The next morning, Man Chong bid farewell to his family and took office with a few of them.

I don’t know if it is because I truly believe in the Legalists. The family has family property and some peasants who have subordinates, but they do not have a large number of armed forces, so there is no such thing as a force. Not only the Man family, but many aristocratic families in Shanyang are like this. They are still accustomed to calling for wind and rain within the system. If they get the support of the governor and the county magistrate, they can do whatever they want. Without support, they can only stand aside.

If there was strong force, Zhang Jian would not have fled far away like a betrayed dog. He could just hide in the mountains next to him. Even if the court sent a large army to fight, he would not be able to find him for a year or two. Liu Biao became the governor of Jingzhou, and his horse entered Yicheng, but he had no troops to follow him. On the contrary, a place like the Li family in Juye had no scruples, recruited a group of heroes, raised thousands of tourists, and ran around the countryside.

This may be the continuation of different thinking. When the imperial power was still stable, no matter how powerful the powerful was, he would not dare to go against the government head-on. The prefect had no troops, but the prefect could summon county soldiers. If the prefect was not good, there would be a governor. If the governor was not good, he could ask the court to mobilize more people. No tyrant could withstand it. Sooner or later, the advantage of being an official was obvious, so the Shanyang family was accustomed to becoming officials and looked down on the local tyrants who recruited the divisions.

Sun Ce was able to sweep the way with three thousand squads and cavalry, but he almost never encountered decent resistance. This is also because of this reason. If he met the Li family of Juye, he would not have been so relaxed. The reason why he had not met it was just because it happened. Juye was in the northwest of Shanyang, next to the famous Juye Ze, and was nearly a hundred miles away from Changyi.

Man Chong abides with his promise to Yuan Tan and does not reveal a single Yuan Tan's arrangement. But Sun Ce verified his guess from the side: Yuan Tan is sending more reinforcements and using the power of the entire Yanzhou to fight him, and the total force will reach more than 50,000, or even more.

He had a large state like Yuzhou, but he could not realize his potential. He could use less than 30,000 main forces, and most of them were the Jiangdong soldiers he had just formed. The county and state soldiers were less than 30,000, and they were scattered in various places and could not fight in a concentrated manner. Sun Ce could designate a prefect and a prime minister, but he could not arrange military marquis and commanders among the county and state soldiers. The middle and lower-level officers who control the county and state soldiers were still local tyrants. Sun Ce had limited control over the county and state soldiers, and it was okay to use them to protect the place. Once he left the local expedition, there would be many problems.

In the final analysis, it is because the powerful people in Yuzhou don’t look down on Sun Ce and are unwilling to support him. If Yuzhou falls into Yuan Tan’s hands, with a population of more than 6 million, how many people can Yuan Tan organize? I dare not say that if I have too many, it should not be a problem.

This situation is not something that only happens now. Sun Ce was mentally prepared and included it in the entire plan.

Soon, Yuan Xu, the prefect of Jiyin, led more than 15,000 people to come, less than thirty miles from Changyi.

Sun Ce immediately ordered Lu Fan to fight, while he led the infantry and cavalry to monitor Yuan Tan in Changyi City.

——

Liang Ting.

Lu Fan stood on the platform that had just stood up with his hands behind his back, paced back and forth, and looked up at the horizon in the distance from time to time.

From Dingtao to Changyi, this was the only way to go. After receiving Sun Ce's order, he rushed here to set up a formation.

He claimed to have more than 10,000 people, but in fact there were only more than 5,000 people, less than half of Yuan Xu. However, he was not afraid of the formation at all. He had been guarding Suiyang for more than two years and had experienced several wars of all sizes. Not long ago, he was besieged by Yuan Tan's 50,000 troops. He was already used to this situation.

Liang State was a small country with few household registrations, and at its highest time there were only more than 80,000 households. After several years of Yellow Turbans and the melee of states and counties, the actual household registration was less than 60,000, and there were about 10,000 soldiers in the county and state. However, Suiyang was a key place and there could not be any mistakes. So he left half of the people to the deputy general Qiao Bao, asking him to guard Suiyang. Qiao Bao was Qiao Rui's younger brother, with average ability, but no loyalty.

Smoke and dust appeared faintly on the horizon in the distance, which was relatively low and flat, which was a sign of the appearance of infantrymen.

A scout came on horseback, reporting the latest news, verifying Lu Fan's guess.

Lu Fan let out a breath, sat down, and pinched his sleeves. Sun Ce's order was hidden in the sleeves, with only a few words on it: Win first and then lose, preserve his strength. He understood Sun Ce's intention, but felt a pity. After running so far, he could not fight quickly, and he would still lose to Yuan Xu, a chatterer. It was really frustrating.

——

Yuan Xu leaned against the wall of the carriage, shaking his body as the carriage advanced, and was drowsy until he was woken up by the county official Wang Si.

"The Lord of the Fu, the front is called Liang Ting. The forward reported that Lu Fan sets up the formation here."

Yuan Xu Muran came to his senses after a while. "How many people are there in Lu Fan?"

"It is equivalent to our army, with more than 10,000 people." Wang Si paused for a moment and said again: "However, I suspect it is a suspicious soldier."

Yuan Xu looked at Wang Si and couldn't help but want to laugh. Wang Si was very young, less than 20 years old, and he only joined the company not long ago. "Have you led the army?"

Wang Si frowned, very unhappy, but he still held back his temper. "Mr. Sui Yang has so many populations, and the number of powerful men is limited, and his troops are roughly limited. I heard people say that Sui Yang has only more than 10,000 people in total. Now that Lu Fan is on the expedition, how can he take them all away and not leave them to defend the city?"

Yuan Xu thought about it and felt something was right. He looked at Wang Si again. "I told the troops to be careful and prepare for the battle. I first explore Lu Fanxushi. If he really lacks military strength, we might be able to defeat him."

Wang Si responded and turned around. Yuan Xu got off the couch, picked up the book landing on the ground, got out of the carriage, stretched. Looking at the soldiers who were moving forward on both sides, he beat his sore waist and sighed. He hated this kind of life more and more. If Yuan Tan hadn't been trapped in Changyi City, if Changyi had only two or three days away from Dingtao, he really didn't want to come.

He didn't want to fight, nor did he want to fight with Sun Ce. The last time he went to Xiaoxian to cooperate with Liu Bei in the battle, he was beaten to death by Sun Ce. If he hadn't been lucky enough to have heavy rain, they might have been trapped by Sun Ce in Xiaoxian. The escape that night made him feel scared. The desperate screams of the soldiers who were swallowed by the swamp were lingering in his ears before his death, making him not want to experience it again.

"Maybe I should give up my official position and go back to my hometown in Ruyang to study, and watch the success or failure." Yuan Xu thought to himself. He and Yuan Shu are half-brothers, Sun Ce is the heir designated by Yuan Shu, and he is also Yuan Shu's son-in-law. He doesn't want to make achievements, but just want to read quietly. Sun Ce should not be difficult for him. If it really doesn't work, he will talk to Yuan Quan and he will always give this little face.

This idea has been in Yuan Xu's mind for a long time, but he has never dared to mention it, for fear that Yuan Shao will hate him. He still knows what kind of person Yuan Shao is. If Yuan Shao feels offended, he will not have a good result in Yuan Shao's victory in the future.

"Dongdongdongdong...Dongdongdongdong..."
Chapter completed!