Xiaoqi

Obviously, the purpose of Li Xin and others has been achieved.The reason why Li Li was distressed was because he took their feelings into consideration, lest they would be sad, so he tried to make up for it.This is Li Li's love for them.It's just that he is too fraternal and has many wives and concubines, and endless troubles follow.

After the private affairs were settled, the next step was Li Li's real intention to entertain Zhuge Liang alone this time.

Filling Zhuge Liang another glass of wine, Li Li said solemnly: "Your brother must have guessed that this time the Western Expedition to the Southern Barbarians will be led by you. Tomorrow, when the swearing-in is going out, I will appoint the virtuous brother as the Western Expedition in public for the brotherhood." Governor, you have the full power to control all the soldiers and horses in Yizhou, take charge of all affairs of the Western Expedition, and give you the right to make decisions on the fly. You don't need to report when you encounter problems, you can make your own decisions, and you can record them afterwards. After all, the southwest is thousands of miles away from Chang'an Here, if you report everything, you will definitely miss the battle opportunity, and the gains outweigh the losses. So you don’t have to worry about other things, you can do whatever you want, and even if you make a mistake, you will bear it on your shoulders!"

"This,,," although Zhuge Liang had already expected, as early as three years ago when he traveled to Yizhou, that sooner or later Li Li would send him to conquer the Southern Man.However, when all this really fell on his shoulders, he was still overjoyed and suddenly felt flattered.What surprised him was that the authority that Li Li bestowed on him was far beyond his imagination. It must be known that there were 40 troops in Yizhou, which was equivalent to entrusting the entire Yizhou to him.This is unreserved trust, no wonder he would be speechless with excitement.

"You don't need to be like this." Li Li patted Zhuge Liang's shoulder lightly, and said with a smile: "I estimate that this western expedition will take three to five years. During this period, all the states and counties under my Xiliang rule will defend Mainly, fully support my virtuous brother to lead the Western Expedition. I will personally dispatch the money, food, armaments and other supplies to ensure that the Western Expeditionary Army has no worries.

Tomorrow after taking the oath, I will only bring [-] cavalry back to Chang'an for my brother. Except for Zhou Yu's [-] troops who still need to be stationed in Jiangzhou, all the remaining troops will be dispatched by my virtuous brother, and so will the generals of the battalions.I hope that my virtuous brother will live up to his entrustment and bring Nanban down as soon as possible.On the day when my virtuous brother returns from victory, I will go out of the city ten miles to meet you! "

"Chen Liang takes the order, and thank you, my lord!" Zhuge Liang didn't make any promises, but got up to straighten his clothes, and then bowed his head to worship.

Chapter 182 Showing supernatural powers, the best kindness is like water

When the war in the Southwest was filled with smoke, the states in the Central Plains were immersed in a peaceful life that had been rare for more than ten years.

This relatively stable situation is due to the fact that the four major powers are fighting against each other. They guard against each other and restrain each other, so that no one dares to act rashly, but can only stand in a stalemate and stand still.

On the land of the Central Plains, Li Li's forces from Xiliang are in the middle, occupying Sili, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, half of Yangzhou and Nanyang County, completely cutting off the connection between Hebei and Jingzhou.

Since then, Li Li's forces have divided the states of the Central Plains into three parts: Li Li's territory is in the middle, with Cao Cao in Jizhou to the north, and Liu Biao in Jingzhou to the south.

Cao Cao, who occupies Hebei, owns the land of Jizhou, Qingzhou and Yanzhou, with nearly 50 soldiers. He occupies Jizhou, surrounded by water on one side, and adjacent to Lili's territory in Xiliang on three sides.Therefore, as long as he makes a slight change, it will stimulate the sensitive nerves of the Xiliang army, arouse the vigilance of the Xiliang army, and in turn arouse conflicts between the two armies, and a war will break out on the verge of breaking out.Therefore, when Cao Cao in Jizhou was not ready for a full-scale decisive battle, he did not dare to act arbitrarily or provoke the Xiliang Army, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous.

It is precisely because of this that Sili and Jizhou in the hinterland of the Central Plains are relatively peaceful.They have confronted each other for a long time, and as long as they go to the camp or tower, they can clearly see the camp and soldiers of the other side. It can be regarded as facing each other day and night, but they never communicate.On the south, north, and west borders where Cao Cao and Li Lixiang adjoined, all the roads and passes were tightly blocked by the Xiliang army. There were no people around all year round, so the roads were deserted and covered with weeds.Many roads have been washed out by the rain and are already impassable.

Compared with Cao Cao in Hebei, which is surrounded.The scene in Jingzhou is quite different.In Nanyang County, which connects Jingzhou and Sili, there is an endless stream of business travelers coming from south to north.The border city between the two places has become a distribution center for commodities. The street market is extremely prosperous, with many shops and prosperous businesses.Looking around, there is an inn or restaurant every fifty steps in the city, and the population is very dense. Tens of thousands of people have poured into Nanyang County, causing the population of Nanyang County to increase by nearly 10 within a year.

It is worth mentioning that about [-]% of the people went north from Jingzhou.The remaining [-]% are people from other states and counties under Li Li's rule.

It can be seen from this that although the states and counties under Li Li's rule are not considered rich, they are better than being stable and peaceful.The reason why many people dragged their families and moved into Li Li's rule was that they hoped to live a peaceful life. It doesn't matter if life is a little bit harder, as long as there is no war.Therefore, moving many people to Nanyang County is only the first step. After registering and settling down, they will move to other states and counties under Li Li's rule. Among them, Sanfu is the first choice of most people, followed by Liangzhou.Shuozhou and the grassland outside the Great Wall came again, and then Sili, Yuzhou and Xuzhou.

People who have experienced wars know that, despite the fact that Yuzhou and Xuzhou are relatively prosperous, they are not very stable.They are currently at the forefront of the outbreak of war.Once a war breaks out, these states and counties will bear the brunt, far less peaceful than the hinterland of Xiliang and the Hetao grassland.Therefore, they came from thousands of miles away, in order to be able to live in peace and stability.

Speaking of which.The importance of Nanyang County was naturally highlighted.

Nanyang is the hometown of Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu, known as the "Hometown of Emperors".Before the chaos came.Nanyang County is under the dual jurisdiction of Sili and Jingzhou. It is under the rule of Jingzhou in name, but in fact it has always been subordinate to Sili. The successive county guards were recommended by the captain of Sili, and then directly appointed by the emperor. They have nothing to do with the governor of Jingzhou or the governor of the state. It's almost impossible to get in.

During the troubled times, Nanyang County changed hands several times, and the one who occupied this place for the longest time was Yuan Shu.Relying on the abundant manpower and material resources of 36 counties under Nanyang, Yuan Shu abruptly recruited nearly 10 horses in Nanyang County. As a result, Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, wanted to take back Nanyang many times, but he was too worried.Until the battle of Sili, Liu Biao saw the opportunity and sent troops to Nanyang by surprise, regaining the whole territory in one fell swoop, thus bringing it under the rule of Jingzhou.

This is the first time in the two hundred years since the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty that Nanyang County was truly under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou.

But the good times don't last long.Not long after the Wancheng War ended, with the establishment of the Yuan Shu Alliance, Liu Biao thought it was a good opportunity to expand his territory at first, so he happily sent troops to attack Yuan Shu.Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu in Huainan was not as easy to destroy as he imagined, so he mobilized a large army of [-] land and water troops, and fought continuously for half a year, but it was still in vain.Just in time for the rebellion to break out in Jingnan, Liu Biao quickly borrowed the donkey from the slope, and immediately withdrew his troops without hesitation. .

However, what Liu Biao never expected was that Li Li used his unauthorized withdrawal of troops as an excuse to suddenly send troops to attack Wancheng and capture Nanyang in one fell swoop.

The moment Liu Biao learned that Nanyang had fallen into the hands of the Xiliang Army, Liu Biao was furious, and then cursed Li Li and the Xiliang Army in a fit of despair.At that time, he wanted to send troops to take back Nanyang County, give back to Li Li, let Li Li see how powerful the Jingzhou Army is, and let him know that Liu Jingsheng is not easy to bully.However, just as the army was assembled and was about to set off, Liu Biao regretted it again. He was worried that he would not be able to defeat Li Li, but would cause the Xiliang army to attack Jingzhou on a large scale.

Just like that, Liu Biao flinched.He swallowed this bad breath, sat and watched Li Li take over Nanyang, he just kept silent, calmed down, and acquiesced to this fact.

Little did he know that the negative impact of Liu Biao's move was so great that he hadn't expected it, and he regretted it.

In the three years since Li Li was elected as the leader of the Yuan League, at least more than [-] people in the counties and counties of Jingzhou under Liu Biao fled Jingzhou, and more than half of them fled to Sili and Yuzhou under Li Li. He fled to Xichuan.And this was just the beginning. After more than a year, tens of thousands of people fled Jingzhou and entered Li Lizhi's Xiazhou County, but Liu Biao had no choice but to lament in vain.

After all, Jingzhou and Nanyang County are no different than other places. There are no steep passes to guard, and the terrain is relatively flat. Therefore, the border cities or checkpoints cannot stop the people who want to escape; as long as these people insist on leaving, no matter how the Jingzhou army stops them If they can't keep up with their migratory footsteps, they will be able to escape from Jingzhou sooner or later and go far away.

If Liu Biao was very distressed by the large number of people fleeing Jingzhou, then the continuous flow of business travel and trade between Jingzhou and Li Lizhi's Xiazhou County made him sad and sleepless.It stands to reason that he is the shepherd of Jingzhou, and he is fully capable of ordering the blockade of the commercial road from the north to Nanyang, and strictly prohibiting the passage of business travelers.But in reality, it was not that simple. He couldn't stop the flow of transactions between the merchants of the two places, because it involved the vital interests of the major families and merchants in Jingzhou.

At present, the Xiliang army not only formed a three-sided encirclement of Cao Cao in Jizhou, but also formed a restraint on Jingzhou, blocking the commercial roads to the north and east of Jingzhou.Not only that, the south of Jingzhou is the territory of Sun Ce in Jiangdong, and there is a feud between Liu Biao and Sun Ce. Sun Ce's father, Sun Jian, died at the hands of Liu Biao, so they have long since cut off contact with each other.In Yizhou in the west, Liu Zhang and Jingzhou also had a long-standing rift. As early as when his father Liu Yan was alive, Liu Biao had forged a grudge because Liu Biao exposed Liu Yan's hidden ambition of the emperor.From then on, although the forces in Jingzhou and Yizhou drank the water from the same river, they never communicated with each other. They stationed heavy troops on the border and confronted each other for a long time.

In this way, if Jingzhou's aristocratic families and merchants do not do business with the merchants under Li Li's rule, they will be trapped and have nowhere to go.However, once Liu Biao ordered the blockade of the checkpoints and strictly prohibited business transactions with merchants under Li Li's rule in Xiliang, it would cut off the financial resources of the major families and merchants in Jingzhou and seriously damage their vital interests.If this is the case, it will inevitably cause strong dissatisfaction among the nobles and merchants in Jingzhou. It is not an exaggeration to say that the complaints are overwhelming, which will lead to inestimable and serious consequences, and even directly endanger the foundation of Liu Biao's withdrawal of Jingzhou.

Under such circumstances, even though Liu Biao intends to resist Xiliang Li Li's forces from infiltrating Jingzhou's counties and counties, he can't do what he wants. He can only sit back and watch the people under his rule continue to flee to Xiliang; He entered Jingzhou swaggeringly, fraternized with the major families and merchants in Jingzhou, and traded wantonly, but he was helpless and powerless to stop it.

In contrast, when Li Li imposed a complete blockade on the Xiazhou County under Cao Cao's rule in Jizhou, the major caravans and merchants under Li Li's rule were not affected.Except for Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Yanzhou, they can freely enter all states and counties under Li Li's rule, and they can enter Jingzhou, Jiangdong, and even Yizhou relatively freely.In addition, under Li Li's rule, there are also the Western Regions Channel and the Western Regions Trade Road, which can bring goods from the Western Regions and grasslands into the states, and vice versa; over time, not only the merchants themselves have a lot of profits, but also promote the circulation of goods. Benefit the people of all states.

It has to be mentioned that so far, the news of the Xiliang Army's invasion of Yizhou has not spread, and the spread is still limited to both sides of the Yangtze River. Moreover, only a very small number of people really know the news, such as Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Sun Ce of Jiangdong , and the civil and military ministers of the account.That's all.

Pressure is motivation.

In the face of an increasingly severe situation, the three princes of Jizhou Cao Cao, Jingzhou Liu Biao, and Jiangdong Sun Ce cannot remain unchanged. Therefore, under this seemingly calm situation, there are countless undercurrents hidden. , do everything you can.It's just that the strategies they implement are extremely subtle, and their actions are extremely hidden, and they haven't been exposed to the public's sight.

Jiangdong Sun Ce's performance is undoubtedly the most eye-catching.Taking advantage of the relatively stable situation in the world, in order to consolidate his dominant position, he replaced more than [-]% of the officials in various counties and counties, and carried out a comprehensive cleansing of Jiangdong aristocratic families and noble families.can be called drastic

Chapter 183

The morning mist slowly dissipated, and the morning glow filled the sky.

The northern country is full of forests, and the south of the Yangtze River is picturesque.

Jiangdong.The rebellious general, Wu Chenghou's mansion.

In the lobby, as an internal servant hurriedly approached Sun Ce, he whispered something.After Sun Ce heard the news, he immediately got up and left the main hall, which forced the termination of the ongoing routine discussion. Zhang Zhao, the chief clerk, immediately agreed after seeing the situation, and ordered the discussion to be temporarily suspended on behalf of Sun Ce, and will be discussed later.

Without waiting for all the civil and military personnel in the hall to retreat, Zhang Zhao quickly caught up and followed Sun Ce into the inner hall.Along with him were four veteran generals Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang and Zhu Zhi, as well as relatives of the Sun family including Wu Jing, Sun Jing and Sun Ben.

This kind of sudden interruption of military and political affairs may not be seen often under the rule of other princes, but it is not uncommon here in Jiangdong Sun Ce, and it happens from time to time.In this regard, Jiangdong Qunxian has long been accustomed to it.

"Is the news reliable? The Xiliang Army has really invaded Xichuan?" Sun Ce asked anxiously when he first entered the inner hall, Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai who had already been waiting in the hall.

Seeing Sun Ce striding in, Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai hurriedly got up to salute, and then Jiang Qin respectfully said: "My lord, after careful investigation, it can be confirmed that the Xiliang army has indeed invaded Yizhou on a large scale. In addition, from the recent Jingzhou water Judging from the frequent mobilization of the army, Liu Biao has also heard the news, so he mobilized the army to deter the Xiliang army, so as to be safe."

"Oh?" Sun Ce was surprised when he heard the sound, so he went straight to the main seat and sat down slowly, pondering: "I think Liu Jingsheng mobilized the land and water army to fight against me in Jiangdong, but I don't think he did it to guard against Xiliang. From this point of view, Liu Biao is worried that the Xiliang army will attack Jingzhou after they invade Xichuan. This old man can't sit still anymore!"

Before the words were finished, Zhang Zhao, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and others arrived one after another.After bowing and saluting, Sun Ce waved his hand and sat down.

Zhang Zhao, who was walking in the front, happened to hear Sun Ce's words.Without even thinking about it, he answered, "My lord, don't be careless. As far as I know, the large-scale mobilization of the Jingzhou navy is quite strange. On the surface, it seems that it is aimed at the Xiliang army, but in fact there is another mystery. Last year, the lord led an army to defeat the Jiangxia navy, causing the tens of thousands of naval forces under Huang Zu's tent to be wiped out, and as many as [-] soldiers and horses were lost. After the war, Huang Zu escaped alone; More than [-] warships. Almost wiped out the Jiangxia Navy and won a complete victory. This is the only great victory in the previous confrontation between the two armies. In contrast, after suffering such a disastrous defeat, how can Liu Biao let it go? "

Speaking of this, Zhang Zhao paused, took a sip of tea to clear his throat, and then continued: "Jiangxia's naval division was newly defeated, but Liu Biao once again mobilized a large army to march westward, and the navy army was the main force. The infantry and war cavalry Not many. As we all know, the Xiliang army is brave and good at fighting, and is known as the lord on land, and Xiliang Li Li has experienced many battles. He is famous, so he will never fight with the Jingzhou army, even if he intends to enter Jingzhou. The land battle is the main one. We all know that if the Jingzhou army wants to confront the Xiliang army, infantry and cavalry are the most important thing, while the role of the navy army is extremely limited. But more than half of the soldiers and horses Liu Biao mobilized this time are Navy. Don't you think Liu Biao's actions are very suspicious?"

Cheng Pu, the leader of the generals, was shocked when he heard the words, and lost his voice: "What does Chang Shi mean?"

Before Cheng Pu could finish speaking, Zhang Zhao nodded and interjected, "Just as the general thought, I think that the Jingzhou army's mobilization of troops and horses is a move westward in name, but it's actually a feint. I even suspect Liu Biao's move. With ulterior motives, it is likely to be suspicious, but in fact it is a hidden plot against my heart in Jiangdong!"

The language is not amazing and endless.Zhang Zhao's words instantly shifted the minds of everyone in the hall to the Jingzhou army and Liu Biao, so they no longer paid attention to whether the Xiliang army had already invaded Yizhou.Obviously, in their view, Jiangdong and Yizhou are far apart, and the life and death of Liu Zhang in Yizhou has nothing to do with them. What they really care about is Liu Biao, the old enemy in Jingzhou who is only across the river.

Or, the reason why Zhang Zhao avoided talking about Xiliang Li Li and the Xiliang Army was not because he was indifferent to the Xiliang Army's movements, but because he was afraid and deliberately avoided the important ones.In addition, he also knows that the lord Sun Ce has been paying attention to every move of the Xiliang Army, and regards Li Li as the greatest enemy in his life, but despises Liu Biao of Jingzhou.Therefore, Zhang Zhao felt that he had to remind Sun Ce that although the Xiliang army was strong and Li Li was worthy of attention, the enemy before Jiangdong was still Liu Biao of Jingzhou.Therefore, it is imperative to always pay attention to the movements of the Jingzhou Army, and other things are trivial, so don't pay too much attention to them.

Zhang Zhao knew which of the two was more important, but he knew that Sun Ce didn't think so.For a long time, Sun Ce has always stared at Li Li and the Xiliang Army at a distance, which made Zhang Zhao feel relieved and helpless.In his view, it is true that Sun Ce has great ambitions, and it is also commendable to see the virtuous and consider the same, but there is a premise for all of this, that is, to do the things in front of you in a down-to-earth manner; Such a current overlord initiates a challenge, otherwise it is too ambitious and unrealistic.

Because of this, Zhang Zhao would not easily mention Xiliang Li Li's name in front of Sun Ce, nor would he discuss matters related to the Xiliang Army. Lujiang, don't worry about him.So Zhang Zhao didn't care much about the Xiliang army's movements, what really worried him was Liu Jingsheng from Jingzhou across the river.

As far as the current situation in Jiangdong is concerned, under Sun Ce's almost iron-blooded rule, the foundation is now becoming more stable. The four counties in Jiangdong have been pacified one after another, and Yuzhang County has been divided into two. The land became the five counties of Jiangdong, which expanded one-third of the territory southward on the basis of the original territory of Jiangdong. The crowd is getting stronger and stronger.

However, although the strength of the Jiangdong Army has continued to increase, it is still dwarfed by the strength of Liu Biao in Jingzhou.At present, Liu Biao in Jingzhou has 16 sailors, 15 infantry, and 36 war cavalry, a total of 5 troops, and this is only the number of soldiers and horses on the surface, that is, the number of troops that can be inquired under the tents of the princes in various towns.It is not difficult to imagine that behind these more than [-] troops, there must be unknown soldiers and horses hidden, and the number is not small, at least [-] to [-] horses.Therefore, the number of troops under Liu Biao's command is nearly four times that of Jiangdong's army, and its strength is definitely not something that Jiangdong's army can shake.

The reason why there is such a disparity in strength between Jingzhou and Jiangdong is, in the final analysis, because of population.Jingzhou is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, and has been a densely populated prefecture since ancient times. In addition, in recent years, the states and counties have been fighting endlessly, causing a large number of people in the Central Plains to flee to Jingzhou for refuge, and the population of the nine counties of Jingzhou is increasing day by day.As of the beginning of the establishment of the Discussing Yuan Alliance, the population of the nine counties of Jingzhou has exceeded 500 million, and the latecomers have surpassed the population of Jizhou, becoming the most populous state and county among the states in the Central Plains.