Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 573 Lu Meng's Deceit
On the ninth day of July, Xu Shu, Zhang Ja and Deng Ai bid farewell.On the twelfth day of the seventh month, Zhou Chong went south and Bo Cai went north.On July [-]th, Mi Fang returned to Jeju.During this period of time, Zhou Cang and Zhou Xi wandered among various departments, commercial banks, workshops, and colleges, and watched the preparations for the establishment of banks and courts.

On July [-]th, when Zhou Xin arrived in Xiangping, Zhou Cang ordered Yuxin to bring ten people to organize the forum, and Zhu Xian and the other ten people were assigned to Zhou Xiting.When Zhou Cang patrolled around, he kept inducing Zhou Xin, not asking how deep he could understand, but just to gain insight and open his eyes.

With the help of Duan Muling, Dianman carefully selected [-] skilled and capable people from the personal guards as Zhou Xin's personal guards.Zhou Cang is always accompanied by Duanmuling when he goes out, while Qu Fengxian asks Dianman for martial arts. Qu Fengxian does not prioritize calmness like Qu'a, and his preference for toughness is somewhat similar to that of Lu Bu, but it complements Dianman.

Since Cao Cao returned to Yecheng, he continued to send spies to inquire about the news.In mid-June, spies from Xuzhou came back first, Pengcheng and Xiapi garrisons were still there, and Zhou Cang fell ill.At the end of June, news came back from Yizhou that Liu Bei marched by land and water, recruited Liu Zhang's general Yan Yan, beheaded generals Zhang Ren, Leng Bao, and Liu Gui, and directed his troops to Chengdu. Liu Zhang was horrified and asked Zhang Lu for help. Zhang Lu was worried about Liu Bei. The capture of Yizhou will conspire against Hanzhong and send Ma Chao for reinforcements.Unexpectedly, Ma Chao surrendered to Liu Bei, Liu Zhang had to surrender in Kaesong, and Liu Bei captured Yizhou.Later, Liu Bei sent Zhang Fei to attack Bazhong; sent Meng Da to attack Fangling, and Kuai Qi, the prefect of Fangling, died;Zhang Lu in Hanzhong learned that Liu Bei was in Yizhou and wanted to join Cao Cao, but was blocked by his younger brother Zhang Wei and counselor Yang Song.

"The big-eared thief has become powerful." Cao Cao sighed.However, there are still many inside stories that he does not know.

The reason why Ma Chao was willing to send troops was not to rescue Liu Zhang, but to occupy Yizhou for himself.Unexpectedly, the surprise attack on Jiameng Pass was blocked by Huo Jun with hundreds of soldiers outside the city waiting to come to the reinforcements. The battle between Ma Chao and Zhang Fei was inconclusive. With a dilemma, Ma Chao had no choice but to surrender to Liu Bei.And when he conspired with Peng Yang to rebel, Liu Bei found out, Peng Yang was sentenced to death in prison, and he spared Ma Chao.

When Liu Bei entered Chengdu, in order to gain the support of the local gentry, he married Wu Yi's widow and sister-in-law.In order to improve the status of Jingzhou gentry, Liu Bei originally planned to reward mansions and fertile land, but unfortunately his painstaking efforts were not understood by Zhao Yun, so he had to shelve it under Zhao Yun's strong recommendation.This is the third time that Zhao Yun has brushed Liu Bei's intentions. The first time was in Jingnan. Zhao Fan, the prefect of Guiyang, wanted to marry Zhao Yun. , Although Zhao Yun rescued Liu Chan in Jingzhou, Sun Quan took his sister back, together with this third time, Liu Bei gradually became unhappy.Therefore, Liu Bei adopted the strategy of wooing a gang, dividing a gang, and suppressing a gang. He appointed Wang Fu, Zhao Lei and others as Jingzhou officials, and Meng Da was stationed in Jiangling; Kai didn't suffer from the immediate loss, and immediately expressed his surrender, respecting Liu Bei as the master of Yizhou. However, due to the poor road, Liu Bei was unable to destroy it and had to suspend his troops.Because of Zhuge Liang's face, Liu Bei never attacked Fangling. After capturing Sichuan, he sent Meng Da soldiers out of Zigui. Kuai Qi still refused to surrender and died in the rebellion. The three Kuai brothers died. There is a gap with Mengda.

Seeing that Liu Bei's situation was very good, Cao Cao scratched his head and wanted to send troops to Hanzhong immediately. Sima Yi suggested that a general should be enough, but Xun You believed that Hanzhong had the danger of Yangping Pass, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. All over the world, if Zhang Lu cannot be subdued, these congregants are the biggest hidden danger, and Cao Cao is not responsible for such a big task.This made Cao Cao suffer from being incapable of doppelganger, and fell into an embarrassing situation.Xun Youkuan explained to Cao Cao, "Liu Bei should be most anxious to take Xichuan, not the lord, but Sun Quan. Sun Quan knows that he is powerless to contend with the lord, but he doesn't want to see Liu Bei grow stronger, so the lord can wait and see before making a decision."

There are always two sides to the development of things.Xun You's judgment of Sun Quan was like a god-man helping each other. At the beginning of August, news came back from Jingnan, which made Cao Cao very happy.

When Liu Bei captured Chengdu, Sun Quan sent someone to ask Guan Yu for Jingzhou, but Guan Yu beat him out with sticks.Sun Quan was furious, since he had taken his sister back from Jingzhou, there was no need to be shy at this time, since it was Liu Bei who broke his promise first, it was only natural for Jiangdong to send troops.And precisely at this time, Liu Pan, the prefect of Changsha, died of illness, and Sun Quan had even more reasons to send troops.

General Lv Meng suggested that Guan Yu station heavily in Nanjun and Xiangyang, leaving the four southern counties empty. Governor Lu Su could station in Yiyang to cover Guan Yu's eyes and ears, and led [-] troops to surprise the four counties.Sun Quan was overjoyed, and immediately sent his cousin Sun Jun, generals Zhu Ran, Zhu Huan, Pan Zhang, and Ma Zhong to follow Lu Meng on the expedition.

As soon as Lü Meng's army arrived, Changsha, Guiyang, and the two counties were attached to Wangfeng, but Hao Pu, the prefect of Lingling, guarded the city and did not surrender.After Liu Bei heard about it, he saw that the situation was critical, so he rushed from Chengdu to the public security, and ordered Guan Yu to compete for the three counties.Sun Quan came to Lukou in person to command the troops.On the one hand, Sun Quan sent Lu Su to lead ten thousand people to station in Yiyang to resist Guan Yu, and on the other hand, he sent an emergency document to Lu Meng, asking him to abandon Lingling and immediately return to the army to reinforce Lu Su.

After Lu Meng got the letter, he did not announce it. He found Deng Xuanzhi, an old friend of Hao Pu, the guard of Lingling, and deceived Deng Xuanzhi, saying: "Liu Bei was besieged by the general Xia Houyuan in Hanzhong. Everywhere, it is too late for self-rescue, how can there be spare energy to rescue Lingling? Right now, Hao Zitai’s life is in danger, but he is waiting for hopeless rescue. He can’t get outside information and thinks that he has foreign aid to rely on, so he is stubborn At this point today, you have a very close relationship with him, how can you watch him die? You can go to see him, state your interests to him, and stop making unnecessary struggles."

Deng Xuanzhi cared about his friend, and went to the city overnight to tell Hao Pu about Lu Meng's intentions. Hao Pu believed that he was really afraid, and after a night of ideological struggle, he finally surrendered in Kaesong.When Hao Pu learned that Liu Bei had gone to the police, and Guan Yu entered Yiyang, he realized that he was deceived and regretted it.

After Lu Meng outwitted Hao Pu, he left Sun Jiao to deal with the funeral affairs, and immediately led his troops to take Hao Pu to Yiyang to join forces with Lu Su.The two families of Sun and Liu faced each other, and the war was about to break out, but the two maintained restraint, and neither of them wanted to be the first to attack.

After Cao Cao heard this, he laughed loudly: "I knew that Sun Quan's children couldn't sit still. This is very good, very good, and there will be no worries in the south!"

Sima Yi laughed and said, "My lord, why don't you add fire to him?"

"Okay, Gongda drafted an edict to make Lu Meng the prefect of Changsha." Cao Cao was in a good mood.

"Yes." Xun You hesitated and said, "I received a letter from my uncle Xun Chen the day before yesterday."

"Huh? Xun Chen?" It's been a long time since I heard from Xun Chen. Didn't he follow Yuan Mai all the time? "Since it's a letter from home, Gongda just accept it."

(End of this chapter)