Chapter three hundred and thirty seventh expose your true colors
Chapter 337 Exposing your true face
Liu Bei put Yuan Tan under house arrest, and openly took over Yuan Tan's territory under the banner of Yuan Tan. This move was indeed cruel and sinister.
Yuan Tan's military strength has declined, and there are not many troops in the counties. Even if there are people in each county who see through Liu Bei's mind and try to resist, they will not be able to resist.
Furthermore, at this time, Yuan Shang was still attacking his second brother Yuan Xi with all his strength and had no time to look south. This meant that there was no one in the entire Central Plains to compete with Liu Bei and could be devoured by him.
If Liu Bei is given a few more months to calmly annex Yuan Tan's territory and then digest it smoothly, Liu Bei's strength will increase dramatically.
Liu Bei, who controls all the states in the Central Plains, will obviously be an order of magnitude more powerful opponent than Yuan Tan, and a more difficult enemy to deal with.
"Liu Bei must be prevented from swallowing up the Central Plains. If his conspiracy succeeds, the consequences will be disastrous."
Before Yan Liang could speak, Tian Feng said decisively.
At this time, Xu You also said: "I didn't expect Liu Bei to be so cunning. It seems that we can't wait any longer. We must send troops north as soon as possible to seize the Central Plains from Liu Bei."
The two counselors' ideas coincided with Yan Liang's.
Yan Liang nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Jia Xu, "Wen He, what do you think?"
Jia Xu smoothed his beard and said slowly: "It is of course urgent to send troops northward, but I think it is necessary to use both troops and strategy at the same time."
A two-pronged approach…
Yan Liang was thoughtful and glanced at Jia Xu Weiyi, asking him to continue speaking.
Jia Xu said unhurriedly: "I think my lord can quickly send someone to Yuan Shang to expose Liu Bei's plot. I think Yuan Shang will never tolerate Liu Bei monopolizing the Central Plains. He will definitely send his troops south to give Liu Bei one more enemy."
, which is naturally good for us.”
Jia Xu's words reminded Yan Liang that with the current situation, Yan Liang's territory was not adjacent to Yuan Shang's, there was no conflict of interest between them, and they had a common enemy. According to the principle of distant friendship and close attack, it was indeed imperative to win over Yuan Shang.
Thinking of this, Yan Liang said happily: "Wen He's words are reasonable. I will write a letter here and send someone to explain the interests to Yuan Shang. Liu Bei wants to monopolize the Central Plains, so I will turn the Central Plains into a pot of porridge and let him
You can’t eat alone.”
All the counselors nodded one after another, all agreeing with Yan Liang's wishes.
At this time, Yan Liang turned his attention to Xu You again, "Ziyuan, there is one more thing that I'm afraid will make your Si Wencao's fine work network fully activated."
"I wonder what your lord's orders are?" Xu You had a strange look on his face.
Yan Liang smiled coldly, "I want your detailed work to publicize Liu Bei's unjust act of imprisoning Yuan Tan and seizing his inheritance in all the states of the Central Plains. It will expose Liu Bei's conspiracy and let the world see clearly our great uncle of the Han Dynasty."
's true face."
Yan Liang is going to launch a massive propaganda offensive, with both military and political forces at his disposal, and he must be tough on both sides.
A smile appeared on the corner of Xu You's mouth, and he cupped his hands and said: "Don't worry, my lord, within ten days of your call, the entire Central Plains will know what good things Liu Bei has done."
Yan Liang nodded with satisfaction, and murderous intent began to fill his blade-like eyes.
After discussing with his advisers, Yan Liang made the decision to launch troops as soon as possible. On the same day, he summoned all the generals and began to make war mobilization and military deployment.
The previous time he sent out troops, Yan Liang mobilized nearly 50,000 troops, but this time, he could only mobilize about 40,000 troops.
Cao Cao in Guanzhong was currently at war with the Xiliang army, and there was no threat for the time being, but Yan Liang had to guard against Soochow.
Last year, Yan Liang took advantage of Soochow to attack Shouchun and sent troops, so only a few troops were left on the Jiangxia front line. But now Soochow troops have not moved. In order to prevent Soochow from taking the opportunity to attack, Yan Liang had to add 10,000 troops to the Jiangxia front line.
, to ensure the safety of the rear.
The mobilization for war was issued, and the armies quickly began to assemble.
Originally, Yan Liang planned to start the war after spring plowing, but the situation did not wait for him, forcing him to send troops immediately.
As a result, spring plowing is bound to be affected, and this year's autumn harvest is also likely to be affected.
Fortunately, the farmland in Xinye and Wancheng areas would not be affected, and after conquering Xudu, Yan Liang plundered a large amount of grain and grass collected by Yuan Tan. This foundation was enough to support Yan Liang in fighting a limited-scale war.
On this day in early February, Yan Liang set out from Xiangyang and led an army of 20,000 people northward to join up with the 20,000 soldiers and horses of Xu Shu on the front line in Xudu.
The counselors who accompanied the army included Jia Xu and Tian Feng, and the generals included Wen Chou, Zhang Liao, Huang Zhong, Lu Lingqi, Zhou Cang and other pro-army generals, as well as Xu Shu and Zhang He from Xu Du, as well as the prefects of Yingchuan, Man Chong and Yan Liang.
The team he leads is an extremely luxurious one in the world.
As a minister of Yuan Gong, Xu You succeeded Man Chong and served as the prefect of Nanjun, and was in charge of Xiangyang.
Ma Yunlu wanted to go with the army during this expedition, but Yan Liang considered that Soochow might take the opportunity to attack this time. In order to ensure the safety of Jingzhou, in addition to Xu You, Yan Liang must also leave a trusted general to guard Xiangyang.
.
In this way, Ma Yunlu, who has extraordinary martial arts skills and the ability to command troops, and is also his own concubine, became the best choice.
Although Ma Yunlu was warlike, he was also a sensible person. After Yan Liang explained his interests to her, Ma Yunlu stopped being persistent and appreciated the responsibility of staying in Xiangyang.
After everything was arranged, Yan Liang's army set off northward, heading all the way to Xudu.
…
When Yan Liang's army was marching north, Yuan Shang's troops were also marching south.
The reason was not that Yuan Shang destroyed his Yuan Xi, but that his second brother became soft at the critical moment and proposed peace to Yuan Shang.
When it comes to military capabilities, among the three brothers of the Yuan family, Yuan Shang is indeed more skilled.
Since Yuan Shang raised his troops to the north last year, in one month, Yuan Shang defeated Yuan Xi in Lunu and Tang County. Not only did he drive Yuan Xi out of Jizhou, but he also captured Fanyang County of Youzhou and the governor of Youzhou.
The counties in the southern part of Yan State where Buji County is located.
While Yuan Shang was attacking on the eastern front, an army led by Gao Lan also launched an attack on the western front of Bingzhou and captured Daijun, the western barrier of Youzhou.
Facing Yuan Shang's sharp offensive, Yuan Xi lost consecutive battles and lost his troops and territory. He had no choice but to put down his face and sue for peace to Yuan Shang, claiming that he would support Yuan Shang as the king of Wei.
According to Yuan Shang's original plan, it was natural to destroy Yuan Xi in one go, capture all of Youzhou, and completely eliminate worries.
It's just that the situation is stronger than the enemy. Just when Yuan Shang was planning to take advantage of the victory to attack, rumors came from the Central Plains that Yuan Tan had become Liu Bei's puppet. Immediately afterwards, Yan Liang's envoy also arrived and elaborated on Liu Bei's conspiracy to devour the Central Plains. Please contact us.
Yuan Shang united to deal with Liu Bei.
The Central Plains is of great importance. For Yuan Shang, Liu Bei has replaced Yuan Tan at this time and has become his biggest threat from the south. Yuan Shang naturally cannot sit idly by and ignore Liu Bei's rapid rise.
Therefore, at Feng Ji's suggestion, Yuan Shang accepted Yuan Xi's peace request, left Gao Lan to garrison Fanyang County to guard against Yuan Xi, and raised 30,000 troops to march south, aiming directly at the Central Plains.
…
Liang State, Suiyang City.
In the lobby of Prince Wei's Mansion, the aroma of wine overflowed.
Liu Bei was leisurely sipping fine wine, his gray face showing the pride of spring breeze.
Sun Qian next to him also looked excited and kept reading the success stories in his hands.
In Yanzhou, Jian Yong has successfully taken over as the prefect of Taishan County, and both Lu County and Shanyang County have also replaced them with their own people.
As for Dongping State, Zhao Yun had already suppressed the country's Prime Minister's disobedience and escorted Mi Zhu to take over as Prime Minister by force.
At this point, several counties in Yanzhou bordering Qingxu were nominally the territory of Wei King Yuan Tan, but in fact they had all changed their banners.
After Zhao Yun defeated the resistance of Dongping Kingdom by force, the other local officials of Jibei Kingdom, Dongjun, Jiyin County and other Yanzhou counties have expressed their will to obey the will of the "King of Wei". At this time, the newly appointed The prefects and ministers were already on their way to the counties.
Listening to this piece of good news one after another, Liu Bei seemed to be rejuvenated. His face, which was already looking old, actually seemed to be much younger.
At this time, footsteps sounded, and Liu Bei looked up, only to see that Yuan Tan had entered the lobby with a livid face, being "escorted" by Chen Dao and other fierce men.
"It turns out that His Royal Highness the King of Wei has arrived. I prepared some food and wine just to calm His Highness's shock."
Liu Bei stood up and went to greet him, bowing his hands in a very respectful manner.
Yuan Tan glared at Liu Bei, snorted coldly, and froze there.
Liu Bei didn't think it was strange, he just said calmly: "Uncle is here, why don't you invite your highness to take a seat."
When Chen received the order, he used his tiger arms to push Yuan Tan into the hall easily, and with a gentle push, he forced him to sit down.
Liu Bei also went back and sat down, personally poured a glass of wine for Yuan Tan, looked apologetic, cupped his hands and said: "I had no choice but to frighten His Highness, this glass of wine is my apology to Your Highness."
However, Yuan Tan did not accept the drink and just snorted coldly, "You took away my soldiers and horses and prohibited my freedom. You clearly wanted to take away my inheritance. You said you had to do it as a last resort. You can't be pretentious anymore."
"Alas~~" Liu Bei sighed softly and said helplessly: "His Highness has an anxious temperament and has been repeatedly defeated by Yan Liang, but he still insists on commanding the coalition forces. Mr. Bei cannot just watch His Highness go his own way and ruin the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. In desperation, Bei had no choice but to do this. Your Highness can rest assured that as long as Bei defeats Yan Liang and recaptures Xudu for Your Highness, he will return his troops and horses, and Bei will immediately return to Xuzhou, vowing not to take away even half of the territory from Your Highness."
Facing Liu Bei's solemn vows, the sarcasm on Yuan Tan's face became more and more intense, and he said coldly: "Liu Bei, you are such a stupid person to be the king. Will I still be deceived by you at this time? It was in vain that I suffered so much back then. I persuaded my father to take you in, but I didn’t expect that you would retaliate with kindness. Liu Bei, I really misjudged you."
Hearing Yuan Tan's rude words, Liu Bei didn't feel angry, but looked aggrieved, and sighed: "Your Highness doesn't believe Bei, there's nothing you can do about it. No matter what kind of person Bei is, there will be no public opinion in the future."
As soon as he finished speaking, the troops outside the hall hurried in and said with cupped hands: "Please tell me, my lord, that there is an urgent report. Yuan Shang and Yan Liangzheng have each formed a large army and gone straight to the Central Plains to kill."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's expression changed immediately.
But Yuan Tan burst out laughing, "Liu Bei, Liu Bei, don't think you can take over my inheritance with peace of mind. I want to see how you escape this disaster, haha~".
