The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Wuguan was occupied by Liu Bei's troops, and the road from Nanyang to Chang'an was no longer smooth and had been cut off. Therefore, the military order to enter Chang'an in the west just yesterday to take Guanzhong had to become a deadly defender of Nanyang.

It was just a day later that two very different military orders were passed down. Needless to say, this made the already chaotic military morale of Zhang Xun and other soldiers under Yuan Shu even more chaotic.

Although when Yuan Shu met Li Ye's subsequent summons, Zhang Xun and others all expressed their loyalty to Yuan Shu and expressed their willingness to follow Yuan Shu's orders to guard Nanyang and fight Xun Zhen and Liu Biao's troops to the death, but they really did this. Do you want to? These do not need to be said.

…

In the west of Wanxian County, more than a hundred miles away, Liguo County is home to the large camp of Guo Si.

The military report that Wuguan was occupied by Liu Bei's troops was sent to Yuan Shu by Guo Si, so of course he knew the news earlier than Yuan Shu. He learned about the news yesterday. When he heard the news, Guo Si called Li Ru and other civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures. After a day of discussion yesterday, everyone talked a lot and said a lot, but a good countermeasure is Not one was discussed.

Guo Si couldn't sleep well last night, so early this morning, he summoned Li Ru again to meet him alone.

Although Li Ru was Li Jue's advisor, he had to be transferred to Guo Si's account after Li Jue killed him. There is no direct contradiction, he is just a strategist, and when he was under Li Jue, he also respected Guo Si, so after he got his change, Guo Si has always been good to him.

The wise men in the Liangzhou army were no more than Jia Xu and Li Ru. Jia Xu had already abandoned the Liangzhou army and went into the tent of Xunzhen, and now the only one who can use it is Li Ru, so Guo Si today Summon him alone and ask him again for advice.

When Li Ru arrived, Guo Si got straight to the point and said, "I heard you talk about it for a day yesterday, but I didn't tell me anything about it. Last night I stayed up all night, tossing and turning! In two days at most, Xun thief will be under his command. It is about to arrive at Nanyang North County. Not long ago, the military report said that Liu Jingsheng also sent troops out of Xiangyang. Although Liu Jingsheng sent troops a little later, but Xiangyang is only 30 or 40 miles away from the southern boundary of Nanyang, the time for his troops to enter Nanyang will probably be It was earlier than the Xun thief! There is a chance that the southern border of Nanyang will start a war today. The two enemies attacked with great momentum, but Wuguan was seized first by Liu Bei, and the road to Chang'an was cut off. The situation is critical, what should we do? Why should it be right? It can't be delayed any longer. We must come up with a plan today! After going back last night, do you have to think about it again?"

Last night, Guo Si couldn't sleep all night. At this critical moment, when Li Ru returned, how could he have such a big heart and be able to fall asleep? Also awake all night.

Looking at him at this time, he looked similar to Guo Si, with dark circles and bloodshot eyes. Obviously he also stayed up all night.

After staying up all night, his eyes couldn't help being jerky, Li Ru rubbed his eyes, replied Guo Si, and said, "General, Ru didn't sleep last night. for selection."

"Which two countermeasures?"

"This countermeasure is the one discussed yesterday, to help Yuan Shu guard Nanyang."

Guo Si frowned and said, "Isn't it discussed yesterday, everyone thought this was a no-brainer. Why, do you think Nanyang can hold on?"

The invincibility of the battle of King Xunzhenqin, especially the great victory of the battle of Hongmenting, not only made Guo Si have a strong fear of Xunzhen, but also made Li Ru feel frightened when he thinks of Xunzhen, he hesitated, to tell the truth, He replied to Guo Si, saying: "General Hui's words, in my humble opinion, if the soldiers and horses of General Zuo's army are as good as those of the general, then Nanyang can still be defended. , but the combat power is not strong, and it is expected that the people in the army must be panicked, the army is uneasy, Nanyang

The county is only three or four hundred miles away from the north and south, so it's a cramped place, and it's probably not easy to defend with this army of demoralized soldiers. "

Guo Si said dissatisfiedly: "Since you still feel that you can't keep it, you have proposed this strategy again!"

Li Ru said, "General, if this strategy cannot be used, there is only one strategy left."

Guo Si asked eagerly, "What is it? You don't want to be a jerk, tell me quickly!"

"General, this strategy is to go south to Liu Jingsheng."

Guo Si was stunned for a while, then said, "Go south to vote for Liu Biao?"

"Yes, General, only this strategy is available."

Guo Si lowered his head, touched his beard, thought for a long time, raised his face, and asked Li Ye, "If I vote for Liu Biao, will Liu Biao accept me? You forgot, Xun thief asked the imperial court in front of him. In my name, I gave Yuan Gonggong so-called decrees twice, slandering me as a traitor, and telling Yuan Gonggong to hand me over to the court? And what I just saw yesterday was the so-called retribution handed down by the thief in the name of the court, Among the various crimes of Yuan Gonggong listed, one is that he hid me! In this case, I have no contact with Liu Biao, even if I am willing to join, I am afraid that he will not accept me, right?"

"What the general said is true, but the general did not consider the other two aspects."

Guo Si asked, "Which other two aspects?"

"On the one hand, although the general and Liu Jingsheng did not have private contacts, when the general was in power, he treated Liu Jingsheng extremely well. His generals such as Zhennan General, Jingzhou Shepherd and other officials were all given to him by the general. It can be said that Liu Jingsheng's stability in Xiangyang today is due to the strength of the general. He will never forget the general's kindness to Liu Jingsheng in the past."

Guo Si took it seriously, and said, "You're right, what's the other way around?"

"On the other hand, I dare to ask the generals to imagine that even though Liu Jingsheng is joining forces with the Xun thief to fight Nanyang, what will happen after Nanyang is conquered? At that time, Liu Jingsheng and Xun Zhen's territory will border on each other. "With Xun's thief's army strong and strong, and relying on the emperor to show his selfish intentions, Liu Jingsheng will naturally change from coalition troops to fear of Xun's thieves! The general is willing to take the initiative to vote for him at this moment, how could Liu Jingsheng not be extremely happy?"

Guo Si nodded again and again and said, "Yes, yes, your words are very reasonable!"

"The combination of the two, because of Confucianism, if the general were to surrender now, not only would he not refuse to accept the general, but he would definitely welcome the general warmly!"

Guo Si stroked his beard, raised his face, and let out a long sigh.

Guo Si seemed to have been persuaded, but why did he suddenly sigh? Li Ru was puzzled and asked, "Why did the general sigh? But do you think what Confucian said was wrong?"

"I'm not sighing because what you said is wrong. What I'm sighing is that I never thought that I, Guo Si, would have what I am today! I have fallen to the point where Jia Yong wants to survive!"

Li Ru was speechless, speechless.

Guo Si said: "That's it! If there is really no other way, you can only use this strategy." After a pause, he glanced at Li Ru, hesitated for a moment, and said, "But I came up with another one last night. I don't know if it's feasible or not."

"What did the general come up with?"

Guo Bian hesitated and said, "What do you think... What if I surrendered to the imperial court?"

Li Ru was taken aback and said, "Why did the general have this idea?"

"Didn't I hear that the imperial court issued a decree to Lu Bu again and again, and tried to win over him? In the previous imperial decree, the generals under Lu Bu's account were even awarded to generals, Zhonglang generals and other officials. The power of the dynasty is now in the hands of chariots, and these imperial decrees to Lu Bu and his generals must be in accordance with the meaning of chariots. If Lu Bu and Sun Ce have a vengeance for killing their father, chariots can treat them like this. After all, I have no hatred with Sun Ce, and even less with Che Qi, and the one who ruled Chang’an before, can’t really count me, it’s Li Jue! I’m just an assistant, so will Che Qi accept my surrender? Possibly? ... As long as the chariots accept it, won't the imperial court accept it?"

Li Ru wondered how to answer Guo Si for a while, and finally answered: "General, in Confucianism's humble opinion, I am afraid that the chariot will not accept it."

"Why not?"

Li Ru said, "This..."

Guo Si urged: "Why not, just speak straight!"

Why didn't the court accept Guo Si's surrender? Could it be that Guo Si didn't count? When he was in Chang'an before, Li Jue was indeed the top leader, but Guo Si didn't do anything good either. He insulted ministers and bullied Liu Xie. I wonder what happened to Liu Xie being bullied by them? How could he possibly be forgiven! Although it is true that Guo Si and Xun Zhen have no personal enmity, and although it is indeed Xun Zhen who is currently in power in the court, how could Xun Zhen make Liu Xie unhappy because of a Guo Si?

It was really difficult to tell Guo Si these words truthfully, so Li Ru had to say: "General, Confucianism has a foolish opinion, it is very difficult for this strategy to succeed. It is better to get in touch with Liu Jingsheng first. Let's see how he reacts, if it doesn't work, it's not too late to discuss surrendering to the imperial court."

Guo Si didn't sleep all night last night, which really made him come up with several countermeasures. Seeing that Li Ru did not agree with his strategy, he told him another strategy that he thought of, asked Li Ru's opinion, and said: "If it is difficult for the imperial court, the Xun thief may not accept my surrender. If I immediately lead troops to attack Wuguan in the west and return to Chang'an, what do you think?"

"...Isn't the general afraid that the Wuguan in front has not yet entered, and the soldiers and horses of Xun and Liu Jingsheng have already arrived?"

Guo Si said, "There are 20,000 to 30,000 horses on Yuan Highway, so there's no way that Xun and Liu Biao can't stop them for ten days and a half months? As long as he can stop them for ten days, I will definitely be able to capture Wuguan!"

"It was the general who was able to successfully take down Wuguan and return to Chang'an, but the general has more than 10,000 troops. After arriving in Chang'an, where will the grains come from?"

Xiaguan is now in ruins and the people are withering away. This is indeed the biggest problem.

Guo Si also took this into consideration last night. He originally thought that Li Ru might have a solution, but now it seems that Li Ru also has this problem.

There was no way, no way, so he had to give up the strategy he thought of.

——But I said that when Yuan Shu asked Guo Si and Li Ru to ask before, didn’t they both agree with Yuan Shu’s entry into Chang’an? Then why did Li Ru not talk about the issue of "grain and grain" at that time, but he did so now, so he did not approve of Guo Si's return to Chang'an?

The reason is also very simple.

Yuan Shu has grain storage, and his grain storage is enough for his soldiers and horses for the remaining years. Guo Si is now a guest army in Nanyang, and he relies on Yuan Shu for his daily military supplies. He has no grain storage. When Yuan Shu proposed to enter Chang'an westward, the plan was to rely on Yuan Shu's grain storage to supply the troops' daily needs first, and then use Nanyang Ding Zhuang and others who were bound to Chang'an to settle the fields during this period. After calculating, he could almost stay in Chang'an. . But now that Yuan Shu is gone, if only Guo Si leads his troops to return to Chang'an, the supply of food will of course be a problem.

Neither of the two methods proposed by Guo Si could be used. In the end, the only option was to rely on Liu Biao proposed by Li Ru.

The two agreed to first, according to Yuan Shu's military order, concentrate the main force in the area of ​​Liguo County to form an antagonism with Wancheng, and then wait and see the situation after Xun Zhen and Liu Biao's armies fought against Yuan Shu, and look at Yuan Shu. Can you defend Nanyang? If you can, help him. If Yuan Shu can't keep it, Li Ru will secretly go to Liu Biao as a messenger and surrender to Liu Biao.

Li Ru assured Guo Si that he would do his best to persuade Liu Biao for Guo Si to accept Guo Si's surrender.

…

On the day when Guo Si summoned Li Ru to discuss countermeasures again, Wan County.

In the afternoon, the emissary selected by Yuan Shu, his subordinate officials, and the **** Zhao, left the county and headed north to Jizhou.

From Wanxian County to the north, first cross West Hubei, then Bowang, then Duyang and other counties, all the way north, about two hundred miles, to the border of Luyang County.

Although I did not walk slowly, especially the dozens of miles from Wanxian County to Bowang were by boat, the speed was faster, but it took two days before and after.

When they reached the southern border of Luyang County, the former servants sent out to report back in panic, saying that the vanguard of Xunzhen's tribe had entered the northern border of Luyang.

The messenger asked Eunuch Zhao and said, "Where is the path you mentioned?"

Eunuch Zhao pointed to Mount Lu in the northwest and said, "Then it's on the edge of Mount Lu!"

The south of the mountain and the north of the water are the sun, and Luyang got its name because it is in the southeast of Lushan.

The messenger heard Zhao Eunuch's words, ordered the follower, and said: "Since the chariot pioneer has entered Luyang, it is estimated that the siege of Luyang County will soon be launched. We cannot leave the county, and we must detour now. ."

The followers obeyed the order, and the group turned around, bypassing Luyang County far away, and heading towards Lushan.

Lushan stretches on the border between Nanyang County and Yingchuan County. After crossing this mountain and going east for less than a hundred miles, it is the county seat of Jiaxian County in Yingchuan County. But after walking for a long time, when they reached the bottom of the mountain, everyone followed Eunuch Zhao to find the path he mentioned. After walking a short distance, Eunuch Zhao suddenly covered his stomach and said, "Ah, my stomach hurts! Excuse me! You wait for a while, little slave." After speaking, without waiting for the envoy to answer, he ran into the forest.

The messenger waited outside the forest for half an hour, but **** Zhao still did not come out.

The messenger was suspicious, UU reading www.uukanshu.com secretly pondered, was it eaten by a beast? People go to the woods to find.

And a few from the official entered the forest, looking around, where is the figure of Zhao eunuch?

If the messenger didn't understand at this time, it would be too stupid. He had already guessed that Eunuch Zhao must have slipped away and escaped under the pretext of diarrhea.

Outside the forest, the messenger stood dumbfounded for a while. The Servants looked at each other and asked him what to do next? Without Eunuch Zhao to lead the way, now that I think about it, it is estimated that Eunuch Zhao’s words must have deceived Yuan Shu. It was obvious that Ye County had no way to go, so they had to turn back to Wan County. The messenger scolded Eunuch Zhao for a while, and reluctantly returned to Wanxian County, but there was no need to say more.

It is only said that Eunuch Zhao, as the messenger guessed, did run away under the pretext of having diarrhea, but he did not flee home, but went to the vanguard of the Xunzhen tribe in the north of Luyang County. Then, since he escaped, his home is in Nanyang, why didn't he go home? But it was because his home was in Nanyang that he couldn't escape home. After Yuan Shu heard the news, he would definitely send someone to his house to arrest him. Maybe his family members and clansmen would be killed by Yuan Shu for venting his anger. How could he dare to escape home and throw himself into the net.

As for not going home and escaping to other places, now that the army is in chaos, where can he escape as a eunuch? So he had to go to Xun Zhen.

It is false to say that the trails you know can cross the border, but this **** is indeed quite familiar with the roads of Nanyang. outside the camp.

In this attack on Nanyang, the vanguard appointed by Xun Zhen was Wenpin.

Hearing that the patrolling rangers came to report, Wen Pin said in surprise, "What did you say?"