My game can make money starting from the Three Kingdoms period.

After Zhuge Liang received Lu Congtian's letter.

Just as Liu Ba and Wu Yi had predicted, they informed Liu Bei of the hidden dangers in Yizhou.

The territory is too large, which is also a problem.

Just when Liu Bei was in a state of utter distress

As it turns out, plans can't keep up with changes.

Originally, Liu Bei followed Zhuge Liang's advice and did not dismiss Fei Guan, but instead planned to transfer Fei Guan to the front line in Jingzhou.

In this way, the potential threat to Bavaria County can be eliminated.

This also prevents alerting the enemy and avoids exacerbating factional conflicts due to demotion.

结果

Great news has come from Xiangyang!

Guan Yu flooded the seven armies, captured Yu Jin, beheaded Pang De, and Cao Ren and Yue Jin fled, achieving a great victory!

This should be considered the most triumphant battle of Liu Bei's life.

Guan Yu reached the pinnacle of fame, becoming a figure of immense prestige throughout China.

So why bother adjusting the budget? Why worry about factional infighting?

Once this news gets back to Yizhou, everyone's little schemes will have to be reconsidered!

As expected

After the news of the battle situation at the front line was relayed back to Yizhou.

Many people's plans were completely disrupted.

Rebel? Rebel my ass!

Thankfully, it didn't backfire.

Didn't you see that Cao Cao was beset by internal and external troubles and was so scared that he wanted to move the capital?!

Overall, this sudden and resounding victory pleased all the factions.

The reason for the factional infighting is that the pie in front of them is only so big. But a great victory in Jingzhou would make the pie bigger.

As long as the pie keeps getting bigger, factional struggles won't be so obvious and won't threaten the foundation of rule so quickly.

Now the entire territory of Jingzhou has submitted to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei now faced two choices.

First, press on with the victory. Second, consolidate our rule.

Fortunately, Jingzhou was victorious; had it suffered a defeat, Yizhou would have inevitably fallen apart.

This also served as a reminder to Liu Bei that he needed to be there to guard the rear.

No leader of any faction could have achieved the same effectiveness as Liu Bei personally overseeing the defense.

Unable to make a decision, Liu Bei summoned his subordinates.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Guan Yu, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, Wen Pin, and others gathered in the camp.

The generals sincerely congratulated Guan Yu on his unparalleled achievements.

Guan Yu accepted it with pride.

Once the heated atmosphere subsided slightly, Liu Bei lamented, "Fortunately, Guan Yu captured Yu Jin and subdued the seven armies, shaking the entire land with his might. Otherwise, this backyard would surely have been engulfed in flames."

Everyone looked at Liu Bei, and seeing his sorrowful expression, they all stopped smiling.

What pained Liu Bei the most was that such a huge internal conflict in Yizhou was actually reported by Lu Congtian to Zhuge Liang.

Looking at Li Yan, Huang Quan, Fa Zheng, and the others, they all remained silent, as if Yizhou was a peaceful and prosperous place, filled with singing and dancing.

Thankfully, we won.

They spared no praise, submitting numerous letters of commendation.

If they hadn't won, they probably would have written everything they could and drafted a surrender document long ago.

Although Lu Congtian's speculation was somewhat unfounded.

But whether it was true or not, Liu Bei knew the answer in his heart.

"Now, should we continue the offensive to expand our gains, or should we hold our ground and consolidate our position?"

Guan Yu, of course, supported continuing the attack. "Your Majesty," he said, "now that Cao Cao's army has been defeated, we can take this opportunity to remotely bestow seals and titles upon the mountain bandits and barbarians around Xuchang, making them work for us. Then we can launch a full-scale attack on Xuchang, welcome the Emperor back, and return to Luoyang!"

Military generals such as Wen Ping and Ma Chao naturally supported Guan Yu.

What do military generals want? Nothing more than to achieve great deeds and establish a career!

Now is a golden opportunity to make a name for yourself!

Liu Bei turned his attention to Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong.

The two of them seem to have made different choices.

"What does Kongming think?"

Zhuge Liang wisely chose to evade the question, saying, "Your Majesty can make the decision."

While seemingly offering no answer, he had already conveyed to Liu Bei the message of caution.

They've won now, and the internal conflicts have been suppressed. But what if they lose because they're too eager for quick success?

At that time, the contradictions that have been compressed like a spring will suddenly erupt, and that will be a devastating blow.

Only by appeasing the various factions, breaking them up and creating a balance or a dominant faction, can the foundation be preserved.

It must be said that Cao Cao did a very good job in this regard.

Cao Cao's initial strategy was simple: seemingly using the guise of meritocracy, he actually only heavily relied on the Yingchuan faction and members of the Cao and Xiahou families.

This allowed Cao Cao to smoothly navigate the early and middle stages of his career.

That won't work now. There are too many prefectures and counties, and not enough trusted talents. So we have to appoint famous scholars from various local families.

This has led to the formation of numerous factions, each with its own agenda.

Thus, after his defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao rushed back in haste to deal with the factional turmoil. Now, with Yu Jin's crushing defeat, Cao Cao is similarly beset by internal and external troubles, utterly overwhelmed.

Therefore, Guan Yu believed this was a good opportunity to press his advantage.

Liu Bei then looked at Pang Tong.

Pang Tong realized that Zhuge Liang was making such a cryptic statement because he didn't want to create a rift with Guan Yu.

Pang Tong was one of the top military commanders in his own faction.

He certainly approved of the offensive move.

But he was more thoughtful: "We definitely need to attack, but we can't rush it."

"Can't we rush this?" Liu Bei asked, puzzled.

Guan Yu was also curious, "The saying goes that speed is of the essence in war, so why can't we rush into an attack? If I advance at full speed now, Xuchang will surely be mine within three months!"

Guan Yu was brimming with confidence, but he had the ability.

Pang Tong did not answer the question, but continued, "Your Majesty can divide your forces into two routes. One route, still led by General Guan, will advance into the Central Plains. The second route can send a general to sail down the river from Lukou and attack the Jiangdong fortress of Ruxukou!"

"Shiyuan suggests attacking Jiangdong at this time? Isn't that too impulsive?"

"Impulsive? Not at all. Your Majesty and Jiangdong will inevitably clash sooner or later. By launching an attack now, we can seize the crucial fortress that Sun Quan has poured his heart and soul into before he can catch his breath. If we capture Ruxu, we can completely cut off Jiangdong's waterway to attack us. At that point, whether we fight or make peace will be up to us. It's even possible that Jiangdong will surrender without a fight!"

Liu Bei was certainly happy to see this situation, but he had concerns. "Shi Yuan, have you forgotten that Sun Quan has already surrendered to Cao Cao? If we attack Ruxukou, Sun Quan will definitely defend it with all his might. If he can get Cao Cao to send troops to rescue us and hold our army back while we wait for reinforcements, our army will be in danger."

"Therefore, I suggest that we should not rush into an attack."

"Shouldn't we rush the attack?"

Liu Bei suddenly stood up. "So that's how it is!"

Liu Bei suddenly realized that Pang Tong's advice not to rush things was actually a way of forcing Cao Cao to move the capital!

Thus, Cao Cao's mind was focused on Guan Yu's journey, thinking about how to stabilize the internal situation and how to launch a counterattack. How could he care about Sun Quan's life or death?

"This will be an opportunity to completely disrupt the three-way power struggle!"

If Liu Bei was troubled by internal conflicts, Cao Cao must have been even more troubled. Even before Guan Yu won his battle, rebellions were already breaking out across the north.

Just like Cao Cao's retreat from Hanzhong, it was to go back and quell the rebellion, and incidentally to make Liu Bei and Lü Meng fight each other, which is why he handed over Hanzhong.

What do people fear most? It's not sudden harm, but the agonizing inner struggle as they watch an enemy approach step by step.

Now that Guan Yu's might shakes the land, we can learn from Cao Cao's strategy and grant official seals to those unregistered bandits, so that they will follow suit and risk their lives for us.

At that time, various forces, eager to make their mark, will inevitably change their allegiance, and some will certainly defect and respond.

As Cao Cao's forces watched Guan Yu's army snowball, they faced a choice: either concentrate all their national strength on the battle or retreat to avoid direct confrontation.

No matter what Cao Cao chooses, he will not be able to form an alliance with Sun Quan in the short term.

Therefore, as long as we capture Ruxukou at this point, we will gain the initiative in attacking Jiangdong.

There's no need to send troops; Zhang Zhao, the leader of the group, will definitely use his skills again.

It's unrealistic to expect to defeat Cao Cao right now.

But as long as they swallowed Jiangdong, they could divide the country with Cao Cao and establish a north-south confrontation!

Therefore, Pang Tong's strategic goal was never Xuchang, but Jiangdong!