Huan asked again: "If it had not been for the kindness of the emperor, what would have happened to the Zhang Mengzhuo brothers?"
Liu Bei was horrified, and his eyes turned to Liu Feng involuntarily. .
(End of this chapter)