Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 213
"Excuse me at Kuiye, don't blame the general!" Accompanied by his usual calm voice, Zhuge Liang walked into the tent waving the ever-changing goose feather fan.

"Why does Kong Ming need to see others, sit down!" Zhao Feng hurriedly greeted, Zhuge Liang picked up a saddle beside him and sat down, but he thought to himself: Sitting on this thing is indeed much more comfortable than sitting on the ground.

"Kong Ming, you came to see me at such a late hour, you must have something important to do, so let's talk straight!" Zhao Feng didn't lie to Zhuge Liang, and said directly.Zhuge Liang knew that he was always quick to speak, so he didn't hesitate to ask Zhao Feng directly, "General, when do you think my lord will start the Northern Expedition and compete with Cao Cao for the world?"

"If it weren't for the floods this year, I'm afraid we would have fought Cao Cao in the Central Plains by now!" Zhao Feng thought for a while, and he didn't expect Cao Cao to be so ruthless and send people to dig a dam and drown people , Unscrupulous to this point, it can be regarded as the spirit of "I would rather bear the world, don't teach the world to bear me" to the extreme.In contrast, Xun Yu's death was not too surprising to Zhao Feng.

"That's true. I wonder what General Zhao's vision is for the battle between the lord and Cao Cao that will determine the ownership of the world?" Zhuge Liang seemed not surprised by Zhao Feng's answer, but asked further.

"The odds are [-] to [-], the lord has a slight advantage." Zhao Feng thought for a while.

"Why does the general think so?" Zhuge Liang couldn't help wondering, as if he didn't expect Zhao Feng to be so optimistic about Liu Bei.

"Firstly, Cao Cao's demolition of the levee on the Xiangjiang River has already increased the morale of our two prefectures, Jingyang, and even all the soldiers and civilians. Furthermore, we occupy the rich and prosperous south of the Yangtze River, and the food and grass are far more abundant than Cao Cao's northern states; Thirdly, the lord's civil and military ministers are talented. Although Cao Cao has Guo Jia and Jia Xu, but Guo Jia has been ill for many years and is dying. How can Jia Xu fight against Kong Ming, you, Shi Yuan, Yuan Zhi and others? People like Cheng Yu are far inferior to you; fourth, and most importantly, Cao Cao is suspicious by nature, this is a big taboo in the use of soldiers, but the master's skill in knowing people and using people is far better than Cao Cao!" Zhao Feng thought for a while. road.

As a leader, in fact, other skills are not too important, but you must be able to recognize and employ people.After all, a person's power is limited, and it would be foolish to try to achieve everything with one's own ability.I can only exhaust myself to death.

"What the general said is not bad, but the general only sees the spear in the open, but not the arrow in the dark!" Zhuge Liang said with authenticity.Zhao Feng couldn't help frowning when he heard the words, and asked Zhuge Liang after a moment of silence: "Kong Ming, what do you mean by that?"

"General, don't you really feel it at all?" Zhuge Liang didn't answer directly, but instead asked Zhao Feng.Zhao Feng was silent, and he said after a long time: "Now that the major event is still undecided, the lord has only ruled half of the country, and he is already busy fighting for power and profit, so it is too hasty."

"What the general said is also what Liang thinks, but unfortunately not everyone thinks this way!" Zhuge Liang sighed, Zhao Feng knew what he meant. In Liu Bei's group, the Jingzhou faction and the Xuzhou faction are still fighting openly and covertly. Shang Pang Tong is the head of the Jingzhou faction, while Zhang Zhao and Lu Su are the leaders of the Xuzhou faction.And the most embarrassing one is Zhuge Liang. He is from Langya County, Xuzhou. Zhuge's family can be regarded as a famous family in Xuzhou, but he is studying at Lumenshan Academy in Jingxiang. Basically, people from both factions can get along with him. relationship.

And Liu Bei is also very good at appointing people from the two factions.At present, among the dozens of prefects in the five prefectures under Liu Bei's rule, most of them are celebrities from Jingxiang.Among them, Jingzhou was legally inherited from Liu Biao, and Liu Bei retained almost all the original Jingxiang officials.Most of the prefects of Jiaozhou and Yuzhou came from Jingxiang, and Shi Guangyuan even served as the shepherd of Jiaozhou.From this perspective, Liu Bei still attaches great importance to Jingxiang scholars.

However, some Jingxiang scholars headed by Pang Tong were not satisfied with this. What they wanted was the right to hold military power and sit on one side, rather than just being a counselor or a county guard.In order to obtain greater benefits, they and the Xuzhou faction are also more ruthless, especially on some major decision-making issues, the two factions often have different opinions for their own interests.Just before, Su Fei, the former deputy commander of the Jingxiang Navy, died of illness. Pang Tong finally placed his cousin Pang Lin in the position of deputy commander of the navy through the relationship of Wenpin, but he was not accepted by the commander of the navy, Gan Ning. Jurisdiction, only training the water army in Poyang Lake, this is also the first army that Pang Tong began to control.

Another typical example concerns the direction of the Northern Expedition.The Jingzhou faction hoped to attack Xuchang directly to avoid Jingzhou's close-knit confidant; the Xuzhou faction tended to attack Liang County and capture Yanzhou to ensure the safety of Xuzhou.This is true for big decisions, let alone small personnel appointments.Zhao Feng himself had inadvertently become a thorn in the side of the Jingzhou faction. On the premise that Zhang Fei and Guan Yu couldn't move, Wei Yan and Zhao Feng became more realistic targets for the Jingzhou faction.

As for Pang Tong's impatience, Zhao Feng was a little surprised, but he was relieved after thinking about it carefully.Pang Tong's eagerness for quick success and quick profit, and his pursuit of fame and fortune determine that he is a person who will not miss old love, not to mention that he is never willing to be a counselor.Although I have the kindness to know him, but as a human being, I will not give up the pursuit of fame and fortune just because of this small favor.

"Kong Ming, although Shi Yuan is a bit aggressive, I still won't care too much about him right now. First of all, my lord is not an unreasonable person, and besides, I don't think many people in Jingxiang are willing to follow him. I am too enthusiastic about the matter. Most of the priorities can be distinguished." Zhao Feng thought for a while.

Zhuge Liangliang nodded, and finally said with some regret: "Shi Yuan is too conceited, but his heart is not broad enough. I hope he will not be too short-sighted, otherwise he will definitely bring his own disaster!"

"I hope so!" Zhao Feng sighed, whether Zhuge Liang was a pure-hearted person in history, Zhao Feng couldn't tell for a while.Judging from his poems, he really thought about returning to Longmu after he settled the world.It's just that judging from his hands-on approach, he seems to be a person who values ​​fame and fortune more.It's hard to say what kind of person he is.Human nature is inherently complicated, and it is even more difficult for a wise man like him.

Putting aside these messy thoughts, Zhang Fei wrote back to inform Lu Xun the next day, asking him to go south to attack Chengdu as soon as possible.From this point of view, Zhang Fei + Zhuge Liang + Zhao Feng's lineup of the three giants is tantamount to helping Lu Xun cover.Fortunately, none of the three of them valued these people too much. If it was Pang Tong, he might have to think about how to defeat Luocheng, so as to grab the first prize.You can even boldly assume that if Pang Tong entered Sichuan this time, the Luofengpo Incident would have happened nearly ten years earlier than in history.

Gossip less, after receiving Zhang Fei's reply, Lu Xun immediately mobilized 2 people to march down Dianjiang River to Chengdu.Accompanying them were several surrendered generals such as Meng Da, Fazheng and Lei Tong, and even Pound who came to help.In addition, he also brought trebuchets and so on, and it was best to scare Liu Zhang into surrender first.If it doesn't work, make another plan.

Five days later, Lu Xun's 2 troops were killed in Chengdu.Although Xichuan has not been very peaceful these years, there was civil strife a few years ago, and it has been ten years since he and Zhang Lu fought together, but it is the first time that soldiers have come to the city of Chengdu.As a result, people in Chengdu immediately began to panic.

What does it mean to be at the gate of the city?It means that as long as Chengdu falls, Xichuan's foundation will be completely wiped out.Although there are still [-] defenders in the city of Chengdu, these people have not been trained for many years, and many of them have never even been on the battlefield.

"My lord, Fazheng and Meng Da also have the letter from Leitong, please have a look at it." In the Yizhou Mufu, Qiao Zhou handed a letter tied to an arrow to Liu Zhang, and the pale-faced latter took the arrow. Branch, untied the letter and looked at it, his expression changed drastically.

"Fazheng and Mengda betrayed their masters and begged for glory, but now they are still showing their eyes for the enemy. It's really hateful!" Huang Quan, who was on the side, gritted his teeth after reading the letter Liu Zhang handed him.Unlike Huang Quan's righteous indignation, the rest of the Yizhou officials had different expressions, some were angry, and some rolled their eyes.

"My lord, now that the army is besieging the city, I don't know what my lord's intentions are." Looking at the messy crowd, Qiao Zhou finally asked cautiously.As soon as these words came out, almost everyone looked at Liu Zhang eagerly to see how he would respond.

"My lord, do you see?" At this time, the new Yizhou Biejia Wang Lei hurried in and handed Liu Zhang another letter tied to the arrow.Liu Zhang took it apart and saw that this time it was Lu Xun's ultimatum, claiming that as long as Liu Zhang surrendered within two days, all the past would be forgotten and no one would be embarrassed.If they resist stubbornly, once the city is broken, Chengdu will be plundered wantonly.

"My lord, this is Lu Xun's childish strategy. I still have tens of thousands of defenders in Chengdu, and I have enough weapons, food and grass. Why should I be afraid of Lu Xun?" Huang Quan said sharply after reading.

"That's right, my lord, I'd rather everyone die in battle and lose Chengdu than surrender!" Wang Lei echoed.Liu Zhang looked at the generous and resolute two people in front of him, the expressions on their faces looked a little better, but they were still frowning.

"If everyone dies in battle, wouldn't they be caught in the fire and water of the people of Chengdu? This is very inappropriate!" Qiao Zhou frowned when he heard this.

"Then what is Qiao Zhengnan's great opinion?" Huang Quan couldn't help asking when he heard the words, his tone was very unfriendly, but Qiao Zhou said: "One night when I watched the Qianxiang, I saw stars gathered in Shu County; the stars were shining, and the lord ordered the stars. Gloomy. This is an omen, and the way of heaven is irreversible. If the Lord surrenders in the open city, he may save his life, otherwise, it will be too late to regret it!"

Huang Quan and Wang Lei were furious when they heard the words, wishing they could kill Qiao Zhou on the spot, but they were stopped by Liu Zhang.Looking at the messy crowd in front of him, Liu Zhang also felt confused.At this moment, another person rushed to report: "Father, something is wrong!" It was Liu Zhang's son Liu Xun.

"Why are you so panicked?" Seeing his son's pale face, Liu Zhang knew that something bad had happened, and his voice trembled when he asked.

"Yang Hong, the prefect of Shu County, just led thousands of soldiers under his command, opened the city gate and surrendered to Lu Xun!" Liu Xun was sweating profusely,

"What?" The news made the already chaotic hall even more chaotic.Liu Zhang sat on the ground in a daze, muttering to himself, but he didn't know what he was talking about.

(End of this chapter)