The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 376 Chapter 375
Gongsun Du mentioned in the letter that he was dying of illness. Although he took the prescription given by Fan A, his health improved, but his health was not as good as before, and he might die soon. He hoped that after his death, his son Gongsun Kang Lai inherited the title of Marquis of Liaodong, but no longer served as the prefect of Liaodong. He hoped that the court could send someone to be the prefect of Liaodong.

The contents of the letter are just these, and between the lines, there is even more sincerity revealed.

However, this caused Zhang Yan to fall into deep contemplation. The former Li Caicai sent someone to deliver a letter saying that Gongsun Du was dead, and his son Gongsun Kangmi would not be mourned, and he was secretly gathering troops to plot evil.But the latter Gongsundu sent someone to send such a sincere letter, which made things confusing.

But no matter what, the problem of the Gongsun family in Liaodong had to be dealt with. Zhang Yan quickly summoned his staff, and Zhang Zhao, Chen Qun, Gu Yong and other confidantes came to the Palace of King Yan one after another.

Zhang Yan showed the two letters in front of Zhang Zhao, Chen Qun, and Gu Yong. After reading them hastily, the three already roughly understood the purpose of Zhang Yan for asking them to come.

"You have read all the letters. Regardless of whether Gongsun Du is dead or not, the Liaodong issue must be resolved satisfactorily. Do you have any opinions?" Zhang Yan asked.

Chen Qun took the lead and said: "His Royal Highness King Yan, I think that Li Cai will not lie, but Gongsun Du may not really be dead."

"How do you say that?" After Zhang Yan heard this, he immediately became interested and asked hastily.

Chen Qun said: "It is very likely that Gongsun Du already knew that the King of Yan sent Li Cai to Liaodong, so he deliberately spread false news, deceived Li Cai, and made the King of Yan suspicious of Li Cai. It is not difficult to see from Gongsun Du's letters. , This is an old and cunning person. He knew that His Royal Highness King Yan would attack Liaodong sooner or later, so he made preparations in advance. Prefect, this is a strategy of retreating into advance. The Gongsun family has been entrenched in Liaodong for many years, and its power has already been deeply rooted. It is difficult to uproot it by normal means. Even if His Royal Highness King Yan sent A prefect, but the actual power is not in the hands of the prefect, and it will not have much effect if sent, but it will arouse conflicts."

Zhang Yan felt that what Chen Qun said was very reasonable, and asked, "In your opinion, how should this king respond?"

"Continue to maintain the original status of Liaodong, and order Gongsun Kang to be the prefect of Liaodong, inheriting the title of Marquis of Liaodong. Regardless of whether Gongsun Du is dead or fake, this will temporarily stabilize Liaodong. Your Highness has just pacified Hebei. It took a lot of effort to make the people of Hebei stable, and it is not appropriate to start a war for the time being. This is the only way to temporarily return to peace for a few years. After a few years, it will not be too late for His Highness to clean up the Liaodong Gongsun family!" Chen Qun said.

After Zhang Yan heard this, he was still very sure of the strategy given by Chen Qun. Even if he did what Chen Qun said, he ordered Gongsun Kang to inherit the title of his father, Gongsun Du, Marquis of Liaodong, and serve as the prefect of Liaodong. His son, Gongsun Gong, was granted the title of Marquis of Joseon County and Prefect of Lelang, and promulgated it by imperial decree.

The north is unified and the world is initially settled. However, Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Sun Ce in Jiangdong all feel the pressure brought by Zhang Yan.But in terms of strength, Liu Biao is far stronger than Sun Ce who is under economic sanctions.

Just after the first month of the first year of Wude, Xiangyang City in Jingzhou ushered in a very important guest. This person was none other than Liu Bei who was appointed by Liu Biao as the governor of Jingnan.

It has been several years since Liu Bei served as the governor of Jingzhou. Last year, Zhang Yan led the army to march north. After Liu Bei heard the news, he took the initiative to persuade Liu Biao. He hoped that Liu Biao would lead the soldiers of Jingzhou. At the same time, sneak attack Zhang Yan's rear.

However, Liu Biao rejected Liu Bei's suggestion, saying only that Zhang Yan was strong and powerful, and he would definitely not leave the rear empty, so he did not take any action.

In the end Liu Biao learned that Zhang Yan was going all out to go north to Hebei, and he came to his senses. If he thought about taking action again, Zhang Yan had already returned to Pengcheng, which can only be said to be a kind of regret.

For this reason, Liu Biao also admired Liu Bei's foresight very much, so he decided to let Liu Bei come to Xiangyang for a small gathering, and hoped to have a talk with Liu Bei about his future plans.

Accompanied by Guan Yu and Yi Ji, Liu Bei rode three horses from Changsha to Xiangyang.

When Liu Biao learned of Liu Bei's arrival, he sent someone to arrange Liu Bei in the post house, and planned to meet Liu Bei in a grand manner tomorrow morning.

Early the next morning, Liu Biao sent someone to meet Liu Bei at the posthouse. Liu Bei rode in a carriage, accompanied by Guan Yu, and came to Liu Biao's residence together.

Liu Biao waited early in the square in front of the mansion. When he saw Liu Bei and Guan Yu coming slowly, he rushed to greet him.

When Liu Bei got out of the carriage, he was quite moved when he saw Liu Biao coming to greet him in person. Before he could express his gratitude, Liu Biao grabbed his hands.

"Brother Xuande, I have waited so hard for you." Liu Biao grabbed Liu Bei's hand vigorously, with a bit of appreciation in his eyes, and spoke first.

Liu Bei said: "How can Xuande and He De actually let brother Jing Sheng come to greet him in person?"

Liu Biao said with a smile: "You and my brother, don't say anything else, it is right for you to come to greet me. Brother has already prepared a banquet in the mansion, brother, you should follow me into the mansion."

Under the leadership of Liu Biao, Liu Bei and Guan Yu entered the mansion directly, and set up a table for a banquet in the hall early.

Liu Biao, Liu Bei, and Guan Yu were seated separately as guests and hosts. Liu Biao raised his wine glass and toasted Liu Bei first. The two drank it down in one gulp. Then Liu Biao began to reveal that he had not listened to Liu Bei's advice before, so that he missed a good opportunity.

Liu Bei said: "Things are over, Brother Jing Sheng doesn't need to be so concerned. Now Zhang Yan is ruling the north and is called the Regent. In fact, he is a thief who steals the country. The new emperor is young and ignorant. Zhang Yan takes all the power in his own hands." What is the difference between the emperor and the emperor? However, although Zhang Yan has pacified Hebei, it will take a long time to digest it. It will be even more difficult to deal with Zhang Yan when he regains his strength and continues to grow up."

Liu Biao sighed heavily, and said, "Brother Wei always thought that Zhang Yan was a minister of the country, but with Zhang Yan's further expansion, Brother Wei also felt the threat brought by Zhang Yan. These days, Nanyang prefect Zhang Xiu Secret reports have been sent continuously, saying that Zhang Yan is mobilizing troops one after another, and that Chen Bing is on the border of Jingzhou, so it is suspected that he might use Jingzhou. It is not easy for me to cause troubles, but if anyone dares to move Jingzhou, I am not a vegetarian. It will definitely let them have no good fruit to eat. Brother Xian always sees things very uniquely, I wonder what the general situation of the world thinks Brother Xian is today?"

Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "The situation in the world today is that Zhang Yan's family dominates. Jiangdong has Sun Ce, Xichuan has Liu Zhang, Jiaozhou has Shixie, Hanzhong has Zhang Lu, Liangzhou has Ma Teng and Han Sui. Holding a heavy army, but they are all too scattered, and everyone does not have a subordinate, so they cannot form a good alliance. If they can form an alliance with each other and fight against Zhang Yan together, they may be able to fight against Zhang Yan!"

Liu Biao said: "Your brother, what do you mean, form an alliance with all these people and advance and retreat together?"

Liu Bei nodded and said, "It's not necessary for everyone to form an alliance. Apart from Brother Jing Sheng, there is another person who is facing the threat of Zhang Yan. When I was in Changsha, I heard that Zhang Yan had executed Sun Ce. The so-called 'economic sanctions' made the whole of Jiangdong very poor. Coupled with the mountains and mountains in Jiangdong, Sun Ce's life is not easy. However, Sun Ce is brave and good at fighting, and he has a lot of talents in his account. Wen You Zhou Yu , Lu Fan, Sun Jing, Wuyou Cheng Pu, Han Dang, Huang Gai and his like, these people are the foundation for Sun Ce to stand firm in Jiangdong, especially Zhou Yu, who is young but talented, very good at using troops, it can be said , Jiang Dong was able to survive until today, thanks to Zhou Yu's contribution."

Liu Biao said: "These elder brothers have also been mentioned. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are indeed not simple characters."

Liu Bei said: "Brother Jing Sheng, I think that if we want to fight against Zhang Yan, our family's power alone is not enough. We must unite all the princes, especially Sun Ce from Jiangdong. This is a force that cannot be ignored... "

Liu Biao suddenly interrupted Liu Bei and asked: "When Sun Ce's father, Sun Jian, died in Jingzhou, it can be said that he had an inescapable responsibility for his brother. Since then, Sun Ce has treated his brother as an enemy. Are you willing to form an alliance with Jingzhou?"

Liu Bei said: "It's up to people. If you don't try it, how do you know you won't be able to form an alliance? If Brother Jing Sheng agrees, I am willing to go to Jiangdong in person on behalf of Brother Jing Sheng, and persuade Sun Ce to form an alliance with Jingzhou to fight against Zhang in the north." Yan."

Liu Biao thought for a moment, and said, "Well, if the virtuous brother can really make Sun Ce form an alliance with Jingzhou, that would be a great achievement, and I will definitely reward the virtuous brother heavily at that time."

"Xuande was able to settle down in Jingzhou thanks to Brother Jingsheng's care. Xuande worked for Brother Jingsheng without any rewards, just to repay Brother Jingsheng's kindness to Xuande. If Brother Jingsheng agrees to form an alliance with Sun Ce of Jiangdong, then Xuande will go to Jiangdong tomorrow, and he will never return to Jingzhou unless he convinces Sun Ce!"

"Okay! Xuande, you can go to Jiangdong to see Sun Ce, but if he has any requests, you can send someone to inform Brother Wei, if you can satisfy, Brother Wei will try to satisfy him!" Liu Biao said.

Liu Bei nodded, clasped his fists and said, "Brother Jing Sheng, besides Sun Ce, Liu Zhang from Yizhou, Shi Xie from Jiaozhou, Zhang Lu from Hanzhong, Ma Teng and Han Sui from Liangzhou must all send people to form an alliance. If it works, it will work, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t matter, the most important thing right now is Sun Ce.”

"Okay, Xuande, don't worry, I will definitely send eloquent people to form an alliance with Liu Zhang, Shi Xie, Zhang Lu, Ma Teng, Han Sui and others. Xuande, come, I will toast you again , I wish you a smooth sailing trip to Jiangdong!"

As he spoke, Liu Biao raised his wine glass and drank it down with Liu Bei...

(End of this chapter)