In Guangling City, Tai Shi Ci strode into the Prefect's Mansion, raised his hands to Chen Deng who was already waiting inside and said, "I've seen the Prefect, why are you calling Ci?"
Chen Deng hurriedly asked Taishi Ci to sit down, placed several rolls of silk in front of Taishi Ci, and said, "The envoy sent you a letter from Youzhou, and Dengte came to inform the general."
Taishi Ci picked up the silk book and read it carefully, frowning, a little confused: "Young master said, if you have a good relationship with Liu Yao, if you have the opportunity to meet people from Jiangdong, how many people can you try to make friends with?"
"Liu Ye?"
"Lu Yi, or Lu Xun?"
"Lu Fan?"
"Bu Zhao?"
"Ci is ignorant and ignorant. What are the backgrounds of these people? Is it worth sending you a special urgent letter?"
Chen Deng said: "Some of these people are already somewhat famous, but there are also some that I have rarely heard of. I only learned about the origins of these people after doing a lot of research."
After he told the backgrounds of these people one by one, he said: "Young Master has always had a unique eye for people. Since he is the person he wants us to pay attention to, there must be something special about him."
Taishi Ci thought of Yuan Xi's lack of hesitation when he recruited himself, Tian Yu and others, and was deeply impressed.
He wondered if Yuan Xi had such a good eye for seeing people, was there an expert guiding him behind his back, or was he himself an expert?
Is it possible that he really knows how to stargaze?
Chen Deng pointed to the silk book and said: "Young Master specifically said in the letter that if there is a change in Jiangdong, we can wait for an opportunity to find the whereabouts of these people and recruit them. The conditions are to let us do whatever we want, and the Young Master will make the decision in the future."
"As for whether to expand the territory, it is not the most important. If there is a chance, you can spy on Jiujiang County to the west of Guangling, but do not cross the river."
Taishi Ci was convinced that the Guangling naval force had not yet been fully trained, and even if it crossed the river now, it would not be able to occupy it with its current strength.
He smelled a scent keenly, "Master, what do you mean when you say there are changes in Jiangdong?"
Chen Deng thought for a while and said slowly: "Deng is making wild speculations. It is very likely that Yuan Shu will proclaim himself emperor in the near future."
"What!" Tai Shici was shocked, "It's impossible, how could he be so bold!"
Chen Deng told Yuan Shu about detaining his second brother and sending a private letter to recruit Chen Gui. After hearing this, Taishi Ci said angrily: "This Yuan Shu is so bold and reckless!"
Then he praised: "Mr. Han Yu is upright and admirable, but Mr. Yuan Long's second brother has disappeared?"
After hearing this, Chen Deng said slowly: "I'm afraid the second brother is in trouble."
Tai Shici consoled him: "Things may not be so bad. It may be that he is locked up."
"If Yuan Shu becomes emperor, he will not be tolerated by the world. I look at the words and deeds of the young master and we will definitely wait for the opportunity to attack Yuan Shu together."
"When the time comes, I will lead troops to attack Yuan Shu's lair, and maybe I will be able to rescue Yuan Long's second brother, who knows."
Although Chen Deng felt that there was little hope, he thanked him repeatedly and added: "But Sun Ce under Yuan Shu is really difficult to deal with. The day before yesterday, he actually sent a navy to spy on Guangling Port. Fortunately, he was repulsed by the general."
Taishi Ci smiled and said: "The soldiers are getting stronger as we fight. I'm afraid he won't come!"
"Sun Ce is indeed difficult to defeat, but if he relies on Yuan Shu and waits for Yuan Shu to become emperor, can Sun Ce stop all the princes in the world with him?"
Chen Deng said: "I'm afraid Liu Yao won't be able to hold on."
"If Sun Ce crosses the river and breaks into Wu Commandery, he will have overwhelming power going south. If he captures Kuaiji, he will capture all of Yangzhou. In this way, Yuan Shu will indeed have the capital to proclaim himself emperor."
Taishi Ci felt the same way, "Liu Yao's envoy stayed there and was much more polite. He was afraid that Sun Ce's attack would be urgent and they would be unable to withstand it."
"What should we do if Liu Yao is defeated?"
"At that time, we will send a letter to ask the young master, but it will be too late."
Chen Deng thought about it. In the silk book, Yuan Xi hinted that Sun Ce might not follow Yuan Shu to the end. The current situation in Jiangdong was so complicated that Chen Deng was hesitant.
However, Yuan Xi asked Chen Deng to act easily and make his own decisions when encountering problems, which gave Chen Deng even more headaches.
I decide it myself?
This is related to the general trend of the world. How can you be such a master if you are so arrogant?
Chen Deng thought for a while and then said, "How about this?"
"The general will send some spies to Jiangdong to find the whereabouts of the people the envoy mentioned. If they are found, he will find a way to bring them to Guangling."
"On the other hand, I heard that Haixi City has sent out several caravans one after another to look for cotton in Annan. This is something that your Majesty attaches great importance to, and there is no room for failure."
"If Liu Yao loses Yangzhou, the commercial sea route from Guangling to the south will be cut off by Yuan Shu, which will ruin the great mission of the envoy."
"So the top priority is to find ways to prevent Liu Yao from being defeated so quickly."
After hearing this, Taishi Ci smiled and said: "Sir, are you afraid that I still care about the slighting caused by Liu Yao's envoy?"
"Although Ci is not talented, how could he miss the important things of the young master just because of his anger?"
"Everything should be done at the discretion of Mr. Yuan Long."
A few days later, Liu Yao's envoy returned to the Wujun government office to establish a business and met with Liu Yao.
Liu Yao saw him and said, "You're back. How come it takes so long to come and go?"
There was cold sweat seeping out of the messenger's vest, and he naturally guessed that it was probably because he had slighted Tai Shi Ci, and Yuan Xi deliberately left him there.
Yuan Xi went north to Youzhou, but he never saw him again. He also gave Tai Shici full responsibility for the military affairs in Guangling. How could the envoy not guess that he had offended someone?
He was unable to advance or retreat, and he did not dare to come back to resume his life, so he had to stay in Guangling City.
Fortunately for him, Taishi Ci came to see him a few days ago and said that there was an emergency in Youzhou, so Yuan Shijun was in a hurry to go back. Now he sent a letter from there, saying that he could join forces with Liu Yao.
But when it came to specific matters, Taishi Ci only said that if the port on the Liu Yao River was attacked, Guangling would come to help, but he made no other promises.
The envoy didn't know yet, so these were all excuses, but with Taishi Ci's promise, it was better than nothing, so he came back to report to Liu Yao.
Liu Yao was a little disappointed after hearing this, but he also felt a little more at ease. The more casual the other party was, the more it showed that he had no plot against Yangzhou.
After all, Yuan Xi teaches you the governor of Youzhou, and Guangling is an enclave. In the eyes of the other party, maintaining the status quo is probably the best choice, right?
He asked: "What does the other party want?"
The messenger answered honestly: "The other party has only one request."
"It is said that Guangling County is short of officials. If there are talented and courageous young scholars in Yangzhou, they will not refuse anyone who comes there, and they can be assigned appropriate official positions."
After hearing this, Liu Yao asked doubtfully: "Young scholar? Not an older one?"
The messenger answered honestly: "That's exactly what the other person said."
He nodded and said: "I understand, please step back."
He thought to himself that this was not an easy task. If the other party wanted young scholars, he could just recommend a few of them.
Anyway, I have Xu Shao here to look after me. When the time comes, let him control the situation and keep the most talented people by myself. Those who Xu Shao doesn't like can be sent to Guangling.
At this moment, Xu Shao walked in with a gloomy look, holding an urgent letter in his hand.
When Liu Yao saw it, he suddenly felt something bad and said: "Mr. Zijiang, what happened?"
Xu Shao handed over the urgent message and said in a solemn voice: "Something happened in Yuzhang County!"
When Liu Yao unfolded the bamboo slips and took a look, he was struck by thunder.
Zhu Hao, the governor of Yuzhang, was killed by Zuo Rong who defected to Liu Yao!
Xu Shao shook his head and sighed: "The state pastor didn't listen to my advice, which led to what happened today!"
Liu Yao gritted his teeth and said: "I didn't expect, I really didn't expect that the dog thief Zuo Rong would do it again and again!"
"I thought he was a powerful Buddhist in building the pagoda temple and establishing the Buddhist Bathing Association in Xuzhou, but I didn't expect him to be so vicious!"
In fact, what Liu Yao said is correct. Zuo Rong was the first to flourish Buddhism in the south of the Yangtze River. He was an ancestor-level figure in later generations of Buddhism. Without him, there would not have been the grand occasion of the 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties.
However, it is difficult to distinguish between heart and deeds. Zuo Rong has the heart to worship Buddha, but it is difficult for people to comment on his behavior.
From Zhao Yu to Xue Li and then to Zhu Hao, maybe they all suffered because they only saw the surface?
As a general under Tao Qian, Zuo Rong first defected to Zhao Yu, the prefect of Guangling, and then took the opportunity to kill him, plundered his property and fled to Jiangdong, where he became attached to Liu Yao.
At this time, Sun Ce had been attacking Liu Yao and had been fighting near Qu'a for more than a year.
The cause of the Battle of Qu'a was that after Liu Yao took control of Qu'a, he forced out Yuan Shu's subordinates Wu Jing and Sun Bi in Danyang, and set up military strongholds along the Yangtze River to prevent Yuan Shufang's counterattack.
So Sun Ce followed Yuan Shu's order to attack Qu'a. The first big city on the route was Moling.
"Jiang Biao Zhuan" records, "At that time, Xue Li, the Prime Minister of Pengcheng, and Zuo Rongyi Yao, the Prime Minister of Xiapi, were the leader of the alliance. Li was based in Moling City and in the south of Rongtun County."
Both Xue Li and Zuo Rong were Tao Qian's subordinates. After they defected to Liu Yao one after another, they were both resettled in Moling.
After that, Sun Ce attacked Zuo Rong first, and Zuo Rong sent out troops to fight. Sun Ce beheaded more than 500 people, and Zuo Rong retreated to the city, closing his doors and not daring to move.
Sun Ce could not attack the city, so he crossed the river and crossed Zuo Rong to attack Xue Li. He beat Xue Li until he fled in panic. His way forward was cut off by Sun Ce, so he had to cross the river and surrender to Zuo Rong.
Zuo Rong hosted a banquet for Xue Li, and then killed him at the banquet. Then, Xue Li's soldiers, property, and family were all taken over by Zuo Rong.
Afterwards, Sun Ce attacked Zuo Rong again, but failed to find any flaws and retreated again.
Liu Yao was very unhappy when he found out that Xue Li had been killed, but because Xue Li was not his direct descendant and because he needed Zuo Rong to contain Sun Ce, he did not pursue the matter for a while.
Liu Yao hesitated again and again, considering that Zuo Rong was one of the few among his subordinates who could stand up to Sun Ce, so he finally kept Zuo Rong.
But having Zuo Rong next to him was obviously not reassuring, so Liu Yao came up with a plan to ask Zuo Rong to assist Zhu Hao, the governor of Yuzhang County he appointed, to attack Zhuge Xuan, the governor of Yuzhang County appointed by Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou.
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After Xu Shao learned about it, he said to Liu Yao: "Zei Rong never cares about other people's comments about him. Zhu Hao has a loyal and honest personality. He is easy to confide in others and trusts others easily. We must tell Zhu Hao to be careful about Zuo Rong!"
Liu Yao informed Zhu Hao, but Zhu Hao didn't take it seriously.
However, unexpectedly and within reason, Zuo Rong actually attacked Zhu Hao again!
They used the same method used to deal with Zhao Yu and Xue Li. They first made friends with Zhu Hao, then held a banquet to entertain him, and then the soldiers went out to kill them all and plundered Zhu Hao's wife, daughter, and children.
This was a huge blow to Liu Yao. Not only did he lose Zhu Hao, but also Zuo Rong took the post of governor of Yuzhang, which meant that Liu Yao also lost Yuzhang!
Liu Yao's heart was bleeding because his relationship with Zhu Hao was unusual, and Zhu Hao's identity was even more unusual.
Zhu Hao was the son of the great Sima Zhu Jun, who was later known as one of the three heroes of the late Han Dynasty!
Zhu Hao was a loyal and paternal man. He was sent by the Han court to be the prefect of Yuzhang. Both father and son had a good friendship with Liu Yao.
The appointment by the Han court itself also meant that Zhu Jun kept his son away from the whirlpool of Chang'an and entrusted him to Liu Yao.
Now Zhu Jun has just passed away due to the Chang'an Rebellion, and Zhu Haoyou has been killed. The fate of father and son is very sad.
Liu Yao's eyes were about to burst, and he shouted: "I have harmed Zhu Hao, and I will not be a human being until I kill Zuo Rong!"
"Come here, gather all the troops. I will personally lead the troops to attack Zuo Rong to appease the great Sima's spirit in heaven!"