Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1131: Missing a General
Facing Yuan Xi's question, Zhuge Liang thought for a moment and said, "It's difficult."

Yuan Xi asked: "Which side has a bigger problem?"

Zhuge Liang replied, "It's Chen Yuanlong, the envoy of Chen."

"In the past few years, he has worked diligently, but he mainly trained the navy for the master. However, Cao Cao and the master fought in the Central Plains, and almost gave up the navy, played to their strengths and avoided their weaknesses, and used infantry and cavalry to fight on land."

"In this way, Zang Ba can still rely on the complex terrain of Mount Tai to fight against Cao's army, but if Cao's army's offensive is blocked, they will turn to Xuzhou, which is easier to attack."

"Excuse me, but Xuzhou has a flat terrain and is very difficult to defend. If Cao Cao sends a cavalry to attack Xuzhou, it will be very difficult for Envoy Chen to deal with it."

"If we lose either Xuzhou or Qingzhou, our lord's territory will be cut in two, and our logistics will be cut off."

"Cao Cao has seen through this weakness of our Lord, and that's why he is eager to fight a decisive battle with us, because he also faces the same difficulty. If we allow our Lord to take Jizhou and then use the advantage of our navy to encircle Yanzhou and Yuzhou, Cao Cao's territory between the Yellow River and the Huai River will be lost, and his logistics will also not be able to keep up."

Yuan Xi asked: "What about us now?"

Zhuge Liang said decisively: "It's time for Boyan to take action."

"The Huai River is an important barrier for the defense of Xuzhou. Even if Cao's army attacks, they can only occupy Langya and then the Huai River in Haixi, and they can only stop here."

"After the setback, Cao's army can only turn around and attack Qingzhou. At least most of Xuzhou can be saved."

Yuan Xi said, "But if this happens, Kong Ming's hometown will be ravaged again."

Zhuge Liang's face darkened for a moment, then he raised his head and said, "The world is in chaos, no one can be immune. Even if Langya is not affected, there will be thousands of other places that will suffer from war disasters."

"Cao Cao used his soldiers to hold the people hostage, massacring and plundering the city. My lord, it is impossible for you to save everyone, but the way to save the most people is to defeat Cao Cao as soon as possible and put an end to the chaos in the world."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said solemnly: "Military Advisor, you are right. Please help me defeat Cao Cao."

Zhuge Liang bowed and said, "I will do my best."

When the two looked at each other, they both felt like they had met a close friend.

Although the two men have very different personalities and their styles of doing things are in conflict, they both understand how to get along between a ruler and his subjects, and know how to tolerate each other's behavior, because they understand that the other party shares the same stance as themselves in caring about the common people of the world.

Soon the order was sent to Shouchun. After receiving the message, Lu Xun, who was guarding the city, summoned the officials in the city on behalf of Yuan Xi and said, "The Wei army attacked the Jianghuai area of ​​Xuzhou. The lord has ordered me to lead the army in the Huaishui area from Shouchun to Haixi to launch a containment offensive against Cao's army."

"Although it is a diversionary force, it is a real battle after all. The Cao army is also sending a general, so it should be difficult to deal with."

"I now need several generals who are proficient in water and land battle formations to fight against Cao Cao, but now most of the generals in Shouchun have gone to the Central Plains to fight against Cao Cao. Can you tell me if there are any suitable candidates?"

Yuan Yin said, "It is just as the governor said. Most of the current garrisons in Shouchun are former subordinates of Yuan Gonglu. They are good at defending the city, but they lack experience in field battles and sieges."

Previously, at the instruction of Yuan Xi, Yuan Yin selected a team from among the middle-level officials from various parties who had been trained in Jicheng, and brought them all to Shouchun.

Yuan Xi did this so that officials from the north could balance the power of officials from Jianghuai to prevent the latter from becoming too powerful. This was a balancing strategy that a lord must take. However, if it was done by Yuan Yin, who had the highest seniority and prestige, it would be less likely to cause backlash and resistance from the Jianghuai scholars.

The role Yuan Yin plays now is that of a centrist who helps no one. Only Yuan Yin, who has the highest prestige among his old subordinates, dared to say this just now. If it were someone else, it would take some thought.

Yuan Shu's former generals Qin Yi, Qi Ji and others in the hall felt quite ashamed, but this was also the fact. When they were under Yuan Shu, they suffered repeated setbacks in battles with Cao's army. Most of the time, they attacked less and defended more, so naturally they were better at defense than offense.

Qin Yi and others were not afraid of death, but they knew that their level was only second-rate. If they met the first-rate generals of Cao Ying, their chances of winning would be very low. It would be bad if they ruined the overall situation because of themselves.

Liu Ji said, "I heard that there are many brave generals among Huang Zu's former subordinates. Huang Zu led his army to fight against Sun Ce for several years without losing the upper hand. Now most of them are stationed in the cities between Jiangxia and Wankou. Do you want to transfer some of them here?"

Everyone looked at Gan Ning, who nodded and said, "That's true. Envoy Huang has many talented people under his command. Since Jiangxia is only one county, many people have not had the opportunity to show their strengths before. For example, Huang Hansheng, who defeated the Jiangdong fleet twice this year, was unknown before, but now he has made a big splash."

"But since then, he has become the chief general under Envoy Huang, so it seems difficult to lend him out."

Liu Ye had previously built a city in Hefei, but after it was built, Yuan Xi occupied the entire Ruxu River. Hefei seemed less important for a while. As the last insurance for Shouchun, it would not be invaded by foreign enemies for the time being. So Liu Ye also rushed back to discuss the matter. He said, "Envoy Huang should be easy to talk to, but I am worried that if too many people are transferred away, what should we do if Jiangdong does something dishonest?"

Yuan Yin said, "Jiangdong has suffered three consecutive defeats at the hands of the lord in the past two years. They should not continue to fight to the death with the lord, right?"

Liu Ji said gloomily, "Who would have thought that Sun Quan was a stubborn man. Who would have thought that he would come again after being defeated once, and defeat us three times in a row?"

"If he is this kind of person, I am afraid he will do something unexpected at any time."

Everyone smiled bitterly at each other. This was the most troublesome thing about Sun Quan. No one knew when he would go crazy. Therefore, most of Shouchun's troops in Jianghuai were placed in the Yangtze River to guard against Sun Quan. The remaining troops seemed a little insufficient. Liu Ye said, "Why don't we write a letter to the King of Changsha and Huang Zu, asking them to jointly contain Sun Quan?"

Everyone looked a little strange. The King of Changsha was Liu Bei.

It was also extremely embarrassing for Liu Bei to become king. His territory now only included Changsha and Lingling counties, and he could not use other people's fiefdoms to become king. So he could only temporarily be crowned king under the name of Changsha.

However, this title does have some significance. When Liu Bang conferred titles of king in the early Han Dynasty, among the eight kings, only King Wu Rui of Changsha had a good end. This could be considered as some kind of expectation in Liu Bei's heart.

Lu Xun said, "That's possible, but relying solely on outsiders is not a foolproof plan."

"The area around the Rushu River in Wancheng still needs the corresponding military strength and generals who can control the situation. But now, the only one who can fight against the generals of Wu is General Gan. The others are not as good as him."

"Plus, Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou doesn't seem to be in good health. I heard that he is seriously ill and bedridden. If he dies, the Jingzhou nobles who supported his two sons are all loyal to Cao Cao. I'm afraid that something will change at that time."

"They have to cooperate with Cao's army to turn around and attack Jiangxia. Wancheng is also difficult to defend, so it is difficult for General Gan to withdraw."

Gan Ning did not think that Lu Xun did not take him with him because he was worried about his ability to perform meritorious service, because most of the battles Lu Xun would have to fight on land, and this was not Gan Ning's strong point. In comparison, fighting against Jiangdong would make it easier for Gan Ning to display his strengths.

Gan Ning said: "Liu Jingsheng does have several difficult generals under his command, who are proficient in both land and sea operations, but unfortunately, in the current situation, it is difficult for them to be used by the lord."

"Jianghuai has a lot of water, so there are many naval commanders. If you want to find someone who is proficient in land warfare, you have to go to the Central Plains."

Lu Xun sighed, "Don't mention it. We are now fighting in Jianghuai, and the place with the most land in the Jianghuai Plain is Xuzhou."

"But Xuzhou hasn't produced any famous people in the past few years, otherwise I would have gone directly to Envoy Chen to ask for someone."

Everyone felt embarrassed. In such a large Jianghuai region, there was not even a capable land warfare general!

Lu Xun had no choice but to pick the tallest among the short ones and prepare to take Qin Yi and others away, leaving Liu Ye in Shouchun to prevent Cao's army from Yuzhou from crossing the Huai River.

He was holding his nose to select people when he heard someone come to report that there was someone outside who wanted to see him with a letter of recommendation.

After reading the letter of recommendation, Lu Xun discovered that the person was actually a commoner that the Procuratorate had found in Tongbai Mountain. He was stunned and immediately ordered the guards to bring the person in.

He told the officials present about this, and then turned to Yuan Yin and said, "The selection of officials should be left to Envoy Yuan to decide, but this involves the Procuratorate, Envoy, please take a look..."

Yuan Yin smiled and said, "Of course there is no problem with the person the Procuratorate has found, but I am also very curious about what talent the Procuratorate has found this time and why they sent it to the governor to make the decision personally."

Lu Xun looked strange and said, "He is just a commoner from Tongbai Mountain. The reason why the Procuratorate found him is because he has the same name as the master Guanxing."

Liu Ye was drinking tea and nearly spit it out when he heard this. "There are more than a thousand people with the same name in the world. Does it mean that the governor needs to review each one of them?"

Lu Xun was also helpless. What else could he do? His sworn brother's astrology was so weird that he could not understand it at all. It seemed that after all these years, only the equally weird Zhuge Kongming could get along with his sworn brother, right?

Not long after, someone strode in. When everyone looked up, they saw that the man was wearing a tattered linen shirt, was less than thirty years old, had big hands and feet, and a bitter face. He stood on the ground, and there was an indescribable murderous aura between his brows.

When Lu Xun saw him, he asked, "Have you ever served in the army?"

The man clasped his hands and said, "General, I have served as a soldier in Jiangxia for more than ten years."

Lu Xun asked, "Why did you leave? What is your military position?"

The man said, "I have been working as a clerk for ten years but have not made any progress. I see that there is no hope for me. I might as well go home and farm, and then return to the mountains to take care of my mother."

When these words were spoken, everyone thought that since he had not made any progress in more than ten years, he must be a person with high expectations but poor skills.

The man continued, "A few days ago, an official from the Procuratorate came to visit my village and said that my name was interesting and asked me to bring a letter to Shouchun."

"I didn't want to come, but I have an old mother at home and no rice to cook, so I had to come and pay my respects to the general."

Lu Xun stared at the letter and said, “What’s your name?”

The man bowed and said, "I am Wei Yan, courtesy name Wenchang."

(End of this chapter)