The Nameless of the Common Clans

Ma Teng agreed to surrender. He stayed in Wuwei and would assist the new governor of Xiliang in governing Xiliang. Ma Chao, Ma Dai and Pang De would join Chen Mo's army as generals. Chen Mo was also very generous. Ma Chao and Pang De were directly given the position of generals, and Ma Dai was made a cavalry commander, responsible for the security and fighting against bandits in Chang'an.

Once Ma Teng surrendered, no matter what Han Sui chose, the battle situation in Xiliang was settled. Chen Mo promoted Xu Rong to the Protector of the Western Regions and made him a marquis. Hua Rong was made a lieutenant commander and concurrently served as the governor of Jincheng. The two of them were in charge of the military power of Xiliang. Taishi Ci was promoted to the Lieutenant General of the Guards of the Xiongnu and transferred to Yunzhong to monitor the Xiongnu. After being dealt with by Hua Xiong in recent times, the Xiongnu seemed to have no memory and were not very honest. It happened that the overall situation in Xiliang was settled, and the troops stationed here could be reduced and transferred to Yunzhong.

However, Chen Mo was not happy because the rear was stable. In the Didao government office, Chen Mo read the letter in his hand again and sighed.

"What's bothering you, lord?" Xun You and Xu Shu were somewhat puzzled. With the great victory in Xiliang, Chen Mo's rear was completely stabilized. Although Han Sui had not yet expressed his position, it was only a matter of time before Jincheng was captured. With Xiliang, Chen Mo would own the three states of Bingzhou, Sanfu, and Xiliang. He was the undisputed overlord of the north. Shouldn't he be happy at this time?

"This is the document sent directly from Luoyang yesterday." Chen Mo did not speak, and handed the bamboo slips in his hand to Xun You, asking them to read it themselves.

"Xuzhou was captured!?" Xun You looked at the bamboo slips and looked up at Chen Mo in surprise. The content of the letter was indeed not much, only more than a hundred words, but the news attached to it was indeed not happy.

Xuzhou was Cao Cao's rear. Cao Cao had always been sandwiched between Chen Mo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu. Although he occupied the two states of Yan and Yu, with a dense population and many talents, and even intercepted the emperor from Chen Mo, gaining a glimmer of hope for himself, it was still a place of four wars, surrounded by the three major princes and Liu Bei.

But now that Xuzhou has been taken, the situation is different. It is equivalent to opening a gap for himself. Originally surrounded on four sides, now it has become three sides.

Moreover, after Xuzhou was captured, Yuan Shu did not support Liu Bei and watched him be destroyed. This is really strange. Xun You remembered that at the beginning of the year, Liu Bei had sent his adviser Jian Yong to persuade Yuan Shu to form an alliance with Liu Bei.

"It happened three months ago. After all, Xuzhou is too far away from us, and the middle is under the jurisdiction of Cao Cao. The news is not smooth. I sent troops to Xiliang again, and the intelligence was not delivered in time." Chen Mo shook his head and smiled, "Brother Mengde is quite good at finding the right opportunity for war."

Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are still in an alliance, and Cao Cao chose the time when he sent troops to Xiliang to take action. This time is just right.

"Yuan Shu actually watched Liu Bei fail!?" Xu Shu looked at the bamboo slips puzzledly.

"Cao Cao appointed Sun Ce as the governor of Yangzhou." Chen Mo sighed as he looked at the bamboo slips handed back to him: "As a result, before Sun Ce did anything, Yuan Shu actually sent troops across the river to attack and destroy Sun Ce, and finally let Sun Ce hold back, and Cao Cao took the opportunity to seize Xuzhou."

Xun You and Xu Shu felt a little regretful when they heard this. Was Yuan Shu wrong? In fact, Yuan Shu was not wrong. At the beginning, he dominated the fertile and prosperous places such as Nanyang and Runan, but the two largest counties that were beaten by Cao Cao were taken away. Now only Yangzhou is left. Yuan Shu has always suppressed Sun Ce and rejected Sun Ce's positions as the prefect of Jiujiang and Lujiang. This was not a good thing for Yuan Shu, but he was also worried that Sun Ce would develop. Even after Sun Ce took Danyang, Yuan Shu sent someone to serve as the prefect of Danyang, but was driven away by Sun Ce.

It was precisely because of this that conflicts began to arise between Sun Ce and Yuan Shu, especially after Sun Ce took Kuaiji, he gradually began to get out of Yuan Shu's control.

Now Cao Cao directly gave the post of governor of Yangzhou to Sun Ce. What does Yuan Shu think? At that time, Sun Ce had even taken Wujun. Except for Yuzhang, almost all of Jiangdong was annexed by Sun Ce. His power was no less than Yuan Shu's. If he had not taken advantage of Sun Ce's stability to destroy him, Yuan Shu would have become a piece of fat meat between Sun Ce, Liu Bei and Cao Cao, and there was no place to defend. So from Yuan Shu's perspective, Yuan Shu was not wrong.

The benefits of having the emperor in hand were also reflected at this time. Just one sentence made Yuan Shu and Sun Ce break up and attack each other, which won Cao Cao a precious opportunity.

Although he had the courage of Guan Zhang and Chen Gong to help him, Liu Bei's foundation was unstable, and the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou had a strong fear of Cao Cao. Cao Cao had slaughtered Pengcheng before. After Cao Cao entered Xuzhou, many local nobles directly instigated the local county magistrate to surrender, or directly helped Cao Cao open the city gate.

Since Liu Bei entered Xuzhou, he has been governing Xuzhou with benevolence and justice, and the laws are relatively loose. First, he is new here, and to consolidate his position, he must make friends with local gentry. Second, Liu Bei has always acted in the name of benevolence and justice.

But how to say it, the disadvantage of benevolence and justice is that the cost of betrayal is low, and Cao Cao's means are ruthless, which also makes people fear. Therefore, after thinking that Liu Bei could not resist Cao Cao, almost all the counties in Xuzhou surrendered. Even if Chen Deng and his son wanted to help, Yuan Shu was dragged to Jiangdong by Sun Ce, and Cao Cao's offensive was too fierce. It took only half a month from entering Xuzhou to approaching Xiapi. The Chen family could only retreat to Guangling and handed a letter of surrender to Cao Cao, willing to surrender to the court.

Although Liu Bei had the courage of Guan Zhang and Chen Gong to advise him, Cao Cao chose the right time. He could not find any allies around him and could only fight against Cao Cao alone. In the end, Xiapi was conquered by Cao Cao because of Cao Bao's secret collusion. Liu Bei could only take his family and retreat to Donghai with the help of Mi's family. He left Langye and went directly to Yuan Tan in Qingzhou. He saved his life, but Xuzhou changed its owner. Liu Bei went from being a local lord to living under someone else's roof.

In this way, the pattern of three heroes in the Central Plains was completely formed. Cao Cao held the emperor and dominated the Central Plains. Yuan Shao occupied the three states of Qingyou and Ji. Although Sun Zan had not been completely defeated, it was only a matter of time. Chen Mo now pacified Xiliang, occupied the land of Longxing, and looked at the Central Plains. The pattern of three heroes was formed. Unless there was a major change, it would be difficult to break this pattern in a short time.

This is the outcome Chen Mo least wants to see. Even if it is Cao Cao who occupies the Central Plains, Chen Mo will never give Cao Cao any chance in this matter as long as he can hold it back.

It's a pity that God doesn't fulfill people's wishes, or rather, God never stands on anyone's side. Chen Mo wanted to eliminate the troubles and personally supervise the battle in Xiliang. It was a matter that he had decided long ago, and Cao Cao was able to seize this fleeting opportunity. At this time, everyone could only sigh at Cao Cao's wisdom.

"After all, it failed to stop it." Chen Mo sighed, then smiled and said: "It's come to this point, and it's useless to say anything else. Don't be confused because of this, and continue to do our work."

Xun You nodded silently, and he was able to take it up and put it down, and he didn't mind what had happened. In this regard, although Chen Mo was young, he did have the talent of a hero, and was not much worse than Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

"My lord, since the situation in the Central Plains has been determined, the strategy we set in the past..." Xu Shu looked at Chen Mo. According to the strategy set before, he promoted the alliance between Liu Bei, Yuan Shu and Lu Bu, and let the three of them contain Cao Cao. Chen Mo waited for an opportunity to act. After pacifying Xiliang, he marched out of Hulao and joined forces with Yuan Shao to divide Cao Cao's territory. The most important thing was to take back the emperor. After all, the court today is supported by the three dukes and nine ministers, but many rights have lost their righteousness with the establishment of the Juancheng court.

For example, Chen Mo can confer a governor of a state, but Sun Ce cannot. If Cao Cao had not conferred Sun Ce in the name of the emperor, Xuzhou would not have been so easily captured by Cao Cao.

But now Sun Ce has emerged as a new force and delayed Yuan Shu at the most critical moment, causing Cao Cao to occupy Xuzhou. Then, without Liu Bei, the previous strategy will not last long, and it will obviously be difficult to accumulate.

"Develop people's livelihood and wait for the times to change." Chen Mo knocked on the table and looked at everyone and said, "Send someone to send gifts to Cao Cao and make friends with Yuan Shao at the same time. The next battle will be difficult to fight. Let's see if we can seize Jingxiang."

Chen Mo's advantage now is the geographical advantage, and his disadvantage is the population. Guanzhong has experienced the rebellion of Dong Zhuo and Li Guo, and the population is not as good as before. Bingzhou and Xiliang are both places with a sluggish population. Although Chen Mo owns three states, in fact, even if Xiliang is added, the population may not be as good as Jizhou or Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

Population represents war potential, so when the general trend has been established and it is difficult to tell the winner in a hurry, Chen Mo thinks that it may be feasible to develop in seclusion now and then see if he can annex Jingxiang. He can consider subduing Lu Bu, and then go south to capture Jingxiang to strengthen himself. At the same time, Jingxiang is also a place with abundant money and grain.

"My lord, what you said is right, but if my lord can seize Shu, he can also gain a stable rear." Xu Shu bowed.

Shu...

Chen Mo thought about it, and finally shook his head. Shu is not easy to fight. The three heroes of the Central Plains are standing side by side, all looking at each other's weaknesses. If you want to attack Shu, you must fight quickly, but Shu is obviously not a place where you can fight quickly. Chen Mo has studied the map of Shu. If you want to fight, you can forget about it every three to five years, but whether it is Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, can you give yourself three to five years to strengthen yourself?

"The road to Shu is difficult. If our army wants to attack Shu, even with the help of Zhang Lu, it may be difficult to achieve success in a short period of time." Xun You pondered and said, "There is a lot to do in Jingxiang. If the lord can get Jingxiang, he can connect the north and the south and surpass the two great princes Yuan Shao and Cao Cao!"

The nine counties of Jingxiang are places of money and food, and there are also many people. In recent years, there have been wars in the Central Plains, and many people have fled to Jingxiang. If you can get the population and land of Jingxiang, Chen Mo can reverse the strength and weakness, with both geographical advantages and population.

"Gongda is right." Chen Mo nodded and smiled, "But the most important thing right now is to completely conquer Xiliang, stabilize the people's hearts, and develop farming."

In this era, nothing can be done without food.

"Yes!"