<> Yan Liang was overjoyed when he heard Pang Tong's plan to solve the grain problem, and asked Pang Tong what his plan was.
Pang Tong pointed to the map of Hebei and said unhurriedly: "I think that our army can requisition civilian power to build a weir at the mouth of the Qishui River where it flows into the Yellow River, forcing the Qishui River that originally flows into the Yellow River to be diverted into the Baigou River. In this way,
Then a waterway can be formed from the Yellow River northward to Yecheng. Once the waterway is completed, the Han army will no longer be able to harass our army's food route."
Yan Liang stood up and came to the map. According to Pang Tong's idea, he carefully examined the layout on the map.
After pondering for a moment, Yan Liang said happily: "Prime Minister, this plan is very clever. Okay, I will use this plan to build a waterway north to Yecheng to see how the big-eared thief disturbs my food route."
The plan was decided, and Yan Liang issued an order that day, ordering the east and west armies to temporarily stop attacking the Han Dynasty.
At the same time, Yan Liang reduced nearly half of Liyang's troops and horses, and ordered them to cross the Yellow River south to settle and eat in Henan, so as to relieve the pressure of transporting grain and grass.
Yan Liang himself led 100,000 soldiers and horses to garrison on the Liyang line, and recruited tens of thousands of civilians to use large trees as weirs at the mouth of Qishui to implement Pang Tong's plan to build a waterway.
As for Guan Yu, although Yan Liang planned to spare his life and use him when he reached Yecheng, Yan Liang did not let him idle during the period of rest.
Yan Liang wrote a book in his own handwriting and sent an envoy to Yecheng to give it to Liu Bei.
Yecheng, Imperial Palace.
Liu Bei sat on the dragon throne, listening to his subordinates' reports on the latest movements of the Chu army.
"The Chu army has retreated from all directions. Yan Liang has mobilized tens of thousands of civilians in Henan and is building a weir at the mouth of Qishui. I don't know what he has planned."
Hearing the news that Yan Liang had withdrawn his troops, Liu Bei's spirits were lifted, but when he heard that Yan Liang had built a weir at the mouth of Qishui, he looked at a loss.
"Prime Minister, what do Yan Thief want to do?" Liu Bei asked suspiciously.
Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly and said disapprovingly: "If I guess correctly, Yan Thief wants to force the Qishui River to change its course and flow into the Baigou River to build a waterway leading to Yecheng."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's expression changed with shock.
Originally, Liu Bei retreated to Yecheng because the Chu army had no waterways to transport grain, and his light cavalry could harass the Chu army's land routes. Now that Yan Liangruo has built a waterway, all his plans will be in vain.
"Prime Minister, if Thief Yan builds a waterway, wouldn't all your plans be in vain?" Liu Bei asked in surprise.
Zhuge Liang smiled disdainfully: "Your Majesty, don't worry, it's the beginning of summer. The Qi River is not weak, and building a weir on the Qi River is tantamount to trying to defeat the sky with human power. It's not easy. In my opinion, Yan
This move by the thief will surely end in failure."
After listening to Zhuge Liang's words, Liu Bei's tense nerves relaxed. After thinking for a moment, the corner of his mouth also raised a hint of disdain.
"Since ancient times, no one has been able to cut off the tributaries of the Yellow River. Yan Thief's move is really fantastic. I'm just waiting to see his joke, haha~~" Liu Bei laughed disdainfully.
Before the laughter stopped, a servant outside the palace came to report. He was an envoy from Chu State and had a handwritten letter to send to the emperor.
Yan Liang’s messenger?
Liu Bei frowned slightly. He had a vague premonition of something bad, but he couldn't avoid it, so he could only pretend to be calm and order the Chu envoy to come in.
Not long after, I saw Yi Ji, the envoy of Chu, walking into the palace in a swaggering manner.
Yi Ji slightly raised his hand, took out a letter, and claimed that it was Yan Liang's credentials.
As soon as Liu Bei waved his hand, the eunuch handed over the letter of credence. Liu Bei opened it and looked at it, and his brows furrowed again.
Seeing Liu Bei's displeasure, all the Han officials began to wonder whether there might be some insulting words in Yan Liang's credential that would displease the emperor.
At this time, Yi Ji, who was at the foot of the stairs, said loudly: "My emperor has said that as long as the ruler of the country agrees to cede Yangping, Pingyuan, Leling and the lands on the north bank of the Yellow River south of Wei County to our great Chu, your majesty will
Guan Yu will be returned to the king intact."
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar in the main hall.
The Han officials headed by Zhuge Liang finally realized that Yan Liang actually wanted to exchange Guan Yu for their Han country's land.
The Pingyuan and other counties mentioned in Yiji are all located on the north bank of the Yellow River and are border counties in the south of the Han State. If these counties were cut off, it would be equivalent to giving the entire Yellow River defense line to the Chu State.
.
The fall of Liyang opened a gap in the Yellow River defense line, which was very detrimental to the Han State. If the entire Yellow River defense line was lost, what could the Han State use to defend its thousands-mile plain land?
Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang anxiously shook his head secretly to Liu Bei, implying that Liu Bei could not agree to Chu's proposal to cede territory and replace people.
Liu Bei responded to Zhuge Liang with a look of embarrassment.
As the emperor of the Han Dynasty, of course he knew the seriousness of losing the Yellow River defense line. Even if Yan Liang offered ten Guan Yus in exchange for him, he would not be stupid enough to agree.
What's more, if he wanted to save Guan Yu, why did he not save Li Yang in the first place?
All in all, exchanging the Yellow River defense line for Guan Yu, whose tail is too big to lose, is definitely a loss-making deal. How could Liu Bei agree to it?
But what makes things difficult for Liu Bei is that the world knows that Liu Bei and Guan Yu are sworn brothers. If Liu Bei refuses Yan Liang's proposal and is unwilling to exchange his brother, how will the world view Liu Bei?
Liu Bei soon realized that this must be a trap deliberately set by Yan Liang, just to use Guan Yu to embarrass him.
"Yun Chang, Yun Chang, it would be great if you could sacrifice your life for the country. How much trouble you have brought to me while you are alive, alas~~"
Liu Bei was in a dilemma. Yi Ji at the foot of the stairs saw it and knew what Liu Bei was thinking. He couldn't help but raise a sarcastic sneer at the corner of his mouth.
"The king and Guan Yu are sworn brothers. It is precisely because of the brotherhood of the king that my emperor is thinking of the king, so he showed mercy and gave Guan Yu a chance to live. I wonder if the king will agree or not?"
Yi Ji deliberately used the words "sworn brothers" in an emphatic way in order to make things more difficult for Liu Bei.
Liu Bei's brows deepened and he gritted his teeth secretly, but on the surface he remained calm and said calmly: "I will consider this matter myself. Come on, please send the Chu envoy to the embassy to rest first."
Yi Ji did not urge him, turned around and walked away.
Liu Bei felt a headache and ordered to retreat.
The ministers retired, but Zhuge Liang stayed and followed Liu Bei to the rear hall.
As soon as there were no outsiders, Zhuge Liang said: "Your Majesty, the Yellow River defense line is the lifeblood of our Han Dynasty. Losing one Liyang is enough to cause a headache. How can we give up the rest of the counties to Yan Thief? Yan Thief's condition is a no-brainer.
, Your Majesty should refuse on the spot."
"Refuse on the spot?" Liu Bei grimaced and sighed: "Everyone knows that I and Yun Chang are as close as brothers. If I refuse on the spot, where will you put my reputation?"
The rhetorical question made Zhuge Liang choke back, and he remained silent for a moment.
"Yan Thief's move is really insidious. His Majesty is indeed in a difficult situation." Zhuge Liang sighed.
Liu Bei said with a bitter face: "Prime Minister, you are very resourceful, you must think of a solution for me that has the best of both worlds."
"Your Majesty, don't be anxious. Let me think about it for two days. I will come up with a perfect plan for your Majesty." Zhuge Liang promised swornly.
Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief.
After that day, Liu Bei used perfunctory means to provide delicious food and drinks from the Yi tribe in the library, but always avoided answering Yan Liang's proposal to exchange Guan Yu for land.
Liu Bei's idea was that before Kong Ming came up with a countermeasure, it would be best if he dragged Yiji to get out and let the matter go.
However, after procrastinating for several days, Liu Bei did not wait for a farewell invitation from Yiji, but instead waited for another person.
On that day, Liu Bei, who was reviewing memorials in the imperial study, was surprised to learn that Zhang Fei, the cavalry general of the Han Dynasty, had asked for an audience outside the palace.
"Yide? Yide is not in charge of military affairs on the eastern front in the plains, so why did he come back to Yecheng?"
Liu Bei was taken aback and rushed in before Zhang Fei came in.
A moment later, Zhang Fei, with a heavy face, walked into the hall and knelt down on the ground with a "plop". His eyes were filled with tears as he shouted "long live the mountain".
"Yide, if you are not stationed in the plains, why did you leave the front line without the order?" Liu Bei said dissatisfied.
Zhang Fei choked up and said, "I shouldn't have left the front line without permission, but when I heard the bad news that Liyang fell and my second brother was captured, I was so anxious that I could only rush back to Yecheng to see Your Majesty at all costs."
Liu Bei's heart was shocked, and he was suddenly awakened by Zhang Fei's crying, and then he remembered that he had a sworn brotherhood with Zhang Fei in front of him, and the captured Guan Yu.
Thinking of this, Liu Bei's originally dissatisfied expression soon became sad, and he burst into tears from his deep-set eyes in the blink of an eye.
"Liyang was besieged, and I thought about rescuing Yunchang all the time. However, the Yan thieves were so powerful that all my efforts were of no avail. I originally thought of accumulating strength and launching another southern attack with all my strength, but Yunchang couldn't survive it.
He chose to abandon the city and break out of the siege, but he was... captured by the Yan thieves..."
Liu Bei was so sad that he choked with sobs and found it difficult to continue speaking.
“Your Majesty~~”
"Yide~~"
The two brothers held each other's hands and cried, with tears streaming down their faces, heartbroken.
After crying for a long time, Zhang Fei was the first to take a breath from his sadness, but Liu Bei was still twitching, unable to control his sadness.
Zhang Fei wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, supported Liu Bei, and said, "Your Majesty, please don't be too sad or break your body from crying."
"Yun Chang and I are of the same flesh and blood. He was captured by Yan's thieves and his life and death are unpredictable. How can I not feel sad?" Liu Bei sighed with choked sobs.
Zhang Fei said, "To be honest with your Majesty, I came to Yecheng this time just to rescue my second brother."
Liu Bei's eyes suddenly flashed with a dark look, and he suddenly thought of something in his heart.
"What can Yide do to save Yun Chang?" Liu Bei pretended to be confused and asked excitedly.
Zhang Fei then said: "While I was in the plains, I heard that Yan Thief sent an envoy to Yecheng, saying that he was willing to exchange my second brother for the three counties to the south of me. This is a great opportunity to save my second brother. Why don't you agree to it?"
Sure enough.
Hearing Zhang Fei's words, Liu Bei's brows suddenly darkened.
