Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 817 Everyone has selfish motives

Seeing Liu Biao's question, Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said: "Yuan Shijun often acts unexpectedly, but Bei can guarantee that he will not do anything untrustworthy and unjust first."

"Brother, treat me with sincerity, and I will not let you down. Maybe there was some misunderstanding between the two parties during the negotiation. I can write a letter to ask about it, and ask brother to stay for a few days."

Liu Biao faced Liu Bei and said sincerely: "Don't blame me for being a good brother. I do have some difficulties as a brother."

"I do believe what my dear brother said. After all, Yuan Shijun went to attack Qingzhou. No matter how you look at it, he has no plans against me, Jingzhou."

"But people from the Kuai family come to complain time and time again, and I always want to give an explanation. In addition, Kuai Yidu has done a great job for me, so I can't help but ask."

Liu Bei heard this and sighed: "Brother's high righteousness makes Bei impressed. If things are not harmonious, I am willing to go to Shouchun personally."

Liu Biao shook his head and said: "No, we still need a wise brother to be in charge here. Although Yuan Shijun and Jiang Dong will not plot Jingzhou, Cao Mengde may not."

Liu Bei asked doubtfully: "Yuan sent you to attack Yuan Tan, and Cao Cao must go to save him. Will he send troops to attack Jingzhou at this time?"

"I don't think he has the energy to spare."

Liu Biao spoke up: "Brother Xian has also fought against Cao Mengde several times. What do you think of him?"

Liu Bei thought for a long time, and then sighed: "I am really not as good as him."

Liu Biao shook his head, "Good brother, don't belittle yourself. In my opinion, good brother is no less than him, it's just bad luck."

"But there is something very difficult about Cao Cao, that is, he doesn't keep his word and makes sudden attacks."

"Xiandi was also attacked by him twice, right?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei looked bitter and nodded helplessly.

Liu Biao added: "Yuan Shijun is attacking Xuzhou. Everyone knows that Yuan Tan is an ally of Cao Cao. Of course, it is best to go and rescue him."

"But if this is the case, Cao Cao fell into Yuan Shijun's scheme and was dragged to death in Qingzhou."

"When the time comes, whether Jizhou goes south to Yanzhou, or Heishan attacks Sili, or even Jingzhou sends troops to attack Xu County, Cao Cao's situation will collapse immediately."

"So he will never allow this to happen. Instead, he will take advantage of Yuan Shijun and Yuan Tan to attack each other and resolve the hidden dangers of these three parties as soon as possible."

When Liu Bei heard this, he was a little shocked. Because of this idea, Xu Shu had also mentioned it to him, asking him to pay attention to Cao Cao's movements to prevent him from trying to plot Nanyang again.

But Xu Shu was not very sure about this, so Liu Bei did not tell Liu Biao about it, but Liu Biao thought clearly in his heart. This shows that there are experienced counselors behind him, which should not be underestimated.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei's face became solemn, he cupped his hands and said, "If Cao Cao attacks, Bei should guard the door for my brother."

Liu Biao spoke up: "Xiandi and Zhang Xiu are guarding Nanyang. It is quite difficult for Cao Cao to go south. It is no less difficult than attacking Jizhou."

"But that's not all I'm worried about."

"What I am worried about is that there is a problem in Jiangxia, which Huang Zu is guarding."

After hearing this, Liu Bei asked doubtfully: "General Huang?"

"What he is facing is not Cao Cao, but Jiang Dong, right?"

"It has defeated Jiangdong several times, and now Jiangdong has suffered a major defeat. When negotiating peace with Yuan Shijun, what else can he do?"

Liu Biao sighed: "This peace negotiation has not revealed any news so far, so I can't be sure."

"I can guess what Yuan Shijun has in mind. He wants to temporarily mediate the relationship between Jingzhou and Jiangdong, so that they can become allies and fight against Cao Cao."

"I very much agree with this idea, but he may have underestimated Jiangdong's plot against Jingzhou and his hatred for me."

"From a location perspective, Jingzhou is Jiangdong's weak spot, and it is a place it must win."

"Judging from the grievances between the two sides, in the third year of Chuping, Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to conquer Jingzhou, and I sent Huang Zu to fight between Fancheng and Deng County."

"Sun Jian defeated Huang Zu, pursued the victory, crossed the Han River, surrounded Xiangyang, and forced me to be trapped in the city. He sent Huang Zu out of the city at night to mobilize soldiers to fight Sun Jian again, but Huang Zu was defeated and was defeated. Sun Jian was hit by Huang Zu's troops when he pursued. He will be ambushed and killed by an arrow.”

"Since then, Sun Cecai has emerged, pacified Jiangdong, and made a lot of achievements. However, he still harbors hatred for his father's murder, and has never stopped attacking Jiangxia, including Sun Quan, who is now in power."

"Even if he suffered a defeat at the hands of Yuan Shijun and was forced to negotiate peace, his thoughts about Jingzhou will never disappear."

"Yuan Shijun wants to bring the three parties together, which is feasible for the time being, but when Jiangdong regains his strength and makes a comeback, I'm afraid everything will return to its original state."

"I have to prepare for this in advance. Although Jiangdong was defeated, he was not seriously injured. If Sun Quan is too obsessed, it is not impossible to send troops again in a short time."

"Huang Zu has always had a hard time facing the Jiangdong offensive. If there is a mistake, the opponent will directly attack Xiangyang. Then I will be in a difficult situation."

"So I have an idea."

Liu Bei said quickly: "Brother, please just say it."

Liu Biao nodded, "I heard that Guan Yunchang, the general under Brother Xian, is very good at water warfare. He has blocked Cao Cao several times and is very famous."

"I would like to ask him to garrison Fancheng, assist in the defense of Deng County, help each other with Huang Zu, and at the same time train the navy for me. To this end, I will first allocate three thousand sergeants to help, and when he gets to the place, I will use my order to recruit troops for training. Is that possible?"

Liu Bei quickly nodded in agreement and said: "Since my brother is destined, if you dare not agree, I will go back to Xinye and tell my second brother."

After hearing this, Liu Biao smiled and said, "In that case, everything depends on my worthy brother!"

The two parties drank more happily, and the host and guest had a great time. After Liu Bei returned to the post house, Xu Shu, who was accompanying him without saying a word, spoke up: "Liu Jingsheng is really not an ordinary person."

"This is a move by General Guan, but he is very sophisticated." Upon hearing this, Liu Bei sobered up and said, "The military advisor is saying that Liu Jingsheng's move has a deeper meaning?"

Xu Shu said: "It's nothing, it's just a check and balance technique."

"The Huang clan belongs to the Huang family and has been operating in Jiangxia for many years. It has long been out of control and is almost a semi-independent existence in Jingzhou."

"Although he is still loyal to Liu Biao, no one knows what will happen in the future."

"The worst-case scenario is that he colludes with Jiangdong to counterattack and attack the hinterland of Jingzhou. At that time, Liu Jingsheng can only do nothing."

"Or maybe Huang Zu couldn't stop Jiangdong's army and was defeated and died. He had no successor. Before Liu Jingsheng could find someone to replace him, Jiangxia was taken over by Jiangdong. This is unacceptable to him."

"So Liu Jingsheng is preparing early now. He is just ambushing his back-up men. He is using General Guan to garrison Fancheng. It is called assisting defense, but it is actually to prevent sudden changes."

Liu Bei suddenly became excited and sobered up, "If you say so, wouldn't my second brother be in danger?"

Xu Shu smiled and said: "There is danger, but with General Guan's ability, he should be able to handle it."

“And it’s a great opportunity.”

Liu Bei said: "Why do the military advisors think so?"

Xu Shu said: "Does my lord want to stay in Xinye for the rest of his life?"

Liu Bei blurted out: "Of course not!"

Xu Shu nodded and said, "That's it."

"So, stationed in Xiangfan is a rare opportunity for my lord now."

"Liu Jingsheng was kind in this matter. He gave up the territory in Fancheng to show his sincerity in wanting to be on good terms with the master."

After hearing this, Liu Bei nodded unconsciously and sighed: "Now that the Han Dynasty is withering, it is really sad that there is such a loyal person like Liu Jingsheng."

Xu Shu said: "But this is the bottom line that Liu Jingsheng can show in this position."

"Although Fancheng is good, its achievements are limited."

Liu Bei was puzzled and said: "Bei really doesn't understand. I'd like to hear my military advisor clarify my doubts."

Xu Shu explained patiently: "In the direction of Fancheng, to the south is Yuzhang County of Jiangdong, and to the east is Lujiang River where there is a dispute between Jihu and Jiangdong. If the lord wants to expand his territory, he must seize it from the two of them."

"And neither of these two parties are easy-going people. How can they let the Lord benefit so easily?"

"So my lord's expansion from Fancheng is tantamount to taking food from the tiger's mouth. Even if we capture it, it will be difficult to defend. It can be said that the situation is not much better than that of Xuzhou."

"Actually, what I thought at the time was that the best situation would be for Liu Jingsheng to let the lord take Xichuan from Hanzhong. That would be a place of peace of mind."

"But now it seems that Liu Jingsheng's advisers have seen this clearly. I am afraid that Liu Jingsheng himself is also thinking of plotting Yizhou, so he sent the lord away from the east of Xichuan."

"Think about it, who in this world can have no ambition?"

Liu Bei then suddenly realized, "The military advisor thinks that Liu Jingsheng wants to attack Liu Zhang and capture Yizhou?"

Xu Shu said: "Yes, once it captures Yizhou, it can connect Jingzhou. And Yizhou has no worries. As long as it defends Jingzhou with peace of mind, it can seize the fertile land of Yizhou."

"Even if we get Jingyi, we can advance and attack, and retreat and defend. It is not impossible to plan for Liangzhou to be subordinate to the three counties of Yangzhou at the same time."

After hearing this, Liu Bei remained silent for a long time before sighing: "That's right. Riding into Jingzhou alone, how can you not be heroic?"

"I only saw his loyal side, but I underestimated his ambition. I really underestimated the heroes of the world."

Xu Shu smiled and said: "My lord, don't be impatient. There will be a way for the car to reach the mountain."

"What's more, allies like Xiu Hu and Liu Jingsheng, although ambitious, are still kind. Compared with Jiang Dong's backstabbing of allies, or Cao Cao, a tyrant who forces his allies to rebel, they are already pretty good."

Liu Bei sighed: "That's natural. The reason why I'm here today is because of Cao Cao's actions. I will go against him because I am different from him and do not conspire with him!"

Xu Shu looked appreciative, "This is also the reason why I defected to my lord. Under Cao Cao, I can be said to be trembling with fear and uneasiness all day long."

"What happened to Zhang Xiu is a wake-up call to everyone in the world. If you humiliate a surrendered general who surrendered to you, let alone others?"

"He has trapped himself in a cocoon and is holding the emperor hostage, but sooner or later he will be backlashed. My lord just needs to wait patiently."

After hearing this, Liu Bei bowed deeply and said, "Thank you so much, military advisor, for your words. I will keep them in mind."

Xu Shu looked to the east, "As for Jiangdong, who is even worse than Cao Cao, he has inherited the tradition of treachery among merchants, and we don't know what he will do. My lord, you must be careful."

Liu Bei listened and nodded in agreement, but he didn't care in his heart. Jiangdong has been beaten like this now, what kind of trouble can it cause?

Danyang, Wujun.

In the hall, Sun Quan sat at the top, and Mrs. Wu sat on the side. Below the hall were several counselors, including Zhou Yu, as well as important figures from the Sun and Wu families.

After Sun Quan suffered a great defeat, he realized that the hearts of the Wu clan were unstable, so he took Mrs. Wu out again.

He frowned and said, "Zhang Changshi sent an envoy to Shouchun, but Fierce Tiger sent troops north. Who can tell me what happened?"

(End of this chapter)