We agreed that you, a weak strategist, would fight against three heroes by yourself?

They will definitely worry that if they are not careful, they will be attacked by them.

Even if it was to allow themselves to have a good night's sleep, they would not stay in these two places.

"Do you believe it? This road is a battle for the emperor. Within ten years, whoever can get the emperor will have the best development opportunities. It can also be said that whoever gets the emperor will be the foundation of the Han Dynasty!"

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Battle for the emperor?

Zhuge Liang couldn't help laughing when he heard such an apt description.

Sure enough, the Lord and I are still the same as before, very interesting.

"This...this...this..."

Suddenly, Dian Wei scratched his head and hesitated for a while before saying: "General, there is still something unfinished. I would like to ask my lord to think of a way to rescue Xu Chu!"

"You want to save that fool?"

Xi Yu's head hurt when he thought of Xu Chu. Back then, when he was defeated in the Battle of Chibi, that boy was accidentally captured alive by Guan Yu in order to protect Cao Cao.

In the end, he was imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp and returned to Jingzhou with the Jingzhou army.

That kid was also a talent. He refused to surrender even though he was beaten to the point of being beaten to the last breath. Even Liu Bei was deeply shocked and praised him.

He even went to the prisoner-of-war camp to meet Xu Chu in person and asked him if he had any unfulfilled wishes.

As a result, the boy almost lost his temper, but he didn't forget the dozens of jars of good wine he owed him.

He told Liu Bei that if possible, when he saw him, he would burn the wine he owed him to his grave!

Liu Bei was shocked at that time, and suddenly remembered that Xu Chu and Xi Yu seemed to have a strong relationship?

So I quickly compiled a letter and sent it to Xi Yu.

But this guy was also scheming. He wrote directly in the letter that if he wanted to exchange for Xu Chu, he had to exchange money and grain.

If Xi Yu agrees to his condition, it means that he will get a large amount of income without any effort. In this way, he can gain a foothold in Jingzhou even if he does not rely on Sun Ce for support from Jiangdong.

What's more, it is not impossible to antagonize each other with the Sun family.

To put it bluntly, this guy just wants to go back on his word. He has nothing to say to the people in his territory, but he is not so easy to speak to when it comes to diplomacy and the people in other areas.

Therefore, although Xi Yu read the letter, he has not replied yet.

"Liu Bei said that he could let Xu Chu go, but he wanted me to give him 300,000 shi of food in exchange, and send troops to support him when he went to war with Sun Ce."

Xi Yu rubbed his eyebrows, and Zhuge Liang also frowned and cursed angrily: "It's really ridiculous that there is such a shameless person as Liu Bei in the world. I don't know what Cao Cao thought at the beginning and let him leave Xuchang."

"Boss Cao is so noble!"

When Xi Yu mentioned this matter, he couldn't help but shake his head.

Cao Cao is really noble, and it can also be said that he is floating.

If he had known that today would be like this, he might as well have insisted on taking over some matters personally and killed Liu Bei directly!

It also prevents him from jumping around outside without knowing the heights of the sky, even if he ends up jumping around without any results.

The alliance between the Sun and Liu families was like glass. It looked bright and gorgeous on the outside, but it was a pity that it was not practical and would break when touched.

"Three hundred thousand stones of food and grass is not a difficult task. Just let the caravan from the south bring it there. The key is to send troops to support and fight against Sun Ce. This is obviously impossible!"

"Of course, I think Liu Bei didn't really want our support when he made this request, so we each take a step back and refuse directly, and then just give him food, grass or other things instead."

"Then he made a lot of money, didn't he?"

Zhuge Liang's eyes widened, then he shook his head and said: "No, we must not take advantage of him so easily!"

Then, he twitched his chin, rolled his eyes slightly, and thought of a good idea. He quickly approached Xi Yu and said, "My lord, what do you think we can add some fuel to his fire?"

"What's the meaning?"

Xiyu was a little curious.

Speaking of which, every time he saw Zhuge Liang, who was supposed to die for Liu Bei, thinking of clever tricks to deal with him in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Then the Sun-Liu alliance seems to be unbreakable on the surface, but in fact it is like a piece of mottled waste paper. How about we use this as a breakthrough point and directly deliver the letter written by Liu Bei to Zhou Yu?"

Zhuge Liang fanned his feather fan and said with a smile: "I know Zhou Yu to some extent. He has a high spirit and likes to see large-scale and majestic battlefields when fighting with troops. The victory in the Battle of Chibi was really due to him alone! "

"As for Liu Bei and others, they just laid an ambush around Red Cliff early and carried out an expendable shield ambush tactic to prevent Cao Cao's army from moving south smoothly, buying everyone some time."

"If it is really based on merit, I'm afraid Liu Bei really doesn't have much to do. Everyone in the world knows this, and I think Zhou Yu is no exception. If he knows how Liu Bei secretly arranged his Sun Ce, I'm afraid he won't be able to swallow it easily. Tone!”

"That's a good idea!"

Xi Yu nodded and smiled: "Liangzi is still the smartest, so I'll leave this matter to you."

He gently patted Zhuge Liang on the shoulder and handed the matter over to the other party for full authority.

The current war situation is considered stable for the time being, and Xi Yu Shao said that he can get a year to strengthen the military management and defenses of these newly conquered places.

Strive to build it into the current Qingxu District as soon as possible.

Speaking of which, this Qingxu land can be said to be the most proud and safest territory he has ever created.

Not only are the people supportive, but even the military defense system and attack system are rare in the world.

This is also an important reason why he can fight outside, while Qingxu and Qingxu are able to do business crazily and expand their business territory.

At present, the business in Qingxu and Qingxu has been carried out by the nomadic people outside Youzhou.

The caravan even opened up a fixed trade route connecting Xianbei and the southern Xiongnu, and earned endless rare resources, such as iron ore, high-quality wood, gold and silver treasures... there are simply countless.

As time went by, Qingxu, who was already wealthy, became even richer!

In Nanyang, Jingzhou, the three Liu Bei brothers finally recaptured Wancheng at a great cost, and successfully expelled Cao Ren's army from the Jingzhou territory. In a short period of time, they gained the love of the people and soldiers in Jingzhou.

Then, he established a solid and relatively stable rear area in the shortest time. Since then, almost the entire Jingzhou has been under his control.

At this time, he once again planned to break his promise.

It was previously agreed with Sun Ce to hand over half of Jingzhou's territory to the other party, but now, this is obviously impossible.

For this reason, he even ordered Liu Qi to lead 80,000 lions to guard Jiangxia to prevent Sun Ce from sending troops in anger.

Speaking of which, Liu Qi was originally Liu Biao's son. After Liu Biao's death, he also received support from many generals and soldiers, so that he could have a certain say in Jingzhou.

It was precisely because of him that the three Liu Bei brothers were able to gain a foothold in Jingzhou and successfully became the lords of Jingzhou.

This guy is also a smart man. He knows that with his own strength, he cannot compete with the hero for the world, so he chooses to rely on others.

Now I can get tens of thousands of troops to guard Jiangxia, and I am satisfied that I can attack and retreat freely.

But Liu Bei didn't think so. The ambitious Liu Bei was now warming himself over a charcoal fire in the palace-like palace-like southern government office in Xiangyang, quietly listening to people's stories and analyzing the current general trend of the world.

"My lord, there is news from the north that the emperor has issued an edict to make Xiyu the Duke of Shengguo and make his capital Xiapi. At the same time, he has made Guangping, Anping and Julu counties a principality..."

"The most important thing is that he can enfeoff the land as a marquis, follow the rules of the emperor, go to court with swords and shoes, plus... plus nine tins——"

"Xi Yu also wants to add Jiuxi? Isn't that the same as Cao Pi? With such behavior, doesn't he want to become the second master of the world?"

Liu Bei, who was envious and jealous, was helpless. He also wanted to add Jiuxi, but he was unable to do so.

Cao Pi had hundreds of thousands of troops under his command. He couldn't afford to offend him, and Na Xiyu couldn't afford to offend him even more.

He said that he fought in Jizhou for half a year, but in fact, he single-handedly beat up Cao Pi, an unruly boy.

Now that there is an edict from the emperor, on the surface, Xi Yu and Cao Pi seem to have not yet broken up and are not fighting to the death, but in fact, they are probably already incompatible with each other.

But this is not a good time for him to secretly gather an army to go to the Northern Expedition. Otherwise, if the two of them decide to temporarily go to the outside world, he will not know how he died.

More importantly, the Sun and Liu Alliance are no match for them, let alone him alone?

The current power of the world seems to be divided among heroes, each with a chance of winning, such as the extraordinary Qiliang Ma Teng, Zhang Lu, and Liu Zhang from Yizhou, Sichuan and Sichuan, etc.

But in the final analysis, it was Sun and Liu who united to resist Cao Xu, which was the so-called dispute between the north and the south!

Speaking of which, if he could get Liu Zhang's support, the Northern Expedition would not be impossible. By then, he and Sun Quan would be in the east and the other in the west. Even if he could not defeat the other party, he would still be able to firmly guard the rear for many years.

"Alas! This Xiyu was originally the emperor's uncle, and he already had a certain reputation. Now that he is named the Duke, he has all the benefits and no disadvantages. I think most of the clans in Jizhou praise him and love him very much. support······"

"What's more, maybe a banquet will be held for him to celebrate..."

The more Liu Bei thought about it, the more he felt that his life was hard. He had been going through wind and rain for so many years, and he had worked hard all his life, but now he had nothing.

On the other hand, Xi Yu enjoyed farming for the first half of his life. Occasionally, he got interested and went to the battlefield. In this way, he could become a prince, and he might even be the most powerful prince in the world.

The most important thing is that I thought that after finally surviving Cao Cao to death, I would be able to live a better life after Cao Pei, that young boy, took over. But who would have thought that something would happen to Yu Yu.

Speaking of Xi Yu, he is obviously a difficult person, much more difficult to deal with than Cao Cao.

"My lord, Xi Yu just sent someone to deliver a letter!"

"oh?"

"What does it say?"

Sun Qian took out the letter from his arms, opened it at Liu Bei's signal, and said: "In order to redeem Xu Chu, Xi Yu is willing to give us 300,000 stones of grain and grass for free, but he has no intention of taking action against the Sun family, so he will give us another gift." Thousands of repeating crossbow machines as compensation."

Hearing this, Liu Bei, who was sitting on the Grand Master's chair, couldn't help but straighten up. A flash of joy flashed in his eyes, and then he sighed deeply and said: "Duke Sheng Guo is really polite. Xu Chu is his favorite general no matter what. I have a good relationship with Zilong and Dianwei."

"Now that we know his identity, it is only a matter of time before he is released. For no other reason than that we can help each other in the future, so I, Liu Bei, will never do anything treacherous!"

Although he said this, Liu Bei was already dancing with joy deep in his heart.

He had only given it a try when he sent the letter. Who would have thought that Xi Yu would actually give it to him.

It seems that Xu Chu is quite valuable. I think back then, I spent all my money to buy Xi Yu 300,000 grain and grass at one time, but even so, I still owe a lot, and I haven't paid it back yet.

However, whether it was what he owed to Sun Ce or to Xi Yu, he was not prepared to pay it back. Why should he pay back what he owed based on his ability?

Just like Jingzhou now, if he planned to return it to the Sun family, he would not send Liu Qi to lead an 80,000-strong army to garrison Jiangxia.

"Okay, why don't you go and invite General Xu Chu to come to the palace? I can also give him a banquet to see him off!"

"promise!"

After receiving the order, Sun Qian immediately accepted the order and left. At this time, Xu Shu stood up and asked: "Master, do you want to donate part of the 300,000 stones of food and grass we have obtained to Sun Ce?"

"He is very angry because of the incident in Jingzhou. Can we give him 100,000 stones of grain and grass as an apology to appease him? The remaining 200,000 stones of grain and grass can be used as a reserve to provide for the people of Jingzhou and even the soldiers. Get through the winter.”

"After next year's autumn harvest, if we have enough food and grass, we can make further reserves... because judging from the current situation, it will take at least three years for us to grow and develop again."

"If we act too hastily and recruit troops too early, I'm afraid we will be unable to make ends meet and eventually lead to chaos!"

"Does this mean that... it's going to be given out?"

Liu Bei, who had been overjoyed just now, felt a thump in his heart when he heard this.

It’s hard not to feel distressed to have to give away a third of the money all at once.

At the very least, he felt distressed right now, after all, it was a time when food and grass were scarce.

This place is Jingzhou, which is completely different from Qingxu and Qingxu. Liu Bei finally understood this.

To put it simply, the most important thing about making money is food. Only when people have a full stomach can they have the strength to work, plant crops, and have more energy and time to think about ways to make money.

If the people are like this, the army will naturally be the same.

But the problem is that now their internal affairs are barely able to develop, and they are still at the stage of subsistence and clothing. If they want to feed the people in Jingzhou, they will have to open up wasteland. Only in this way can they get a large amount of even food. It's excess food and grass.

As long as you have food and grass, you can make money. This is a closed loop.

However, when he figured this out, Xi Yu had already perfected it.

Therefore, today's north has no shortage of food and grass, and it has also made a lot of money from it.

Speaking of which, if Sichuan and Shu did not fight wars and only developed the economy, I would really like to cooperate with Xi Yu.

At this point, Liu Bei still admires Xi Yu very much.

After all, the current Qingxu region is a living example. Compared with other territories in the world, the gap between the rich and the poor in that place is not that big!

Even the common people in the world know about this, so there is a steady stream of people going to Qingxu without Xiyu's publicity.

"Military advisor...Look, we don't have much food and grass now, so we should spend it on the most critical areas, right?"

Liu Bei frowned, somewhat melancholy.

"In addition to the food and grass for the common people and soldiers to spend the winter, we also need to open up a lot of wasteland to prepare for the north... Each of these items is inseparable from the food and grass. If it is given to Sun Ce, what will we do? manage?"

"But... But if this happens, it will be difficult to appease Jiangdong..."

Xu Shu's worries were justified. He also knew that the Sun-Liu Alliance was just a superficial alliance. It was an alliance that had to be reached because both sides could not defeat Cao Cao when he went south, so it had no binding force.

This makes an already fragile relationship even more precarious.

Over the years, both Liu Bei and Sun Ce have made arrangements and calculations to backstab each other behind each other's backs.

"It's okay to keep all the food and grass, but if we can't show some sincerity that satisfies Jiangdong, I'm afraid there will be some unnecessary misunderstandings by then. Please also consider this aspect, my lord."

"Of course, if the lord already has a perfect plan, then I think he is overthinking it, and there is no way to take these words to heart."

In this regard, Liu Bei really has no idea.

He currently has at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, plus Jiangxia's 80,000, almost 200,000. It seems that the army is strong, but in fact most of them are new recruits!

The remaining more than 60,000 veterans are all experienced people who survived several battles with Cao Cao's cavalry before the Battle of Chibi.

They have been fighting on the battlefield for some years, and many of them have even chatted with the King of Hell, so their mentality is extremely stable.

The most important thing is that these soldiers were trained by Guan Yu himself, and their strength should not be underestimated. Asking them to bring new soldiers is not bad, but it will take time.

"That's it for now, strategist!"

Liu Bei didn't have any good ideas about this. He frowned and said with a little guilt: "There is really nothing we can do about Sun Ce, so we have to take precautions for the time being. Until next year's autumn harvest, as long as the food and grass come down, I will definitely take care of him." Make amends!”

"I think the people at that time won't need so much food. Let's take advantage of our prosperity to make gifts and compensation. As for now, let's get through these difficult days first!"

Seeing that everyone was silent, Guan Yu immediately sneered and said: "That Jiangdong is just a bunch of shameless rats. I think it was me, Guan Yunzhang, who severely wounded Cao Cao back then and led to his death!"