At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 355 Rejection

"Your Majesty, please see Chen Gongtai!"

Just when Liu Bei and Mi Zhu were frowning, someone came in to report.

Liu Bei quickly calmed down his emotions, and then shouted: "Sir, please come in!"

"Meet the king!"

After Chen Gong came in, he glanced at Mi Zhu, who was standing beside him, and stepped forward to salute.

Liu Bei hurriedly supported Chen Gong and said reproachfully: "Why are you so polite at Gongtai?"

He took Chen Gong into the house and ordered people to serve melons, fruits, tea, and then asked: "What do you mean you are here at Gongtai?"

Chen Gong sighed: "Of course it's to understand the danger of Xuzhou!"

Liu Bei's eyes brightened and he asked hurriedly: "What good strategy can Gongtai have to solve the crisis in Xuzhou?"

Chen Gong was silent for a long time, and then he said: "Ask for help from Chu State."

"Once Xuzhou is destroyed, it will not only solve Yuan Shao's worries, but the millions of people in Xuzhou will also strengthen Yuan Shao's power, which is naturally not a good thing for Chu State."

"Zeng Gu and Zhou Ziyi fell in love with each other and sent each other's eldest sons as pledges. Although they were from different forces, they actually worked together."

At that time, Liu Bei would either become cannon fodder for Zhou Qi's Northern Expedition, or he might be directly annexed.

"Zhou Ziyi must have had a grudge against him for betraying the alliance because of his selfish interests. If he carried out the false attack on Guo, he would first help Xuzhou to defeat Yuan Shao, and then occupy the magpie's nest and seize the opportunity to capture Xuzhou. , so what?"

Liu Bei remained silent.

In fact, this is what Liu Bei is really worried about.

The reason why he chose to accept Yuan Shao's canonization was because he saw that after Zhou Qi pacified Yizhou, his next target would definitely be the Central Plains.

"Zhou Ziyi is a man of great talent and strategy. He started from humble beginnings and built his current foundation. Naturally, he can clearly distinguish the importance. If my prediction is correct, if the king asks for help from the Chu Kingdom, Zhou Ziyi will definitely not sit idly by."

Liu Bei said directly without any hesitation: "If Xuzhou is here, it will be like a strangulation in Yuan Shao's throat, preventing him from using all his strength to attack Chu."

Liu Bei sighed deeply and said, "My lonely thoughts cannot escape Sir's wise eyes after all."

Liu Bei remained silent.

"In this situation, Zhou Ziyi's future plans must be in the Central Plains."

"At that time, Yizhou of the Chu State was not yet settled. Zhang and Lu were separatists in the north and ruled Hanzhong, and the barbarians in Nanzhong were rebelling in the south. There was no spare effort to take care of the Central Plains."

"Today, Nanzhong has been decided and Zhang Lu has surrendered. After Yizhou defeated the Guanzhong Army led by Cao Mengde, it became like an iron wall and became the most solid rear of Chu State."

Liu Bei looked up at Chen Gong and asked: "Of course Zhou Ziyi may not sit back and watch Xuzhou's destruction, but has Gongtai ever thought about it?"

Chen Gong pondered for a moment, and then asked: "May I ask your Majesty, if Xuzhou is acquired by Yuan Shao, will it be good or bad for the Chu State?"

"Although Xuzhou was a place of the Fourth War, it is adjacent to the coast to the east, with rich products and fertile land."

Looking at Liu Bei who was still hesitant, Chen Gong asked: "Are you worried that His Highness the King of Chu will be resentful for what happened before and refuse to send troops to help? Are you worried that you will be humiliated by sending someone to ask for help?"

Chen Gong said: "Since your Majesty knows this truth, how can the King of Chu and his ministers not know it?"

Chen Gong was a little anxious when he saw this and asked, "What worries does your Majesty have?"

After going around and around, he still couldn't get around Chu. However, Liu Bei felt ashamed of Zhou Qi and worried that the other party might not send troops to help, so he never sent anyone to ask for help.

Liu Bei is not unfounded.

Previously, the two sides were able to work together. In addition to being related to interests, it was also inseparable from sending protons to each other.

Ever since Zhou Qi became king and recalled Zhou Ji, who was serving as a proton in Xuzhou, it laid the groundwork for cracks in the covenant between the two parties.

Chen Gong looked at Liu Bei in surprise. He didn't expect his master to think so long-term.

In fact, with Chen Gong's resourcefulness, how could he not see this?

It was precisely because Chen Gong knew the hidden worries in Xuzhou that he originally urged Liu Bei to accept Yuan Shao's reward, then sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and then seek opportunities to gain advantage.

It's just that the development of things far exceeded Chen Gong's expectations.

He also didn't expect that Yuan Shao would actually use such a stratagem to hide everything, which directly put Xuzhou into an extremely passive situation.

The reason why Chen Gong did not tell Liu Bei clearly about the matter was because he was worried that it would affect Liu Bei's judgment, and he became increasingly reluctant to ask for help from Chu.

But the matter has come to this, Xuzhou has reached a critical juncture of life and death, and there is no other way out except asking for help from Chu State.

If asking for help from the Chu State may lead to the wolf entering the house and drinking poison to quench the thirst, at least it can solve Xuzhou's current predicament and buy Xuzhou enough time to survive.

As long as Xuzhou is immortal, we will eventually be able to think of ways to deal with future crises.

What's more, the above are just speculations by Liu Bei and Chen Gong. It is not certain whether such a thing will happen.

Chen Gong looked at Liu Bei and said softly: "The king may be right to worry. But if we don't ask for help from Chu, what can we do?"

"What's more, Yuan's army is powerful and determined to destroy Xuzhou this time. Even if Zhou Ziyi sends troops to help, after losing the natural barrier of the Han River, he will inevitably suffer heavy casualties if he wants to repel Yuan's army."

"At that time, Chu State may not have the ability to continue to annex Xuzhou."

When Liu Bei heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "Since Gongtai, Yuanlong, and Ziyu all suggested asking Chu for help, then just do what you said."

"However, the envoys who go to Chu State to ask for help this time will probably be ridiculed and made things difficult for them. I wonder who can take on this important task?"

Chen Gong said directly without any hesitation: "Zhuge Kongming, Zhuge Ziyu's younger brother, is highly valued by His Highness the King of Chu. He has been on many missions to Chu and is also deeply loved by His Highness the King of Chu. The only person chosen for this mission is Zhuge Zi. Yu can take on this great responsibility!"

Liu Bei felt that Chen Gong's analysis was quite reasonable, so he immediately sent Zhuge Jin as envoy to Chu to ask for help from Zhou Qi.

Since most of the southern counties were occupied by Yuan's army, in order to protect Zhuge Jin's safety, Liu Bei specially asked Sun Ce to escort Zhuge Jin to Chu State with soldiers and horses in disguise.

Just as Zhuge Jin and Sun Ce worked hard to break through Yuan Jun's offensive line and head to Yangzhou, the cavalry sent by Zhao Yun finally arrived in Tan County and informed them of what happened in Peiguo and Pengcheng County.

When Liu Bei learned that Zhao Yun was still there, he couldn't help but be overjoyed.

When he heard that Zhao Yun defeated Yuan's army's five thousand infantry and cavalry with two thousand and killed Yuan's general Han Meng, he couldn't help but praise: "If others were attacked from both sides and could be surrounded and annihilated at any time, I'm afraid they would have been killed long ago." My liver and gallbladder are bursting, and I just want to lead my army to break out." "Only Zilong, even if the situation is critical, still dares to defeat the masses with a small number, and defeat the strong with the weak. He is really full of courage!"

When the generals in Xuzhou heard about Zhao Yun's deeds, they all admired him.

Liu Bei looked around at the crowd and asked, "Since Pengcheng has not fallen yet, do we need to send troops to help?"

Mi Zhu took the lead and said: "Although Pengcheng County has not fallen, it has become an isolated city and may be difficult to defend. At this time, Xuzhou's military strength is tight, and the defense of Donghai County is still insufficient. If we divide our troops to rescue Pengcheng, I am afraid that not only Pengcheng will not be able to be defended, but even Pengcheng will not be able to be defended." Donghae County will also be in danger."

"In my opinion, we should not let General Zhao abandon the city and retreat to Tan County to fight against Yuan Shao."

Mi Zhu's words were recognized by many people, but Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others strongly opposed it.

As a military general, it is absolutely shameful and humiliating to abandon the city instead of defending the territory against the enemy.

However, Yuan Jun's huge encirclement is still shrinking every day. If the scattered troops and horses are not gathered back as soon as possible, they can concentrate their efforts to resist Yuan Jun.

By the time Yuan Jun completes the encirclement, it may be difficult for Zhao Yun to return to Tan County.

Some people may say that wouldn't it be more effective if Zhao Yun defended Pengcheng and became a nail that forced Yuan Jun to divide his troops and besiege Pengcheng?

In fact, this idea is not feasible at all. Yuan Jun must either concentrate his forces to conquer Pengcheng first, or simply circle the city.

You know, Pengcheng is not the only way for Yuan Jun.

With the current situation, Yuan Jun can completely enter Xuzhou directly from Yanzhou and Qingzhou, which means that Pengcheng's strategic significance is not that important.

There is no need to go from there, whether it is Yuan Jun's troops, horses, or supplies.

At this time, the helplessness of Xuzhou, the place of the Fourth War, was reflected.

If it were an area that was easy to defend but difficult to attack, with only one direction of attack, as long as there was a city in the rear that had not been captured, Yuan Jun would not dare to go deeper and would worry about the safety of his food route.

Faced with such a cruel situation, Liu Bei thought about it and finally ordered Zhao Yun and Pengcheng to abandon the city and return to Tan County as soon as possible.

However, it was said that Zhuge Jin and Sun Ce pretended to be ordinary people fleeing the war, carefully avoided Yuan's army, and finally entered Danyang County after going through many hardships. Then they went directly to visit Huang Zu, the prefect of Danyang, and Shi Huan, the captain of Danyang County, and explained their purpose of coming. It was hoped that Shi Huan could send troops to escort the mission to Xiangyang.

Because the current state of Chu was in a war period, the travel restrictions for outsiders were very strict. Without Shi Huan sending troops to escort them along the way, Zhuge Jin and others would have been unable to move.

Although Huang Zu and Shi Huan despised Liu Bei's betrayal of the alliance, they also knew that the matter was related to national strategy. They could not make a decision at all and could only send troops to escort Zhuge Jin and others to Xiangyang.

Only Sun Ce, after returning to his long-lost hometown, felt as if he was in another world.

When he was only seventeen or eighteen years old, he followed his father Sun Jian on the battlefield and witnessed his father's death due to Yuan Shu's suspicion and sneak attack. Sun Ce had to take his only remaining generals to defect to Liu Bei.

If the original history is followed, after Sun Jian's death, Sun Ce found the right opportunity to go south, and with the help of Zhou Yu and the Lujiang Zhou family, he laid down Jiangdong, which ultimately laid a solid foundation for the establishment of Soochow.

However, history has long since changed. Yangzhou was firmly controlled by Zhou Qi and could not be invaded. Sun Ce's men were short of soldiers and food, so how could he possibly capture Jiangdong again?

After he took refuge with Liu Bei, he was indeed treated with courtesy, but because he had his own generals, it was always difficult to integrate into Liu Bei's command, and he seemed a bit out of place.

Seeing that he is getting older but still accomplishing nothing, Sun Ce feels depressed every day.

Before staying in Xuzhou, this feeling was not strong.

But after returning to his hometown of Wu County and looking at his dilapidated home, Sun Ce suddenly felt a little sad for some reason.

Fortunately, his willpower was far superior to ordinary people after all, and he quickly adjusted his emotions, and then followed Zhuge Jin and continued towards Xiangyang.

After the Xuzhou delegation arrived in Xiangyang, Zhuge Jin, who had high hopes from Liu Bei, was left out in the cold. Even Zhuge Jin wanted to go and meet his brother Zhuge Liang, but he failed to do so.

He sent greeting cards to the Prince of Chu's Mansion several times, but in the end they were like stones dropped into the sea, with no response at all.

This was not something Zhou Qi did deliberately, because Zhuge Liang was still coordinating military affairs in Fancheng at this time, and it was impossible for him to leave his post without permission just to see Zhuge Jin at this juncture.

What Zhuge Jin didn't expect was that Sun Ce, who was only responsible for guarding, was suddenly summoned by His Royal Highness the King of Chu.

Prince Chu's Mansion.

Zhou Qi felt a little sad when he looked at Sun Ce, who was approaching his thirties.

He took Sun Ce's hands and sighed: "It must have been ten years since Gu and Bo Fu met for the first time."

Sun Ce was silent for a while, and then said, "It's been fourteen years."

When Zhou Qi heard this, he couldn't help but feel like he was in another world.

He and Sun Ce first met when Dong Zhuo was in chaos. Zhou Qi led troops into Shouchun and sent people to arrest Sun Jian's family members in the name of Sun Jian's reckless killing of the Nanyang governor.

At that time, Zhou Qi actually had murderous intentions and did not want to let brothers Sun Ce and Sun Quan leave.

However, Zhou Qi thought about it and decided not to embarrass them after all. After Sun Jian asked Yuan Shu to help rescue his family, he also betrayed Yuan Shu and sent Sun Ce and others to Yuan Shu.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu took the opportunity to blackmail Sun Jian and asked him to take out the jade seal he had obtained in Luoyang.

In the long river of time, the past grudges are nothing at all.

It is said that times create heroes, and heroes promote times.

In history, Sun Ce was able to lay such a foundation as Jiangdong. In addition to his extraordinary abilities, he also caught up with the good times.

At that time, the southern princes were weak, and Yuan Shu had no time to visit the south. With the strong support of Zhou Yu and Sun Ce's uncle, Sun Ce was finally able to conquer Jiangdong.

But now, the world's pattern has been decided.

Not to mention Sun Ce, who is now in a state of decline, even Liu Bei and Liu Xuande, who have become kings of one of the separatist parties, have almost no room for development.

Zhou Qi looked at Sun Ce, who had become much more mature, and couldn't help but sigh: "I think back then, Gu and Bofu's father fought for the Yellow Turban together in Runan, and they had a life-long friendship on the battlefield. It's a pity that God is jealous of talents, and Brother Wentai is like this A hero died at the hands of a villain in the end."

He looked at Sun Ce and said sincerely: "After all, Gu is Bofu's elder, and Wu County is Bofu's hometown. If Bofu is tired outside and wants to go home and develop, Chu State welcomes you! "

"Gu Yi believes that with Bo Fu's talent, it will not be difficult to make a career in the Chu Kingdom."

Sun Ce stood up, bowed deeply to Zhou Qi, and said, "Thank you so much for His Highness King Chu's appreciation. Ce feels ashamed. However, His Highness King Qi treats me so well, how can I bear to bear it?"

(End of this chapter)