Chapter 290

Prime Minister's house, hall.

Cao Cao was sitting upright, and his civil servants and military generals took their seats.

During Cheng Yu's visit to Xiangyang, Cao Cao abolished Sangong and restored the prime minister. Today, Cao Cao is the prime minister and dominates the government.

The government affairs of the imperial court were decided by Cao Cao. I

loyal to the power of the little emperor Liu Xie, once again suffered a huge blow, and the threat to Cao Cao was even smaller.

As the envoy to Jingzhou, Cheng Yu has the most voice. "The Prime Minister of Liu Jingzhou said," I think he is more threatened by what he saw and heard in the past

"However, there are advantages and disadvantages. After Liu Xiu's threat is greater, Liu Bei and Sun Quan are most directly affected."

"Now, Jingzhou and Jiangdong should be at war soon."

"The old man suggested that the prime minister should not send troops for the time being, continue to train the water army, and then sit in the valley tiger fight, and let Sun Quan, Liu Bei, and Liu Xiu fight. After their fight, the prime minister will sit and reap the benefits."

Cheng Yu stroked his beard and said, "although Liu Xiu is a great threat, especially the Yellow crossbow, cavalry and even the catapult used by Liu Xiu's soldiers are very powerful. But the prime minister coerced the general trend of the north, and Liu Xiu could not resist the prime minister's army. "

Cao Cao nodded slightly, his voice rang out in the hall, and said: "Mr. Zhong De, according to your last words, since the prime minister has threatened the general situation, Liu Xiu can't resist it. Why don't you directly wave troops to the south to defeat Liu Xiu and Liu Bei? Sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight. Isn't that a waste of time? "

Cheng Yu said: "although the prime minister is sure to win, since there is a better way to minimize the loss, why not do it? Prime minister, I'd like to stay on the sidelines for a while. "

Xun Yu opened his mouth and said, "prime minister, before fengxiao's death..."

Cao Cao directly interrupted Xun Yu's words and said, "Wen Ruo, if you are filial, you are very clear about yourself. You know that is the safest way. But before fengxiao died, the most important thing was to win Jingzhou. His last wish must be fulfilled in the shortest time. Therefore, we do not choose to attack Yizhou for the time being, but directly prepare to attack Jingzhou. "

After a pause, Cao Cao said: "the land of Bashu is mountainous and steep. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If you want to attack Yizhou, you don't know how much time it will take. Therefore, there is only one goal now, that is to attack Jingzhou. "

Although his ministers tried their best to persuade him, Cao Cao directly denied it.

Now, Cao Cao only wants to attack Jingzhou.

After sweeping Yuan Shao, Cao Cao has been invincible in all these years. Even the northern Wuhuan, Xianbei and other foreigners have bowed to the throne, contributing to Cao Cao's arrogance.

A small Jingzhou, in Cao Cao's eyes, is not enough to fear.

Besides, he has made enough preparations.

Seeing that persuasion is useless, Xun Yu said, "the prime minister has decided to attack Jingzhou, so the training of the water army must be speeded up again. When does the prime minister decide to attack Jingzhou?"

Cao Cao said, "send troops in the second half of the year at the latest!"

In a word, set the time.

Xun Yu replied, "the humble Council will supervise the training of the water army according to the time set by the prime minister. At the same time, it will send a letter to general Cao Ren to let him pay attention to the situation of Jingzhou at any time."

"Newspaper!"

At this time, a soldier quickly came in and handed a letter to Jia Xu.

Jia Xu opened it and looked surprised. Then he handed it to Cao Cao and said, "Lord, there's new news in Jingzhou. After Liu xiuxin got married, he adjusted the officials and the army in Jingzhou. "

Cao Cao took the letter paper, and then quickly scanned it.

After reading the letter, Cao Cao said simply, "now that you all know Liu Xiu's actions, you should understand why the prime minister is in a hurry to attack Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu is very cunning, but it is undeniable that he is a very intelligent man. "

After a pause, Cao Cao said: "Liu Xiu controls Jingzhou through the army. In a very short time, he can form a huge force. Liu Xiu is bound to cause us great trouble. "

Cao Cao looked at Xun Yu and said, "Wen Ruo, we need to speed up."

"Yes

Xun Yu nodded, his heart heavy. The situation in Jingzhou changed too fast, and after Liu Xiu took charge of Jingzhou, he was stronger and more difficult than Liu Biao.

……

Xinye, tinghou mansion.

When Liu Bei learned about Liu Xiu's actions in Jingzhou, he was even more worried. In particular, Zhuge Liang's previous report about Liu Xiu's heavy weapons made Liu Bei feel powerless.

It's too hard to beat Liu Xiu!

Even in the face of Cao Cao, Liu Bei was able to keep the color of Mount Tai in front of him, but in the face of Liu Xiu, Liu Bei felt powerless, because Liu Xiu's moves were always extremely treacherous and could never use common sense to speculate, which made Liu Bei unable to resist.What's more, Zhao Yun's affairs also gave Liu Bei a huge blow.

At the beginning, after Liu Bei sold Zhao Yun, he still hoped that Zhao Yun would be loyal to him, waiting for him to save him. In a twinkling of an eye, Zhao Yun surrendered and became the chief General of the third army and general Anxi under Liu Xiu.

Obviously, Zhao Yun can no longer be loyal to Liu Bei.

"Step on it! Step on it

A burst of rapid footsteps, suddenly sounded from outside the study.

After a while, Zhuge Liang said, "my Lord, envoy Zhang Zhao of Jiangdong has arrived. It's time to meet him."

Liu Bei put down his books, opened the door, looked at Zhuge Liang, and said, "Kong Ming, Zhang Zhao's visit must be for the sake of unity. Have you thought about it? What are the conditions? "

Zhuge Liang said with a smile, "don't worry, Lord. I'll take care of everything."

"Good!"

Liu Bei nodded and took Zhuge Liang to the hall.

In the hall, Zhang Zhaohe and Zhu Gejin sat upright.

At the beginning of this mission to Xinye, Zhang Zhao planned to come alone, but he thought that Zhuge Jin was Zhuge Liang's elder brother. With Zhuge Jin present, the atmosphere of negotiation between the two sides might be more harmonious, so he brought Zhuge Jin.

Soon, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang entered the hall and took their seats.

Liu Bei said with a smile, "Mr. Zibu, this time I'm here, but for the sake of alliance?"

"Exactly!"

Zhang Zhao nodded without beating around the bush.

Zhuge Liang answered and said, "I dare to ask Mr. Zibu, how does Jiangdong unite with us to attack Jingzhou?"

Zhang Zhao said: "it's very simple. On the east side of the Yangtze River, there are two ways to fight. One way to attack Chaisang, from Jiangxia to Xiangyang; the other way to attack Changsha, to the hinterland of Jingzhou. "

In this arrangement, Jiangdong has done its best and has used its greatest strength.

The two armies mobilized all the troops of Jiangdong.

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Mr. Zibu, to tell you the truth, according to the Lord's consideration, he plans to go down from Xinye to Xiangyang."

"From Xinye to Xiangyang, the distance is very close. In a very short time, we can annihilate Liu Xiu."

"However, although this consideration is easy, my Lord's biggest problem now is food and weapons. Liu Xiu had given Xinye food before, but it was not enough to support the long-term war. Every time, Liu Xiu only gave food for two months to ensure that there was no shortage of food for the army, but he never stored food, so that the army did not last long. "

Zhuge Liang sighed and said, "if we don't have enough food, we're going to attack Xiangyang. Because time is not allowed. "

These words made their demands clear in an instant.

Zhang Zhao understood Zhuge Liang's request. He nodded and asked, "uncle Liu, how much food are you short of?"

Zhuge Liang said: "at least 80000 stone grain."

After a pause, Zhuge Liang said: "Mr. Zibu, when Liu Xiu just took charge of Jingzhou, Liu Qi issued a notice and became a state herdsman, why did he respect Liu Xiu?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and said, "I don't know what happened."

Zhuge Liang explained: "it's because of the grain. After Liu Biao was alive, the Lord borrowed 100000 stone grain from Liu Xiu. At that time, I thought that there was no problem with 100000 stone grain. However, when he went to Xiangyang for negotiation, Liu Xiucai said that there was a problem with all the 100000 stone grains and they could not be eaten. "

With a look of regret, Zhuge Liang said: "because of the food problem, the army suddenly lacked food, and the morale of the soldiers fell, so that they had to strike the war, and Wuling county and Nanjun county were lost."

After hearing this, Zhang Zhao thought about it and said, "Mr. Kong Ming, there is not enough grain in Jiangdong. It must be impossible to take out 80000 stone grain at one time. The LORD sent me to Xinye and authorized me to take full responsibility. When I know the situation in Jiangdong, I will take out 30000 stone grains at most. This is the limit. "

Zhuge Liang took a look at Liu Bei. Seeing that Liu Bei nodded, he said, "some of the 30000 stone grains are less. But in order to attack Liu Xiu, we gave up. Duke Zhang, when does Marquis Wu plan to send troops? "

Zhang Zhao said in a deep voice: "naturally, the faster the better. When can uncle Liu send troops?"

Zhuge Liang said: "it's the first day of may at the latest. After all, some of the soldiers under the Lord's command have just been recruited and have no combat experience, so they need to be trained. Almost two months later, they sent troops to attack Liu Xiu. "

Zhang Zhao said directly, "since that's the case, it's decided to attack Liu Xiu on the first day of May."

"Good!"

Liu Bei nodded, and once again he had high morale in his heart.