Xiaoxiao said: "I asked, the owner of the manor's surname is Lu and his name is Su, and his name is Zijing. He is only young!"

"Lu Su?" Ma Yue frowned, "It's so difficult to deal with the young age. Wouldn't it be even more powerful in the future? It doesn't look like a nameless person. When I go to meet him in person!"

Now what Ma Butcher lacks under his command is talents. When he meets a capable person, he must arrest him first, no matter whether he is useful or not. Even if he cannot be arrested, he must be killed, so as not to leave him to others to harm him in the future. There is a saying that goes, kindness to the enemy is cruelty to oneself, right?

Luoyang.

The Xiliang army retreated in great strides and retreated to Hangu Pass. The thirteen Guandong coalition forces followed and took the opportunity to recover Luoyang. The news spread, and all the princes celebrated each other. They were very excited because they had regained the eastern capital Luoyang, so they submitted a letter to the emperor to return to Luoyang.

But at this moment, some rumors began to spread among the Kanto Alliance.

late at night.

When Sun Jian was about to go to bed, his confidant adviser Xu Shu suddenly knelt in.

After the ceremony, Xu Shu asked in a low voice: "Has your lord heard some wind?"

Sun Jian said: "What kind of wind is heard?"

Xu Shu said: "There are rumors in the army that Liu Biao, Li Kui, Chen Ji, and Xu Gong's southern coalition forces have been destroyed. The Ma Butcher had actually led 30,000 cavalry from Wuguan to Jingxiang, and then went straight to Yangzhou along the Yangtze River. At this time, the Yangzhou counties under Yuan Shu had been killed by the Ma Butcher's 30,000 cavalry!"

After the defeat of the Southern Alliance, Li Kui was directly killed. Liu Biao, Xu Gong and Chen Ji were afraid of losing face in front of the world, so he barely gathered thousands of troops to set up a large camp in Beixi, Xiangyang, and bluffed. Coupled with Cao Cao's deliberate blockade of the news, the world did not know that the Southern Alliance had been defeated.

Sun Jian frowned and said, "Xu Gong, if Chen Ji's army was defeated, how could there be no news? Such absurd rumor is not listened to."

Xu Shu shook his head and said, "Shu thought that these rumors were not groundless."

"Oh?" Sun Jian's face changed and he said, "You're going to tell me."

Xu Shu said: "At the end of last year, General Yuan Shao and Prime Minister Cao Cao left Yingchuan at the same time and handed over the central coalition forces to Yuan Piaoqi (Yuan Shu). After that, Cao Cao did not return secretly until March in the spring, but General Yuan Shao has not returned yet. Can the lord know where General Yuan Shao and Prime Minister Cao Cao have gone?"

Sun Jian said: "Where did you go?"

Xu Shu said: "As far as Shu knows, General Yuan Shao has secretly returned to Jizhou, but Prime Minister Cao Cao led 20,000 elite troops to Wancheng."

"Yuan Shao returned to Jizhou, Cao Cao went to Wancheng?" Sun Jian said in confusion, "Why is this?"

Xu Shu said: "The general secretly returned to Jizhou, probably because he was preparing to threaten Ma Butcher's old nest from the northern road. As for Prime Minister Cao Cao leading his army to Wancheng, he probably knew in advance that Ma Butcher would lead a side army to the south and prepare to intercept Nanyang. However, by chance, Ma Butcher Ma went out of Jingxiang from Wuguan South, and Prime Minister Cao was idle!"

Sun Jian said horrifiedly: "If the butcher Ma really had led 30,000 cavalry to Jingxiang from Wuguan, the South Road coalition might have been defeated and destroyed. However, why didn't there any news from Xu Gong and Chen Ji?"

"This is exactly what I am worried about!" Xu Shu said in a voice, "It seems that some people don't want Yuan Shu and others to know that the Southern Alliance Army was defeated and that the horse butcher 30,000 iron cavalry had already ravaged Yangzhou."

"Who?" Sun Jian sternly said, "Whose intention is so vicious?"

Xu Shu asked coldly and quietly: "Who else can you?"

"You mean~~" Sun Jian said horrifiedly, "Prime Minister Cao? Why did he do this? General Highway has no grudges with him in the past and has no grudges recently. I have never offended him."

Xu Shu said in a clear voice: "But General Yuan Shu is the one with the largest territory, the largest population, the most abundant money and food, and the most military and horses among all the magistrates in the world, except for the horse butcher. Prime Minister Cao concealed the truth and did not report it. This could not only weaken General Yuan Shu's strength, but also use the coalition forces to attack the Xiliang army. It can be said that he killed two birds with one stone."

"I understand." Sun Jian said sternly, "Yuan Zhi, do you want to tell General Highway these words?"

"It depends on what the lord's ambition is." Xu Shu said this and said Youyou, "If the lord is willing to be the minion of Yuan Shu for the rest of his life, he can tell him this. But if the lord wants to achieve hegemony and become an important official in supporting the Han Dynasty, he should not tell Yuan Shu these words."

"Yuan Zhi said~~" Sun Jian said in a deep voice, "Let the butcher's army rage in Yangzhou?"

"Yes!" Xu Shu said in a silent voice, "It is harmful to the lord to be too strong. If you can use Ma Yue's butcher's knife to weaken General Yuan Shu's strength, why not do it? Moreover, the horse butcher ravaged Jiangbei and had a huge advantage, which could force the gentry in Jiangbei to move to Jiangdong. In this way, the talents under the lord's rule will flourish."

Sun Jian said: "What if the horse butcher crosses the river to harass Wu County, what should we do?"

"Lord, don't worry." Xu Shu stroked his beard and smiled, "It's almost May now, and the land of Jiangdong is about to enter the annual plum rain season. The Xiliang army has been in the northwest for a long time and is familiar with the drought weather in the northwest. It is difficult to adapt to the humid and stuffy weather in Jiangdong. If the horse butcher is wise enough, he will not rashly cross the river to march into Jiangdong."

Sun Jian nodded and said, "Well, what Yuan Zhi said is very reasonable."

"And~~" Xu Shu took a breath and continued, "The situation is gradually becoming clearer, so Shu can guess the overall strategy of Ma Butcher and Jia Dushi."

"Oh?" Sun Jian said happily, "I heard it was detailed."

Xu Shu said: "Although Ma Butcher's command has as many as 200,000 soldiers in Xiliang and his servants, there are only tens of thousands of elite soldiers who can truly fight. They lack the chance of winning in the head-on decisive battle, and the army lacks food, so it is difficult to confront the coalition forces for a long time. Therefore, the core of its strategy is to use surprise troops to harass the side and rear, forcing the coalition forces to collapse and retreat!"

Sun Jian nodded and said, "That's how fate comes."

Xu Shu said again: "At present, the butcher's side troops are moving to Yangzhou. If nothing unexpected happens, they will continue to go north to invade Xuzhou, even Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Qingzhou. In addition, the Xiliang army withdrew from Luoyang again. After conquering Luoyang, the coalition forces will definitely lack sufficient enterprising spirit. When they hear the fire in the backyard, they will most likely disband and withdraw."

"This is also the reason why Cao Cao deliberately blocked the news?" Sun Jian said, "If the coalition forces disbanded at this time, the Western Liang cavalry would definitely make a comeback. With Cao Cao's military strength alone, Luoyang would definitely not be able to defend it. If Luoyang is trapped, Cao Cao's Yanzhou will face the threat of the Western Liang army alone. No matter what you want to do, you will feel a thorn in your back."

"That's right." Xu Shu said in a narrow voice, "No accident, Cao Cao is likely to lobby Yuan Shu to lead the coalition forces to attack Hangu Pass! As long as Hangu Pass is captured, the Cao army can block hundreds of thousands of Western Liang cavalry west of Hangu by relying on the natural danger of the pass! Only in this way can Cao Cao rest assured."

Sun Jian said: "What should we do? Should we support Cao Cao or destroy his conspiracy?"

Xu Shu said: "From the current situation, it is difficult for the coalition forces to resolve the threat of Ma butcher in one battle. Therefore, having Cao Cao in Yanzhou to block the Xiliang Legion's troops is beneficial to all the princes in Guandong. However, in the long run, Cao Cao is a man with great talent and a hundred times more capable than the Yuan brothers. Tao Qian, Lu Bu and others are even more difficult to compare. In the future, this lord may become a major concern for the lord. Therefore, it is not a bad choice to cut it off when his wings are not yet full."

Sun Jian pondered for a moment and asked Xu Shu: "Cao Cao's troubles are more than that of the horse butcher?"

Xu Shu shook his head and said, "No."

Sun Jian gritted his teeth and said, "Then support him."

Lu Bu's big tent.

Chen Gong bowed to Lu Bu and said, "General, Luoyang has been restored, and the 23 coalition forces have succeeded in the fight against rebellion, so there is no need for the coalition forces to continue to exist. When Prime Minister Cao's banquet for all the princes tomorrow, the general should resign on the ground that the land needs to be governed, and remember."

Lu Bu said in confusion: "The words of Gongtai are not bad. Although Luoyang is now restored, the horse has not been eliminated, and the battle to fight against the rebellion is far from successful."

Chen Gong sighed, and wanted to reveal Cao Cao's plan (Xu Shu could guess, Chen Gong could guess), but then he thought that he had also had a fight with Cao Cao. Cao Cao was not kind, but he could not be unrighteous. So he gave up his thoughts and said, "Since that's the case, the general will say nothing."

Xuyi, the foothills of Nanshan (now Xuyi Mountain).

A Xuyi gangster pointed to the mountain in front of him and said to Ma Yue: "General, the mountain in front is called Xuyi Mountain, and the village at the foot of the mountain is called Lu Village, which is the manor of Lu Su. Although no one in the Lu family is an official, they have been doing business for generations and have rich wealth. They have their industries within a hundred miles of radius. Most of the farmers in the farm are their tenants."

"Um."

Ma Yue nodded and looked around and saw that Lu Village was surrounded by Xuyi Mountain in the north, with rivers in the west and south, and on the east, there was a vast land of paddy fields. It was spring plowing time, and the paddy fields were filled with water, and the fields were extremely narrow and muddy. Such a terrain was indeed not conducive to cavalry operations. No wonder Li Meng suffered a great loss here.

Ma Yue asked again: "What do Lu Su like to do in daily life?"

The thug said, "This Lu Su is eight feet tall and very handsome. He likes sword skills, riding and shooting. He is also generous. Because of his wealth, Lu Su ordered people to buy equipment and armor, so that the tenants in the village were dressed neatly. During the slack farm, he was trained in the fields by the fields, and he looked like an official army. In autumn, he would call his friends to hunt on the Nanshan Mountain, and in rain, he would gather friends to teach military skills in the village. Young men from a hundred miles away liked to date him."

"Hmm." Ma Yue asked casually, "Who are there people dating Lu Su?"

"Many, but there are only two people with the best friendship with Lu Su." said the thug. "One of them is called Sun Lang, and I don't know what the name is. She is full of brute force, and an iron spear is about to open. A hundred and ten young men cannot get close to her. She is a loud hero! The other one is named Zhou, who is a little white-faced, and she has no ability but can play a good piano."

"Sun Lang? The surname is Zhou?"
Chapter completed!