I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 593
To be honest, Liu Jian liked Lu Su's straightforwardness very much.

He also liked Zhang Zhao's fierce energy.

When these two talents come under Liu Jian's command, it can be said that these two people can complement each other.

Looking at the current situation, Liu Jian can tell Liu Bei about Xuzhou in the future: If you are not sure about internal affairs, ask Zhang Zhao, and if you are not sure about foreign affairs, ask Lu Su.

Especially Lu Su, who today proposed a strategy of letting him go west to the imperial court and postpone the fight with Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others in the south. The insight in this is indeed comparable to that of ordinary people.

Under normal circumstances, Liu Bei has now captured Xuzhou. According to common sense, he should take this great victory and go south to fight Cao Cao and Yuan Shao. If he can win, he can regain the southern territory of Han Dynasty in one fell swoop.

If we turn around and advance westward at this time, we will have to leave elite soldiers and generals to garrison Xuzhou.

Moreover, this span suddenly spanned from the easternmost edge of the Han Dynasty to the westernmost edge of the Han Dynasty, which really made people feel that they were neglecting the basics.

Compared with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, the bones in the northwest are not easy to chew.

And that place was really a particularly sensitive area, it was the center of the imperial court, and Dong Zhuo was there.

The more than [-] Xiliang troops were all the elites in the world. Together with the original central army of the imperial court, their military strength was the top of the Han Dynasty, especially since the imperial court was still orthodox in terms of righteousness.

Moreover, there are also important checkpoints such as Hangu Pass in Guanzhong, which are easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is by no means that easy to enter.

Judging from Liu Jian's current reputation, if he drives his troops westward and directly breaks with the imperial court, his reputation will be ruined.

Liu Jian knew that there was actually a potential threat to him in this world.

That is, Liu Jian deprived too many nobles of their interests.

Although many people seem to have surrendered, there is no guarantee that they will not swoop in again and bite back.

But as Lu Su said, Liu Jian's ambition was not just to be a peaceful local separatist force.

Since he wants to do something that no ancients have done before, Liu Jian must take over the court now.

Only by possessing the highest political power in the world.Only then can he have the right to speak unequivocally in China, and only then can he have the highest political reputation, and then he can let go and do what he wants to do.

And it’s better to do this sooner rather than later.No matter what, he couldn't avoid it.

Liu Jian asked Lu Su, "I also think Zijing's words are very reasonable."

"It's just that Xuzhou is adjacent to the Jianghuai River. Cao Cao or Yuan Shao can call at any time, but what should we do?"

Lu Su said:
"The overlord's plan since ancient times has been to find enough soldiers, enough food, and enough men."

"Jiujiang County has a rich population, fertile land, and controls the main roads of the four states. It is a battleground for military strategists.

"It is a pity that since Yuan Gongluo seized Huainan, he has been debauched, tyrannical, and expropriated, causing Huainan to be completely empty, with no grains growing and no animals growing."

"If Cao Cao wants to restore Huainan to its original state, he will definitely have to spend a lot of energy, but Huai is too close to Xuzhou and the Central Plains. If Cao Cao vigorously develops Huai, he is afraid that the situation will be in danger the next day, and the general or Yuan Shao will steal it. Its place.”

"Although Huainan has a glimpse of the Central Plains and is of great strategic significance, Jingzhou is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and Yuan Shao occupies the throat of Cao Cao."

"Nowadays, Cao Cao is dependent on Yuan Shao and they are friends with each other, but as time goes by, they will also strive to develop."

"General, in my opinion, as long as we consolidate the border and prevent them from getting even half a step closer to the Central Plains or Xuzhou, as time goes by, perhaps the relationship between Jiangdong and Jingzhou will also change."

"Even though there will be no change. But as long as they guard the border and act as if they can seize Huaisi at any time, Cao Cao will definitely be suspicious, and Yuan Shao will also be cautious, fearing that he may not go north easily."

"Since ancient times, ships from the south and horses from the north have been fighting. The advantage of northern soldiers lies in horse warfare. Xuzhou is mostly plain. If the southern army wants to invade north, it may not have the advantage. But if the northern army wants to cross the Yangtze River south, it will not have the advantage. The advantage...the two sides check and balance each other, as long as they are cautious, there won't be any problems."

"After the general takes over the northwest and controls the imperial court, even if Cao Cao and Yuan Shao dominate the south, they will not be afraid of the general."

After listening to Lu Su's statement, Liu Jian expressed his satisfaction.

Although Lu Su's description is still somewhat superficial and naive in practice, his overall strategic picture is indeed correct.

After all, Lu Su is not a mature politician or military strategist yet. He is just a young man who is just preparing to become an official under his command. It is very good for such a person to have such an overall view.

Liu Jian then said to Lu Su and Zhang Zhao:
"Both of them are from Huaisi and are very familiar with the situation in the southeast."

"My brother Liu Xuande does not have a deep foundation here now. I would like to ask you two to assist my brother. I will return to Hebei the next day, and then carefully plan the strategy proposed by Zijing and set my sights on the imperial court." "But if I If I want to go northwest, the southeast side must be stable so that I can have no worries."

"Is it possible for you two to do it?"

Lu Su and Zhang Zhao immediately bowed their hands to Liu Jian and saluted, saying: "How dare you not obey your orders!"

Liu Jian nodded with satisfaction and looked at Liu Bei standing aside: "Brother, do you think these two great sages might use it?"

Liu Bei made a long bow to Liu Jian with emotion.

"Be prepared to defend the southeast as a general and never let Yuan Shao or Cao Cao cross the border!"

In this way, the two great sages Zhang Zhao and Lu Su became Liu Bei's right-hand men in the southeast.

Of these two people, one was used by Liu Bei to preside over internal affairs, and the other was used to assist Liu Bei in supervising the construction of the army.

Just as Liu Jian had predicted in advance: If you are not sure about domestic affairs, ask Zhang Zhao, and if you are not sure about foreign affairs, ask Lu Su.

……

……

While Liu Jian and others were recruiting talents in Xuzhou, Dong Zhuo had already mobilized elite soldiers from the imperial court to go to Liangzhou in Kansai. In order to put Liangzhou under his rule, he started a melee with the local warlords in Liangzhou.

Dong Zhuo is very old, and he knows that his time is short. Now Guandong is in chaos, and there are powerful enemies like Yuan Shao and Liu Jian.

Dong Zhuo knew that it was almost hopeless for him to wipe out all these powerful enemies in his life. As an old man who could see the end of his life, Dong Zhuo now wanted to leave something behind after his death.

Just as Liu Jian deceived... no, it was designed for him: Liangzhou and the Western Regions were Dong Zhuo's opportunity to make his name famous in history.

Dong Zhuo's current reputation and the military strength of his men are indeed difficult for the warlords in Liangzhou to defeat.

Especially for the rebels Han Sui and Ma Teng, the sudden arrival of Dong Zhuo's forces in Liangzhou had a huge impact on them.

But it was not easy for Dong Zhuo to destroy them.

Dong Zhuo knew that the biggest difficulty in wiping out the thieves was that Liangzhou's population was too small, its cities were too few, and its territory was too vast.

Moreover, this place is relatively backward. There are loess plateaus everywhere. The rebels move back and forth, making it difficult to find their fixed position.

Although Liangzhou is only one state, it actually covers an area larger than the three states in the Central Plains combined.

What's even more disturbing is that there are Qiang rebellions in Liangzhou north of the grassland outside the Great Wall. Here, eight out of ten households are hostile to the imperial court.

For Dong Zhuo's army, although the supply of grain and grass from Chang'an to Liangzhou was relatively close, it was still difficult to turn around.

It is extremely difficult for the local residents here to get some food from them.

As for the local tycoons in Liangzhou, most of them will not support the imperial army, because eight out of the ten tycoons here are related to the rebels.

Of course, they don't show off on the surface, and they hide the food well. Where do you ask Dong Zhuo to dig for a while?
The imperial court now treats local laws, driven by Liu Jian and Dong Zhuo, in a way that emphasizes law and despises power.

However, compared with the Central Plains, Liangzhou despises the law more. People here value the relationship between each other more. After all, in such a harsh environment, if they blindly obey the law, the population of Liangzhou will only I am afraid that more and more people will be hidden, the population on the books will become smaller and smaller, and the survival of most people will become increasingly problematic.

Don't blame Lu Bu and Niu Fu for not having fun here. Dong Zhuo spent a lot of effort to gradually open up the situation.

Dong Zhuo has grown up in Liangzhou since he was a child. He is very familiar with this place and knows that it is useless to just fight in Liangzhou.
If he wants to stabilize Liangzhou District and slowly bring all the people here under his control, he must adopt differentiation tactics and recruit some groups to attack others.

Most of the local people in Liangzhou have shallow heterosexuality, and most of them are just trying to survive. Therefore, as long as Dong Zhuo, on behalf of the imperial court, gives enough benefits to some Qiang people and wealthy people in Liangzhou, they will be inclined to Dong Zhuo and Dong Zhuo will gain a firm foothold in Liangzhou. heel.

In particular, Dong Zhuo already had some roots in Liangzhou.

But it was at this time that news of Liu Jian's pacification of Xuzhou in the southeast reached Dong Zhuo's ears, and he heard that Liu Jian also sent someone to report Liu Bei as the shepherd of Xuzhou.

After Dong Zhuo heard the news, he was stunned for a long time, and then he sighed and said: It's hard to compete with a lion!

(End of this chapter)