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

Chapter 365 Waiting and Seeing
Zhao Yun couldn't help but sigh when he looked at Zhou Ji, who had obviously matured a lot.

He had long known that Zhou Ji, as Zhou Qi's eldest son, was destined to have an extraordinary future, but he never expected that the other party would be able to defend one side so quickly.

Zhao Yun hurriedly brought Zhou Ji into the house, and specially called Adou. Several people gathered around the brazier, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

This heavy snow brought the war in Xuzhou to a temporary end, and Yuan Shao also chose to suspend the war.

Only in Jiaozhou, there is still an undercurrent.

Because the chief of the Yao tribe has a long-term vision, he knows what choice is most beneficial to the Yao tribe, and he also knows the ethnic policies of the Chu State.

Therefore, after the Yao caravan failed in Nanzhong, the chief of the Yao family went to visit Xiang Hong in person, and finally mobilized the entire clan to join the Chu Kingdom.

With the powerful Yao people surrendering, Fazheng simply adjusted his strategy. He went down the Yushui River and directly attacked Guangxin County, Cangwu County, where the Shixie family was located, and arrested all more than 300 members of the Shixie family.

Later, Fazheng contacted the southern county guards of Jingzhou and Yangzhou and asked them to lead the army of the county and the army of Nanzhong to attack Nanhai County in a three-pronged attack.

Wherever the army passed, it was like splitting bamboo. Finally, Xiang Hong broke through Panyu, the commandery of Nanhai County, which was later known as Guangzhou, and captured Shi Xie's younger brother Shi Wu alive.

"The general has been in Xiangyang for a long time. Do you know what King Chu has in mind?"

In the spring of the next year, as soon as the weather got warmer, Yuan Shao launched an extremely fierce offensive against Donghai County.

The reason why Chu State fought on three fronts before and Yuan's army was unable to capture Fancheng was just because of its geographical advantages.

To make a short story, in fact, nearly two years have passed since Xiang Hong launched his army to attack Jiaozhou until the three brothers Shixie surrendered with their seals and ribbons.

If he really wants to send troops to help Xuzhou, it means that Zhou Qi must give up Chu's natural barrier and then break out a war with Yuan's army in the unfamiliar land of Xuzhou.

As a result, the battle of Jiaozhou, which lasted for nearly two years, finally ended with Xiang Hong occupying the entire territory of Jiaozhou.

Donghai County faced a three-pronged attack by Yuan's army. After barely holding on for more than two months, the battle line finally began to collapse.

Zhao Yun was silent for a long time this time, and finally said with some uncertainty: "As far as I know, Xiang Bode, the governor of Nanzhong of the Chu State, is leading troops to attack Jiaozhou, but he still has not achieved great results, so that the Chu State cannot use it. The whole country will fight against Zhao."

Seeing that the situation was over, the three Shixie brothers saw that their family had no ability to fight back against the powerful Chu State.

But it is said that Zhou Ji went to Xiangyang to celebrate the New Year. Because he was worried about the government affairs in Yizhou, he hurried back to Chengdu when the weather cleared.

Zhuge Jin's heart sank slightly and asked: "General, does he know what the "timing" mentioned by the King of Chu is?"

"Before I left the city, Yuan Jun was less than thirty miles away from Tan County. Now I am afraid that Tan County has been tightly surrounded. Even if I want to return to Tan County, it will not be easy."

As long as the city has enough food, grass and supplies, it will not be easy to conquer it in a short time even if Yuan Shao has a large number of troops.

"If my prediction is correct, the "opportunity" mentioned by the King of Chu is most likely waiting for the battle in Jiaozhou to settle."

But everyone knows that this is just the calm before the storm. When the weather gets warmer, the war will inevitably break out again.

Zhao Yun frowned and said: "I have repeatedly asked His Highness the King of Chu to send troops to rescue Xuzhou, but His Highness the King of Chu told me to wait patiently because the time has not come yet."

Ever since Yuan Jun besieged Tan County, Liu Bei had learned the hard way. He not only carried out extensive construction work to repair and strengthen the original city walls, but also widened the moat and diverted the Yishui River into it.

The most important thing is that Shi Xie's clan members and his younger brother all fell into Xiang Hong's hands.

At this juncture, Xiang Hong did not march south again. Instead, he wrote letters and sent people to recruit the three brothers Shi Xie, Shi Yi and Shi to surrender.

The words are divided into two parts.

At this time, Tan County, although not an iron wall, was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In addition, the family's home base is occupied by the Nanzhong Army. If they continue to confront the Chu State, the fate of hundreds of clan members can be imagined.

Zhuge Jin, who came after a long journey, did not immediately go to ask Zhou Qi for help. Instead, he came to visit Zhao Yun first and planned to visit Adou.

"Now the situation in Xuzhou is in danger. I am here precisely to ask His Highness the King of Chu to send troops to relieve the crisis in Xuzhou."

"Meet the general!"

At this time, except for Jiaozhou, the rest of the country became very calm.

as predicted.

The strength of the Chu State is already inferior to that of the Zhao State. If the situation in Jiaozhou is uncertain and a war breaks out with the Zhao State, it will be a two-front battle.

While Liu Bei sent Zhuge Jin to Xiangyang to ask for help, he urgently reduced the defense line and finally gathered his troops in Tan County, intending to defend this place to the death.

Fortunately, Liu Bei had already prepared and defended the country with strong walls and clear terrain, and he was able to barely block Yuan Shao's army.

When Zhuge Jin heard this, he felt that Zhao Yun's words were very reasonable.

In desperation, after long-term negotiations, the three brothers offered their seals and ribbons and chose to surrender.

As for Zhou Qi, he also became unusually quiet.

Since the three Shixie brothers took the initiative to surrender, Xiang Hong naturally could not kill them all, nor could he take action against the Shi family, otherwise they would inevitably become the target of public criticism.

As the war has progressed so far, the Chu State has gained three of the seven counties in Jiaozhou.

Seeing that the battle situation was at a stalemate and Chu's reinforcements did not arrive for a long time, Yuan Shao immediately lost patience and immediately ordered Yuan Tan and Wen Chou to attack the north and south of Donghai County respectively.

However, although Jiaozhou was established, it was far away from the Central Plains and the influence of the scholar family was very great.

Xiang Hong then adopted Fazheng's suggestion and recommended the four Shixie brothers and their descendants to serve as officials in Xiangyang, and then asked the King of Chu to send capable and learned scholars to serve as county guards in various counties in Jiaozhou.

After Zhao Yun saw Zhuge Jin, he was filled with joy and sorrow, and asked hurriedly: "Sir, are you coming to Xiangyang because of the emergency of the war in Xuzhou?"

Zhuge Jin said with a heavy face: "Three armies of Yuan's army attacked Donghai County. Xuzhou soldiers and civilians fought fiercely for more than two months. Finally, they could no longer hold on. The king finally had to order all troops to withdraw to Tan County."

Xiangyang.

Not to mention the Chu State, which is fighting on two fronts, even if it concentrates all the strength of the Chu State and gives up natural dangers, it may not be able to win a battle with Yuan's army.

After thinking about this, although Zhuge Jin could understand Zhou Qi, his heart sank to the bottom.

Although the Chu State was far more powerful than Jiaozhou Shixie, the only soldiers and horses from Nanzhong who conquered Jiaozhou in the south this time, and many of them were Nanzhong barbarians who had surrendered not long ago.

Jiaozhou is located in the south. Both the terrain and the culture are very complex, and the scholar family is deeply rooted there. In Zhuge Jin's view, it may not be possible to capture Jiaozhou just by relying on Xiang Hong and Nanzhong soldiers and horses.

In fact, Zhuge Jin's worries were not wrong.

If Xiang Hong was alone, it would be impossible to capture Jiaozhou. But with Fa standing by to help, it's different.

Although Fazheng is not well-known today, his only successful achievement is the destruction of Pyu and Shan. But to Zhuge Jin, who has lived in the Central Plains for a long time, Shan and Piao are just small barbarian states, and destroying them means nothing. Those who like to show off do not take a high look at them because of this.

In fact, if Zhou Qi had not known Fa Zheng's ability, he would not have allowed Xiang Hong to lead the army to attack Jiaozhou alone.

Zhuge Jin was worried that Zhou Qi would refuse to send troops because of his unoptimistic attitude towards the war in Jiaozhou.

At this time, Liu Bei only had an isolated city in Tan County. Without the help of Chu State, no matter how strong the Tan County city was, it would be broken sooner or later.

He sighed deeply, and then said to Zhao Yun: "In any case, since I am the envoy of the State of Qi, I will go to the King of Chu to ask him to send troops to relieve the siege of Tan County!"

Zhao Yun said seriously: "Yun is willing to go with you, sir!"

In this way, Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun went to the Chu Palace together to ask for a meeting with Zhou Qi.

This time, Zhou Qi did not put on any airs and instead met with Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun immediately.

After the two sides exchanged greetings, Zhuge Jin said bluntly: "Donghai County's defense line was completely defeated, and my lord had to withdraw all his troops to Tan County. Now there is only an isolated city in Tan County in Xuzhou. If the king doesn't send troops to rescue him soon, I’m afraid it won’t be long before the entire Xuzhou is captured by Yuan Shao.”

"If Yuan Shao captures Xuzhou, how can Chu be able to survive alone?"

"Da da da!"

After listening to Zhuge Jin's words, Zhou Qi did not reply directly. Instead, he frowned and tapped the table with his fingers, a look of contemplation on his face.

Seeing Zhou Qi's appearance, even though Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun were anxious, they did not dare to disturb him. Instead, they stared at Zhou Qi closely, wanting to see how the other party would reply.

After thinking for a long time, the sound of fingers tapping on the table finally stopped. Zhou Qi looked at Zhuge Jin and asked, "May I ask, sir, how many troops and horses are there in Tan County now, and how long can the food and grass last?"

Zhuge Jin did not dare to hide it and said: "My lord followed the king's advice. Previously, he had to defend based on danger. If he was defeated by Yuan's army, he would conserve his strength and withdraw his troops first. Therefore, during the battle with Yuan's army, many troops and horses were lost. Not much."

"Today, there are still more than 60,000 soldiers and horses in Tan County."

"Furthermore, my lord has actually anticipated Yuan Jun's invasion, so he has stocked up a lot of food and grass in Tan County in advance, which is enough for the soldiers and civilians in the city for two years."

Zhou Qi couldn't help but be secretly shocked when he heard this, and couldn't help but sigh at the wealth of Xuzhou.

Xuzhou is the place of the Four War. As early as when Tao Qian occupied Xuzhou, wars broke out frequently there, and Liu Bei did not live happily long after occupying Xuzhou.

Even so, Liu Bei was still able to hoard so much grain and grass in Tan County without affecting the people's livelihood in Xuzhou. This also shows how rich Xuzhou is.

In fact, Xuzhou included the southern part of Shandong and most of Jiangsu in later generations. Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and sideline fishery were very developed, and the natural resources were very rich. It has been very prosperous since ancient times.

In addition, Liu Bei's benevolent policies in Xuzhou won the hearts of the people, so taxes and grain were very sufficient.

Surprised, Zhou Qi continued to ask: "I heard that Xuande repaired the city, dug the moat, and diverted Yi water into the moat. Nowadays, Tan County is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Is this true?"

When Zhou Qi rushed to help Xuzhou before, he had led troops to garrison Tan County, so he naturally knew the situation there.

Tan County is backed by the Yishui River. If the water from the Yishui River can be diverted into the moat, then Tan County will be really easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Zhou Qi has been in battle for a long time and naturally knows what this means.

Zhuge Jin knew that he could not hide it from Zhou Qi, so he could only say truthfully: "It is true."

Zhou Qi then breathed a long sigh of relief and said: "That being the case, at least before Tan County's food and grass are exhausted, it may not be easy for Yuan Benchu ​​to conquer Tan County."

"It's not that I don't want to send troops to help Xuzhou."

"Based on the current situation of Chu State, although self-protection is more than enough, once we cross the Huaihe River and fight Yuan Jun in Xuzhou, it will be difficult to predict who will win and who will lose."

"The time has not yet come, let Brother Xuande defend Tan County first. You can rest assured for now, once a fighter plane appears, I will mobilize the whole country to save him!"

Zhuge Jin wanted to say something else, but Zhou Qi waved his hand and said, "I still have a lot of government affairs to deal with today. Ziyu and Zilong should go shopping in Xiangyang City first."

Seeing Zhou Qi's appearance, Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun looked at each other and had no choice but to retreat.

They know that heroes like Zhou Qi are very independent.

Once you make up your mind, it is impossible to change the other person's mind.

What's more, the initiative is now in Zhou Qi's hands, and Zhuge Jin and Zhao Yun do not dare to push too far.

After the two left, Xu Shu asked: "My lord, are you planning to use the strong city of Tan County to consume the energy of Yuan's army and the national strength of Zhao?"

When Zhou Qi heard this, he couldn't help but smile and said: "Of course!"

In fact, Zhou Qi not only planned to use Tan County to consume Zhao's national strength first, but also wanted to consume Liu Bei's strength through this battle.

He has never relaxed his vigilance towards Liu Bei, knowing that this man is definitely not a creature in the pond.

This time, with the help of Yuan Shao's attack on Xuzhou, Zhou Qi first took away Xuzhou's Guangling County and four cities south of the Huaihe River. He also planned to take the opportunity to drain Xuzhou's war potential and prevent Liu Bei from turning around for at least a few years.

But in addition, it is also inseparable from the war in Jiaozhou that Zhao Yun had previously speculated.

At least until the war in Jiaozhou is over, Zhou Qi does not plan to have a decisive battle with Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei will delay it for as long as he can.

Although Yuan Shao's family is rich, if he fails to attack Tan County for a long time, it will also greatly consume Zhao's national power.

Zhou Qi also likes sitting on the mountain and watching tigers fight.

The most important thing is that even if Zhou Qi sends troops to Xuzhou at this time, he is not sure of victory.

He needs to wait patiently, waiting for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and even more so, waiting for Cao Cao's move.

He didn't want to be plucked by Cao Cao after he worked so hard to defeat Yuan Shao.

If this is the case, then Cao Cao will be a more terrifying enemy than Yuan Shao in the future.

As long as Cao Cao remains stationary, even if Tan County is captured by Yuan Shao, Zhou Qi will never cross the Huaihe River to Xuzhou to fight Yuan's army.

What Zhou Qi didn't know was.

Cao Cao, who is now secretly recuperating in Guanzhong, is also paying close attention to the battle situation in Xuzhou, hoping to wait until Zhou Qi takes the lead in sending troops to help Xuzhou before taking action.

(End of this chapter)