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

Chapter 358 Besieged

Pei County, located in the north of Pei State, is also known as Xiaopei in later generations. It is the intersection of Xu, Yan and Yu states. It is also the place where Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, launched his army. It has great strategic and symbolic significance.

Yuan Shao personally stationed troops here, and a steady stream of soldiers and horses gathered here every day. The purpose is self-evident.

For Liu Bei, the only good thing is that to the east of Peixian County, there are four freshwater lakes, Nanyang Lake, Dushan Lake, Zhaoyang Lake and Weishan Lake, stretching from northwest to southeast. The four major lakes span more than 100 kilometers. , it can also be regarded as a natural barrier for Xuzhou.

These four major lakes are collectively known as the Nansi Lakes. Looking at the entire China, they are also among the largest huge lakes in terms of area.

In particular, Zhaoyang Lake and Huishan Lake blocked the road from Peixian County to Donghai County.

It is precisely for this reason that although Yuan Shao gathered many troops here, he never launched a large-scale attack.

The reason why Yuan Shao chose to attack Donghai County from Peixian County instead of directly from Langya Kingdom in Qingzhou was because he had his own considerations.

First of all, there are mountains between Langya Kingdom and Donghai County, and it is not that easy for the army to cross.

Secondly, since Yuan Shao had previously attacked Donghai County from here, this also allowed Liu Bei to gain wisdom and build powerful fortifications in important areas in the north of Donghai County.

This is why Taishi Ci, with only a small number of soldiers and horses, was able to stop the 50,000-strong army led by Yuan Tan.

Nowadays, Yuan Shao is already building ships and training the navy at all costs, obviously not just to prepare for the attack on Xuzhou.

He believed that with Liu Bei's wisdom, he would not be unable to understand what he meant.

A leopard can be seen in a tube, and autumn can be seen in a leaf.

As Yuan Jun's navy became more and more powerful, many aristocratic families in Donghai County were secretly in contact with Yuan Shao.

Zhuge Jin was silent for a long time, and then sighed: "In order to see the King of Chu, I even rashly crossed the river and went to Fancheng to meet my second brother Kong Ming. I wanted to use this relationship to persuade the King of Chu to send troops to help Xuzhou."

At this juncture, even Liu Bei himself was trembling. Naturally, he could not expect those aristocratic families to follow him unswervingly. Therefore, in addition to being cautious, there was no trouble.

In Tan County, people are panicked.

When Liu Bei has a solid foundation in Xuzhou, these people will naturally turn to Liu Bei, but once Yuan Shao leads his troops to kill him, they may not live or die with Xuzhou.

Liu Bei nodded, his expression a little unsightly.

Yuan Shao has so many talents under his command, how could he not see this?

It was precisely to cut off Liu Bei's escape route that Yuan Shao asked Wen Chou and Gao Lan, two famous generals from Hebei, to lead an army of 50,000 to garrison Xiapi County. In addition to putting pressure on Liu Bei, the most important thing was to blockade Donghai County.

Just through Chen Deng's actions, Liu Bei had already felt the undercurrent in Donghai County.

"However, although Kong Ming and I are brothers, he is loyal to the emperor at the expense of his salary and does not want to get too involved in this matter."

Yuan Tan's 50,000-strong army was not so much here to attack Donghai County as it was to coexist with both deterrence and defense.

The two looked at each other and remained silent.

"Is there really no room for redemption?"

Considering the size of the four major freshwater lakes, Nanyang Lake, Dushan Lake, Zhaoyang Lake and Weishan Lake, as long as Yuan Shao can completely occupy these places and is willing to work hard, he will be able to train a powerful naval force sooner or later.

After a long time, Liu Bei waved his hand slightly tiredly and said: "Tzuyu is tired from the long journey, so please go back home and rest first. Let me think about asking for help for a while."

"Brother-in-law just mentioned vaguely that Chu State General Zhou Jin has led the navy to blockade the entire Huaihe River. At this time, the king may have lost contact with Guangling County."

After all, it is your own fault and you will not live!

After Sun Ce also left, Liu Bei walked to the door and looked at the clear sky.

When Zhuge Jin returned to Tan County and brought the news that Zhou Qi refused to receive the Xuzhou envoy, Liu Bei's hair turned gray overnight.

Zhuge Jin sighed: "Before leaving, my brother once mentioned that if we want to persuade the King of Chu to send troops to help, Xuzhou must pay a sufficient price."

As for the 50,000 soldiers and horses stationed by Wen Chou and Gao Lan in Xiapi, it was mostly to cut off the traffic between Xuzhou and Yangzhou and to prevent Zhou Qi from recruiting troops to rush for reinforcements.

The sky was very blue, but Zhou Qi's heart was very cold, so cold that it bit the bones.

When he learned that Zhou Qi had summoned Sun Ce, but directly rejected Sun Ce's request for help, Liu Bei couldn't help but secretly smile bitterly on the grounds that he had betrayed the alliance first and sent troops to help Xuzhou and Chu's civil and military forces would not accept it.

He looked at Chen Gong and Mi Zhu, who were frowning and silent, and asked, "What do you think I should do?"

Having said this, Zhuge Jin stopped talking.

Especially powerful families, most of them seek profit.

He knew that if Zhou Qi refused to send troops to help, Xuzhou would be destroyed sooner or later.

After an unknown period of time, Liu Bei thought of Chen Deng, who was still ill and unwilling to see people. He couldn't help but smile a few times, then summoned Chen Gong and Mi Zhu, and informed them of the news that Zhuge Jin had returned.

Moreover, the water system here is developed. As an important route for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in later generations, it is obviously much easier to transport grain here from Hebei.

Everyone under Liu Bei could see the current situation and knew that if they wanted to keep Xuzhou, they could only ask for help from Chu.

However, a strong sense of suffocation lingered in Liu Bei's heart every moment.

On the contrary, these people are definitely the first ones to surrender, and they will continue to be favored by Yuan Shao after surrendering.

Liu Bei's eyes were bloodshot and he looked at Zhuge Jin and asked hopefully.

During this period, Liu Bei felt deep pressure. Even Chen Deng, who had been extremely loyal to him before, now has a somewhat ambiguous attitude, and even stayed in the house while ill and saw no one.

Although Yuan Jun has obtained a lot of food in Xuzhou, this national war of Zhao State is not just to destroy Xuzhou, but also has a strong enemy of Chu State. The future will definitely be a protracted war.

After sending Zhuge Jin away, Liu Bei summoned Sun Ce and asked him about his mission to Xiangyang.

Only Mi, who was born a merchant and had a very close relationship with Liu Bei, might really consider Liu Bei wholeheartedly.

With Liu Bei's control over Donghai County, he naturally found some clues.

Even though Liu Bei won the hearts of the people in Xuzhou, when most of Xuzhou's territory was lost and he could only defend Donghai County, the people were still a little panicked.

With these 50,000 troops stationed in Langya Kingdom, even if it is difficult to invade Donghai County, it can put great pressure on Liu Bei, and at least prevent Liu Bei from sending surprise troops to regain Langya Kingdom.

Although Zhou Qi did not explicitly mention conditions in his conversation with Sun Ce, he had already said this: "If Liu Xuande cannot come up with conditions that are enough to impress Chu, please forgive me for not sending troops to help Xuzhou."

Everyone naturally understood the implication of this sentence, which was to let Liu Bei show his sincerity.

As for Zhuge Liang's words to Zhuge Jin, they were very explicit. He told Zhuge Jin almost directly and clearly that if he wanted His Highness the King of Chu to send troops to help Xuzhou, then he would cede all Xuzhou's territory south of the Huaihe River to Chu.

Not only that, in order to ensure that Liu Bei will no longer be at both ends, a sufficient amount of protons must be sent to Xiangyang.

Although these words only come from Zhuge Liang, they can also represent Zhou Qi's meaning.

If Liu Bei really wants to do this, even if he defeats Yuan Shao, Xuzhou's strength will definitely be greatly reduced, and there will be almost no possibility of coveting Jiangdong in the future. In fact, the person who has enough weight to serve as a proton must be Liu Bei's eldest son.

Although Liu Bei had previously sent his eldest son to Xiangyang as a hostage, Zhou Qi also sent Zhou Ji to Xuzhou. The two parties had equal status, and at least they did not have to worry about the safety of their son.

The situation now is very different.

As long as Liu Bei sends the proton to Xiangyang, Zhou Qi will have an excuse to kill the proton if Liu Bei does anything detrimental to Chu in the future.

Even if Zhou Qi wants to take advantage of Xuzhou, he can use protons to coerce Liu Bei.

Whether it was ceding territory or sending hostages, it would greatly harm Xuzhou's interests. As Liu Bei's confidants, Chen Gong and Mi Zhu were naturally unwilling to make such a choice.

But things have come to this, what if we don’t do this?

Seeing that both of them were silent, Liu Bei took a deep breath, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "As Zhuge Liang said, Guangling County south of the Huaihe River and the four cities of Huailing, Gaoshan, Xutai, and Dongcheng will be ceded to the Chu State, and Send Gu’s eldest son to Xiangyang as a hostage.”

"These conditions must be able to impress Zhou Ziyi!"

After saying this, Liu Bei seemed to have been drained of all his strength.

Chen Gong and Mi Zhu looked at each other, and in the end they could only sigh helplessly.

However, Chen Gong was more thoughtful after all and said to Liu Bei: "Now that the traffic between Donghai County and Chu State has been cut off, once the news comes out that the king has sent the crown prince to Xuzhou as a hostage, Wen Chou and Gao Lan will definitely lead a large army to pursue him. "

“Things are accomplished through secrets, and failure is revealed through words.”

"This is a serious matter. If your Majesty really wants to facilitate this matter, you cannot make a big fanfare. Instead, you must send a brave and trustworthy general to take the prince to Xiangyang in disguise."

Liu Bei asked: "Who do you think Gongtai thinks can take on this important task?"

Chen Gong said: "The second general is extremely brave and unparalleled in loyalty, but his appearance is too strange and easily attracts Yuan Jun's attention. The third general is although brave, but has an impatient temper. I am afraid he will not be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of escorting the prince."

"Only General Zhao Zilong, who is loyal, brave, meticulous, and courageous, can take on this important task!"

Hearing Chen Gong mention Zhao Yun, Liu Bei thought of the opponent's record in Pei State, and finally a smile appeared on his face.

He immediately summoned Zhao Yun secretly and asked him to take the crown prince and his documents to Xiangyang, and asked: "How many manpower will Zilong need to go here?"

Zhao Yun frowned and pondered for a long time, then said: "All the counties in the south are occupied by Yuan's army. If we bring strong guards, it will arouse suspicion."

"If the king can trust the general, then the general alone can take the crown prince to Xiangyang!"

Liu Bei was shocked when he heard this. He didn't expect Zhao Yun to be so bold. He dared to take the prince alone through the Yuan army's blockade and headed for Xiangyang.

However, after thinking about it, Liu Bei felt that Zhao Yun's choice was extremely correct.

Today's Xiapi County is more heavily guarded than when Zhuge Jin, Sun Ce and others passed through. If they had come back two days later, they would have been arrested by Yuan Jun.

There were not only two Hebei generals, Wen Chou and Gao Lan, but also 50,000 troops stationed there.

Even if Liu Bei allocated two thousand cavalry to Zhao Yun, it would be impossible to break through the siege and reach Xiangyang.

Instead, Zhao Yun was alone with a baby, most likely pretending to be a refugee fleeing the war, and then passed through Yuan Jun's heavy blockade.

Liu Bei stepped forward and held Zhao Yun's hands tightly, saying: "The fate of Xuzhou and the life and death of the prince are all tied to Zilong's body!"

Zhao Yun bowed and said, "Thanks to the kindness of your Majesty, Yun will go to Xiangyang with the crown prince and the documents!"

On a deserted road, Zhao Yun, disguised as a refugee, took Adou, who was only seven years old, on a horse and rode south.

This Adou is Liu Bei's eldest son, not the Adou who was unable to support him in later generations.

Adou was the son of Liu Bei and the Mi family. Since history has changed, Xuzhou was not occupied by Cao Cao, so Liu Bei's wife and children were not taken away.

The reason why Zhao Yun did not dare to ride his horse was to avoid attracting attention.

In this era, riding a horse is barely acceptable, but riding a horse on the road is like driving a luxury car costing millions on the street in later generations. It will definitely cause a great sensation.

What Zhao Yun needs now is to keep a low profile, so he naturally needs to change his mount.

However, after changing the mount, the speed was naturally much slower. In addition, in order to avoid Yuan Jun's blockade, Zhao Yun took basically less traveled paths.

Walking from here will not only take a long detour, but the road is also rugged and difficult, and you will encounter many bandits and bandits.

Fortunately, Zhao Yun's force was strong, and he encountered several waves of bandits and bandits along the way. After Zhao Yun killed the bandit leader with lightning speed, the rest all dispersed in a rush.

In this way, Zhao Yun and Adou finally arrived in Sui County after nearly eight days of trekking. They only had to bypass Hongze Lake to reach the Huaihe River. Crossing the Huaihe River also announced a complete breakthrough of Yuan Jun's blockade.

The reason why he rode for so long was not only the detour and the encounter with bandits and bandits on the way, but also to take care of Adou, who was only seven years old.

If it were Zhao Yun himself, he would eat some dry food when he was hungry, drink some mountain spring water when he was thirsty, and just let his war horse rest when he was tired.

It's completely different when you bring a child with you, and you'll encounter many difficulties.

In any case, Zhao Yun finally overcame all the difficulties and saw that he would reach the Huaihe River in half a day's walk.

"Tap Tap!"

Just when Zhao Yun was about to take Adou off his horse and catch a fish in Hongze Lake to replenish his body, he suddenly felt the earth trembling slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of rapid horse hooves came from far to near.

"Oops, it's a large group of cavalry!"

Zhao Yun's face changed slightly, he didn't dare to dismount to correct himself, he hurriedly hugged Adou in his arms, and then ran forward without sparing any effort.

However, in order to deceive others, Zhao Yun's mount was a rogue horse, and he was already exhausted after marching for a long time.

Therefore, it didn't take long for Zhao Yun and Adou to be chased by Qian Yuqi.

When he saw clearly the appearance of the leader, his heart sank. The other person was actually Wen Chou, a famous general in Hebei. Zhao Yun had fought against Wen Chou when he was under Gongsun Zan.

"I have been very cautious along the way and have never exposed my identity or whereabouts. Why did Wen Chou personally lead his troops to pursue me?"

Looking at the Yuan Jun cavalry that had gradually gathered around him, Zhao Yun had an ugly expression on his face, and he couldn't help but feel suspicious in his heart.

(End of this chapter)