Three Kingdoms: I help Liu Bei grow thousands of miles

Sun Quan looked him up and down, and asked curiously, "Zibu, did you just get off the couch?"

"Well, those generals are setting up the mourning hall, and the veterans have nothing to do so they rest first..." Zhang Zhao explained with a smile.

"I remember Zibu said that the old and the young sleep..."

"That's right, it's just that Chaisang is cold in the first month, and it's adjacent to the Yangtze River, so the old minister just keeps warm on the couch. Why do you want me, my lord?" Zhang Zhao changed the subject in embarrassment.

Sun Quan frowned and said, "I trust Gu Li in regards to Old General Han, Zi Ming has no reason to kill him, but now he suffers from no witnesses, Han Zong seized this point and wanted to return his father's work.

Zibu, you understand the reason. We redeemed only [-] pieces, and half of them were soldiers from Yujin. The number of pieces that really belonged to the old general was less than [-], but the ransom was paid by Yuan Tan (Gu Yong) and them. of……"

Zhang Zhao thought for a while, then squeezed his chin and replied: "Yi Gong (Han Dang) sacrificed his life for the country. It is pity for Han Zong to do so, but this time the trilogy cannot be allocated well. I am afraid that there will be big troubles in Jiangdong. It was right to push Lan Tian."

"But we can't redeem it in the short term, and the guy in Lantian still needs to collect the ration money. I decided to wait until tomorrow to complete the delivery, and all the prisoners in the future will be gone." Sun Quan's face was serious.

"Short-term pain is worse than long-term pain. There is no problem with this, my lord." Zhang Zhao echoed.

"If you don't continue to redeem the captives, you will never be able to find witnesses..." Sun Quan was in a dilemma.

Zhang Zhao then suggested, "If there is no evidence, let's look for circumstantial evidence. The old general is my Jiangdong famous general. If he was really killed by Lantian's son, Liu Bei will definitely be rewarded for such a great military achievement, and the truth will naturally come to light."

"Wonderful." Sun Quan stroked his purple beard in affirmation.

"However, during the funeral for the fallen soldiers, it is necessary to send competent people to watch over Han Zong's troubles, otherwise the prestige of the lord will be affected." Zhang Zhao added.

"Zibu is right, who do you think is the right person to send?" Sun Quan asked.

Zhang Zhao said meaningfully, "Mr. Cheng's eldest son, Cheng Zi."

"Zibu is well recommended." Sun Quan nodded in agreement, and then continued to ask: "Is there any news about Ziyu? Would Cao Cao be willing to spend one billion to redeem the ban?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and smiled wryly: "Ziyu has sent letters twice, because King Wei was far away fighting in Nanyang, and Xia Houdun, the general who was stationed in Shouchun, scolded Yu Jin for his audacity and betrayed his master. He couldn't open his mouth about the ransom at all. We had to wait until the battle between Guan Yu and Cao Cao was over. Xiahou Dun can't decide on such a big matter."

"I have no choice but to do this, I hope it can be used to recover the loss." Sun Quan sighed.

The next day, Sun and Liu made the final transaction in E County. Sun Quan accepted Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong's suggestion, and instead of putting on an imposing posture, he went with the escorting warship.

The warship was moored on the shore of E County, and Sun Quan sent someone to invite Lan Tian to come to answer him. Unexpectedly, Liu Bei followed to E County.

Seeing that Liu Bei and Lan Tian were surrounded by only Gan Ning, Chen Dao and a dozen or so followers, Sun Quan dared not trust him and took Zhou Tai and Xu Sheng off the boat to meet him.

"Xuande, General Lan." Sun Quan took the initiative to say hello.

"Zhongmou." Liu Bei gently raised his hand, he seemed to be in a good mood today.

Lan Tian smiled and said, "General Sun actually came here in person. Is the deal going to continue? I'll have someone transfer the remaining prisoners of war to E County."

"Wait a minute, General Lan. It will take time to raise money and food. We will wait for the follow-up transaction when we are ready." Sun Quan replied with a wry smile.

Liu Bei nodded, "I heard that General Zhu and Zhongmou have a close relationship. Could it be that he came to pick him up this time? General Zhu should have boarded the ship now, and Ziyu is still very honest in his work."

"Integrity? Not necessarily?" Sun Quan said in his heart that Lantian was honest?Isn't that the biggest joke?

"Why did Zhongmou say that?" Liu Bei frowned slightly, expressing his dissatisfaction.

"General Lan used it to impersonate Lu Meng, cheated me of 6000 million from Jiangdong, and said that Lu Meng was sold to Cao Cao, and let me use it to ban Cao Cao in exchange for ransom. Now Cao Cao sent Ziming's head, and he didn't take any money. The general is really good at it..." Sun Quan's eyes were fierce, and he teased Lan Tian against Liu Bei.

As soon as Liu Bei wanted to explain, Lan Tian replied first: "I want to declare again that it was not because I cheated Zhuge Ziyu to buy Yujin at a low price with a dark redemption, but because of your greed. In addition, how Cao Cao dealt with Lu Meng has nothing to do with us. It’s his freedom to give the general’s living body and head, and it’s his freedom to ask the general for a ransom, you can’t rely on me for everything.”

"What does General Lan mean, that Ziming was still alive when he gave it to Cao Cao?" Seeing that Lantian was sincere and in front of Liu Bei, Sun Quan shouldn't have been able to lie.

"What do you think? If Lu Meng was defeated and captured, General Guan would have killed him in Linju if he wanted to vent his anger. As for waiting so long? General Sun can ask the returning soldiers. They should have seen him then. "Lan Tian continued to fool around.

Through questioning the prisoners of war, Sun Quan confirmed that all the prisoners were sent to Jiangling, but Lu Meng was taken to Xiangyang by Guan Yu. Hearing what Lan Tian said, his heart beat again. Could it be that the Cao thief was lying to me?

"Why did Cao Cao lie to me?"

"I don't know the real purpose, but Xu Shao called him a traitor. Isn't it normal for him to be a traitor? Besides, won't he be the one who benefits by instigating our hatred?"

Sun Quan was taken aback by Lan Tian's words, and at this moment he questioned suspiciously: "The general said that he sold Ziming to Cao Cao. I don't believe he would pay a high price for it. How can you explain this?"

Lan Tian smiled slightly: "Don't you know, General Sun? Cao Cao retreated to Wancheng a few days ago, and now Fancheng is completely under the control of General Guan. The reason why Fancheng was able to occupy Fancheng so quickly is mainly due to the great contribution of General Lu Meng."

"How?"

"Fancheng is solid and hard to attack. If Cao Ren didn't have Cao Cao's instruction, would he have withdrawn so quickly? In fact, he exchanged it with Lu Meng. Cao Cao planned to stabilize General Guan's negotiations and delay the time until the rear army encircled him. Unfortunately, Cao Ren didn't understand Cao Cao's intention. In the end, let us occupy Fancheng first, Cao Cao can't take down Jiancheng, so naturally he can only retreat to Wancheng."

Sun Quan seemed to have realized something, he suddenly remembered something, pointed to Lan Tian and sent out soul torture: "No, this is wrong, Lu Meng is the governor of Jiangdong, why does he value Cao Cao so much?"

Chapter 624 The Hero Sees the Same

"Hahaha, General Sun thought we used Lu Meng's name?" Lan Tian laughed.

"Otherwise?" Sun Quan asked ignorantly.

Lan Tian continued to answer: "Before we captured Xiangyang, the prefect Lu Chang was captured by General Guan. This man is Cao Cao's favorite general. It is not too much to exchange him for a small city of Cao Cao."

"What is the relationship between Lu Meng and Lu Chang?" Sun Quan was listening to the scriptures.

"You don't remember the dark redemption so soon?" Lan Tian smiled mysteriously.

Sun Quan suddenly realized, "You mean...replacing Lu Chang with Lu Meng?"

"Lv Chang resisted tenaciously before, how could he return him to Cao Cao? So Cao Cao used Fancheng to 'redeem' Lu Meng..." Lan Tian explained.

Sun Quan scolded shamelessly in his heart, I am afraid that no one in the world is more sinister than you, and you must be the one who advises Guan Yu. "By the way, what about Lu Chang?"

Lan Tian said nonchalantly: "The flag was cut off by General Guan, and the head was sent to the front of Cao's army. I remember that General Guan won the battle that day."

Guan Yu's beheading of Lu Chang in front of the battle will inevitably arouse Cao Cao's anger, resulting in improper command and a big defeat. Sun Quan thought that this red-faced man is proficient in the art of war. If he sits in Jingzhou for a day, Jiangdong may no longer be able to completely occupy the Yangtze River.

After explaining Lu Meng's matter clearly, the delivery by Jiangbian was nearing completion, and Zhu Ran and all the soldiers were in place, so Zhang Zhao rushed over to urge Sun Quan to board the ship.

"A while ago, I fell for Cao's treacherous tricks. I mistakenly launched a war against Jingzhou and caused both the Sun and Liu families to lose. Now that the big mistake has been made, Jiangdong has also paid a huge price. I hope that the King of Hanzhong will ignore the past and let our two families reunite. Let’s get back together and attack the national traitor Cao Cao together.” Sun Quan bowed his hands to Liu Bei.

Seeing this, Liu Bei raised his hand in return: "Zhongmou, you have to take care of yourself, even if you really won Jingzhou, but you have to face the attacks of Nanyang and Huainan at the same time, it may not be a good thing, it is to share the pressure for you. Let’s all recuperate and fight Cao Cao together.”

"Sun Quan has been taught, so I will leave."

After Sun Quan finished speaking, he turned and boarded the boat, and Liu Bei and Lan Tian also walked towards E County.

What Lan Tian said just now had already made Zhou Tai dizzy. After boarding the boat, he couldn't help asking: "Then what Lan Tian said must be false, right? How could Cao Ren and Cao Cao be so stupid?"

Sun Quan shook his head lightly, "I don't know if it's true or not, it's hard to say anyway."

Zhang Zhao followed up and said, "The veteran thinks it's true, and only Lan Tian likes to play these tricks. Even the lord and Ziyu have been deceived, so Cao Ren and Cao Cao will be fooled even more."

The warship was fully loaded with the last batch of captives and sailed towards Chaisang. Sun Quan was taken aback by Zhang Zhao's ingenious compliment. He stood on the deck and sighed: "The black owl has a lot of tricks and is very difficult to deal with. I was worried that Ziming Occupying Jingzhou means facing a three-sided attack from Cao Cao in the north, Liu Bei in Yizhou in the west, and Lantian in Jiaozhou in the south. You need a lot of troops to garrison and defend, and you need a lot of money and food to support them. Now... oh..."

Zhang Zhao quickly comforted: "As the lord said, occupying Jingzhou may not be beneficial. Liu Bei's words also have some truth. We only need to guard Chaisang and Ruxu, recuperate with the people, eliminate the rebellion in Shanyue, train troops and armor, and wait for Cao Cao and Liu Bei to fight. When the head is broken and bloody, if you attack it with Jiangdong soldiers, you will be able to expand the territory of Jiangdong, not to mention all the Yangtze River, even if you enter the Central Plains, you will not know."

"Okay..." Sun Quan nodded excitedly, then looked at Zhou Tai and ordered: "After Chaisang's funeral is over, You Ping will go to supervise Ruxu."

"Wei." Zhou Tai cupped his fists.

"As for General Chaisang..." Sun Quan looked around the crowd, feeling that no one was suitable.

"Lu Boyan is courageous and resourceful, and he can retreat from Jingzhou. I think the new governor, who else is there?" Gu Yong made a suggestion.

The Jiangdong gentry had never fought for military power, and Sun Quan had been guarding this red line since he came to power. The Huaisi generals on board looked at each other, thinking that Gu Yong was crazy, right?Isn't this move afraid of the lord's suspicion?Lu Xun has a big enmity with the lord.

Everyone thought that Sun Quan would refuse, but he smiled at Gu Yong and replied kindly: "I will seriously consider Yuan Tan's proposal when I go back, and I will have a conclusion at the end of the funeral at the latest."

"My lord is wise."

Gu Yong bowed his hands to salute Sun Quan, looked at the stupid expressions of the generals, and secretly mocked these incomprehensible internal reasons, the Jiangdong gentry paid for it, so they should receive such attention.

Watching the Jiangdong warships sailing down the Yangtze River, Liu Bei was full of doubts, and frowned and asked Lantian: "Ziyu, the terrain of E County is not dangerous, and there is still a long distance from Xiakou, why did you take it from Sun Quan?" ? Now it is empty and desolate, and will always be threatened by Chaisang..."

Lan Tian looked into the distance and replied: "The location of Xiakou is important mainly because it connects the Hanshui River and the Yangtze River. The Sun and Cao families have the opportunity to link up and form a danger of encircling Jingzhou. Now Yunchang has captured Xiangyang and Fancheng. The Yangtze River and the Han River have become our inland rivers, so it is natural to push forward the Jiangxia defense line and set up two defense lines in E County and Xiakou, which completely cut off Sun Quan's desire to go west, and he can only go to Huainan to fight Hefei."

Liu Bei nodded affirmatively, "Ziyu is really a good idea. Isn't this a different kind of situation? The relationship between E County and Jiangxia is a bit like the relationship between Xiangyang and Fancheng."

"That's what it means." Lan Tian smiled slightly.

"The county seat and docks in E County are too small. To become an important military town, it must be expanded, but it will cost people and money..." Liu Bei's face was full of solemnity.

"Brother-in-law, don't worry. Yuan Zhi brought over [-] captives to Changsha, just to bring them over to build the city, and the remaining Jiangdong captives will be sent to Changsha to farm." Lan Tian gave advice.

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard it: "Ziyu's brain is still bright, so I will change E County to Wuchang and expand according to Jiangxia's standards. You have experience in building Guangzhou City. How about entrusting Wuchang City to your supervision? It can also prevent Jiangdong rats from getting sick." .”

"The reform of the counties of Jiaozhou has not been completed, and the three counties of Jiaozhi, Hepu, and Jiuzhen have not been completely subdued. The anti-king of Rinan County has arrested my businessman. I still have to go back and stabilize my development. If I can give me 30 years, I will It will turn Jiaozhou into a paradise of wealth." Lan Tian replied solemnly.

Liu Bei nodded slightly, "Well, Ziyu has been planning Jiaozhou for a long time. Since you are confident about your own reforms, Bei will try his best to give you freedom, but Jingzhou can't ignore it."

"Thank you brother-in-law for your trust. Don't worry about Jingzhou. Jiaozhou will continue to transport food and armaments to Xiangyang, so that General Guan will not have to worry about the Northern Expedition." Lan Tian promised, patted his chest.

"I firmly believe in this point, and who does Ziyu think can supervise the construction of Wuchang City?" Liu Bei asked.

Lan Tian commanded Gan Ning, who greeted Chen Dao from the rear, "Gan Xingba is the lord and mighty general. If he leads the navy to guard Wuchang, Sun Quan must not dare to covet Jingzhou."

Liu Bei nodded affirmatively: "Heroes see the same thing."

Chapter 625 I'm born to be useful

At the beginning of February in the 25th year of Jian'an, the month-long captive redemption transaction ended, and Liu Bei and Lan Tian rushed to Xiangyang without stopping.

At this time, the Battle of Fancheng was over, and Guan Yu's main force was stationed in Xiangyang to rest. In addition to going to meet Guan Yu, Liu Bei also had to reward the soldiers.

The warship sailed westward against the current, and the wind on the Yangtze River was still piercing. Only when the sun hit the bow of the ship at noon did Liu Bei and Lan Tian go to the deck to keep warm in the warm sun.

"Ziyu, although the art of war says 'Soldiers are deceitful.' But when negotiating with Jiangdong during this period, why did you continue to deceive Zhuge Ziyu and Sun Zhongmou?"

Liu Bei did not intervene in Lantian's negotiations, but when Lantian described Lu Meng's problem, he stood beside him. Sun Quan may have misunderstood that he was testifying. incomprehensible.

Lan Tian looked at the banks of the Yangtze River next to him, and the green shoots of the vegetation had sprouted. He looked at Liu Bei and replied solemnly: "The knowledge of the word soldier is not limited to this. There are visible soldiers, invisible soldiers, and visible soldiers." Those who hold the sword, the man of the body; the invisible soldiers, the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, the clouds, the water, the fire, the spiritual energy of the mountains and rivers, all things and phenomena can be soldiers, just as the saying goes, when the wind sounds like a crane, the grass and trees are all soldiers.”

Although Lan Tian's answer was irrelevant, Liu Bei still nodded appreciatively, and repeated: "It's a good 'the wind is rumbling, and the grass and trees are soldiers'. It's a pity that Zi Yuzhi is not in command of thousands of troops, otherwise he will become a famous general through experience."

Lan Tian smiled slightly: "Actually, my understanding of 'soldiers' is more than that. Diplomacy, politics, economy, culture, etc., everything can be used as a soldier. Brother-in-law thinks the Changjiang newspaper can be called a soldier?"

"Yangtze River News has been able to punish good and promote evil. It can also play a role in rumors and incitement to the outside world. It can be said that it can be said to kill with words without seeing blood. Of course it can be used as a soldier..." Liu Bei nodded in affirmation.

"Brother-in-law's country is safe and peaceful, and the people are rich. Now that Sun Quan is outflowing a large amount of money and goods, Jiangdong will inevitably fall into a period of poverty with little money and few things in a short time. If the rumors in the Yangtze River News are invisible forces, economic harm will be a real blow to the gentry and common people. , in order to stabilize the society without unrest, does Sun Quan still have the power to seek Jingzhou?" Lan Tian continued to explain.

Originally, Liu Bei wanted to keep the captives to serve as corvee, and worried that the captives would cause trouble if they were redeemed by Sun Quan, but Lan Tian insisted on exchanging the captives for ransom, Liu Bei still gave him full trust, and now he suddenly understood after listening to the explanation.

"Ziyu, the strategy is so deep that it is daunting..."

"Cultural or intellectual warfare, because it takes too long, and penetration cannot be completed overnight, so I will not start talking about it. In ancient times, there were diplomatic means of combining vertical and horizontal, and in the end it will still be terminated by means of war. I deliberately Attributing Lu Meng's death to Cao Cao does not mean that Sun Quan will do his best to attack Cao, but only increases the conflict between the Sun and Cao families. As long as Sun Quan does not cause chaos in the southeast, it is only a matter of time before my brother-in-law completely defeats Cao Cao."

Liu Bei slapped the guardrail after listening, digested Lan Tian's words carefully, and finally said meaningfully: "I have met many brilliant men in my life, and Ziyu's understanding of 'soldiers' far surpasses others. Listening to what you say is better than reading ten years of books. Liu Bei is so lucky."

"Slaying the generals to capture the flag, conquering the city and conquering the world, this kind of 'soldier' ​​is the most simple, effective and fast. Emperor Gao and Xiang Yu have only fought for four years, and the great man has experienced more than 300 years. The so-called conquering the world is easy and governing the world is difficult. I just said The political, economic and other 'soldiers' are mainly used to rule the world, or to fight against powerful foreign tribes, such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei north of the Great Wall..." Lan Tian continued to add.

"Conquering the world is easy, but governing the world is difficult. Since Ziyu said this, he must have a strategy to save the world. When the world is settled in the future... I will have no worries..." Liu Bei laughed heartily.

Liu Bei continued to consult and exchange ideas with Lantian on the use of "soldiers", and before he knew it, the warship had already sailed to Jiangxia.

At this time, the sky had already darkened, and they could not turn into the Han River and head north. Liu Bei and Lantian planned to rest in Jiangxia for the night, and they would take Fazheng to Xiangyang tomorrow.

The scene on the pier left Liu Bei speechless.

Those ships full of money, food and property were all berthed at Jiangxia's wharf.

In addition to the [-] million that Sun Quan paid with E County, only [-]% of the remaining [-] million ransom was coins and gold, and the rest was mostly silk, fur, metal utensils, grain beans, etc.

The hundreds of ships were really eye-catching, and Fazheng was worried that the ransom would be lost, so he asked Li Yi's Jiaozhou Navy to guard them and check the number every day to make sure it was correct.

With such a huge wealth, anyone who sees it will be jealous. As for how to distribute the ransom in the end, it needs Liu Bei and Lan Tian to decide.

After Fazheng and Liu Bei met and exchanged greetings, they asked questions about how to deal with the ransom: "Your Majesty, you saw it at the dock just now. What do you think about those belongings? Storing the dock for too long will inevitably lead to chaos, and General Li's navy is not good either." Get out..."

"The amount of [-] million property is indeed not small, I'm afraid that the greedy people will take risks." Liu Bei murmured a few times after beating the case, and then turned his head to look at Lantian to make a suggestion: "This time, Ziyu, you have done a great job in repelling Sun Quan's sneak attack." Anyway, you got the money back through negotiations, so why not send General Li back to Jiaozhou, as Jiaozhou also needs funds for its development.”

Lan Tian waved his hands straight after hearing this: "Jiaozhou is not rich, but it is self-sufficient enough. I suggest taking [-] million yuan and grain to go to Jingzhou Public Warehouse, divide the remaining property into three parts, and use one part to build Wuchang City, One is used to reward the soldiers who fought in the defense of Jingzhou and Xiangfan, and the last one is used to pay for the soldiers who died in the two wars."

"General Lan's assignment is reasonable and well-founded, and the minister seconded it." Fazheng bowed his hands and begged for orders.

Liu Bei nodded slightly: "It is indeed very reasonable, then do as Ziyu said, originally I wanted to take Xiaozhi to Xiangyang, but now I can only work hard for you to keep the split ransom, and then go back to Chengdu and go together together."

"I obey." Fazheng nodded.

At night, the monarch and his ministers had small dishes and wine, chatting about wars, negotiations, and Lantian's views on "soldiers" in Jiangxia.

Taking advantage of his drunkenness, Fazheng raised his glass to compliment Lan Tian: "I claim to be a descendant of a famous family, but compared to General Lan's knowledge, I am like a horse compared to a unicorn, a jackdaw..."

Liu Bei was taken aback when he heard that, thinking that Zheng Zheng was very familiar with this sentence.

Lan Tian was full of embarrassment, and quickly interrupted: "Xiaozhi's words are wrong. The so-called natural talent must be useful. We have different strengths. As long as we can help the king to support the Han Dynasty, any unicorn is the same..."

"Uh... the general is so humble..." Fa smiled positively.

At this time, Liu Bei changed the topic and joked: "Ziyu has hurt Zhuge Ziyu. I don't know if Kong Ming will complain for his brother when he finds out. I heard that Sun Quan sent Ziyu to negotiate with Cao Cao and wanted to use one billion The price will be banned from selling...ahem..."