Time passed.
Yuan Shao's north was attacked by Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren.
Zhao Yun led his troops from Qingzhou and in a siege battle, he killed the enemy general Wen Chou at the border of Youzhou. This completely defeated Yuan Shao's morale. In the year of fighting, he was physically and mentally exhausted.
As a result, Yuan Shao died of illness in the winter of that year.
After that, his eldest son, Yuan Tan, took the throne. His second son, Yuan Xi, joined forces with the other races and traded with the Wuhuan cavalry. Slowly, they sent their family members to the Great Wall.
A year later, Youzhou fell.
Cao Cao had truly completed his attack on the north, occupying Jizhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou. Qingzhou was occupied by Xu Zhen's Snowy Dragon Cavalry.
Within two years, they had plowed the land many times and implemented the method of dividing the land. Qingzhou also gradually became rich, so Xu Zhen was also granted the title of a duke by the Imperial Guards.
In name, he served as the state shepherd in Qingzhou, but in fact, he was responsible for the management of agriculture in the court.
……
In recent years, the Heaven Ranking of Counselors and the Heaven Ranking of Brave Generals had been constantly changing. The members had changed many times, and the generals in various places were also constantly paying attention to them.
However, it was still the same. There were no new people appearing, no generals falling out of the roll, and other than Wen Chou falling out of the top ten, there were no other major changes.
In the past few years, it was as if the various regions had ceased fighting. To Cao Cao, the hidden danger of the Northern Lands was still there. The original Yuan Shao had become Western Liang's Ma Teng.
On this day.
All of a sudden, the wind and thunder raged. All the officials in the world raised their heads. As expected, there was a huge commotion on the Heaven Rankings again.
After a long time, there was another change.
Some were surprised, some were expectant, and some were curious.
Therefore, they all looked up at the sky.
In the sky, a golden dragon appeared again.
The ball of light in his mouth landed on the golden list, and then a person's name appeared on the list.
Fifth place on the Golden Roll! Ma Chao!
This person had actually pushed out Guan Yu's name and jumped to fifth place.
After Xu Zhen, Zhao Yun, Lu Bu and Dian Wei.
For a time, Xu Du was in a heated discussion. The south was also speculating. However, the surname Ma had already explained everything.
They were from Western Liang.
"Heh, another great horseman!”
Cao Cao received a letter from the scouts in his residence and knew that Ma Chao was indeed Ma Teng's son, the current cavalry general of Western Liang and the young commander.
After he got the fifth place on the Brave General Ranking, it would probably be slightly more difficult to conquer Western Liang in the future.
"Oh, hateful, hateful! Out of the top five, there are four who aren't under my command. In that case, it's going to be difficult for me to unify the world.”
Cao Cao was wearing a black cloak with fur on his shoulders. The jade belt around his waist was extremely simple, but it gave off a noble aura.
This letter was placed on Cao Cao's desk. He knocked on the table and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.
"Does anyone know about this Ma Chao?"
Today was a banquet where all the generals and advisors were present to discuss the state affairs, the military situation, and the heroes of the world.
Xu Zhen was naturally among them. He was in the fifth seat of the strategists and was huddled in the back with Jia Xu, as if he did not intend to speak. Jia Xu was already used to it. He usually liked to study his own things in the back and basically did not participate in the discussion of government affairs.
Perhaps, when Cao Cao asked him about it, he would stand up and say a few words.
At this moment, no one spoke. Ma Chao was too young, and he was born in Western Liang. Even if he had any fame, it was only in Western Liang and not everywhere in the Great Han Dynasty.
"Bowen, do you know?"
Cao Cao looked at Xu Zhen, who was dozing off.
The number one of the Heaven Rankings, the person who was evaluated as the number one Braveheart by this scroll, had actually been very superficial recently.
There seemed to be dark circles under his eyes.
Xu Zhen had a pain that ordinary people could not understand.
It's not worth telling outsiders.
"Me…Ouch."
Xu Zhen smiled calmly." Ma Chao, this person is very good at riding horses and is stronger than the spear. However, he is easily angered, has excellent martial arts skills, and is handsome. If we can subdue him, we need to subdue his father, Ma Teng. The land of Xiliang is outside the pass, and the journey is far. If they don't invade, it's best if we don't go and invade the territory first."”
"Ma Teng's family has been generals of the Han Dynasty for generations.”
Xu Zhen stood up slightly and glanced at everyone. He smiled and said,""We are resting and recuperating, fighting and recuperating. It is already time for us to go south.”
"Therefore, the first thing we should do is to go south. You can count the taxes of the various places, collect grain, and clear the army. Now that we go south, we can conquer Jingzhou.”
"Everyone, we have already taken over the Jizhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou in the north and have been recuperating for a year. There has been no movement on the Golden Roll for a year. Now that Xiliang is far away and Jingzhou is close, I suggest that my lord march.”
Xu Zhen said straightforwardly.
To put it bluntly, there was no need to delay any longer. This was because Xu Zhen had received a message from someone in Xu Prefecture a few days ago.
He had once gone to search for the whereabouts of the Zhuge Clan, but he discovered that the Zhuge Clan, just like in history, had played a huge game of chess.
The three sons of the Zhuge family were quite famous.
The eldest was Zhuge Jin.
He had already entered River East and was ranked 33rd on the Heaven Ranking of Counselors.
He was a learned man, and his second brother, Zhuge Liang, was 22 years old this year.
However, he did not live in Xuzhou, so Xu Zhen did not find him.
His third brother, Zhuge Jun, was also absent.
This meant that the Zhuge Clan had already moved away from the ancestral land of Xu Prefecture. At the end of the Han Dynasty, there were two extremely important clans, the Zhuge Clan and the Sima Clan.
The two families held an important position. At the same time, their decisions were the same. They would never put all their eggs in the same basket. This was the only way to ensure the continuation of the family.
As soon as he said this, all the strategists fell silent, and the generals were overjoyed. These words were extremely effective when spoken by Xu Zhen.
Generals like them had long gotten sick of staying here and trained their soldiers every day.
If they continued to train, they could only attack Western Liang and the north.
Outside of the north, there was also the Wuhuan outside of Lulong Sai in Youzhou. The Wuhuan cavalry had bullied many of the Han people in recent years.
"Yes, Big Brother!" Cao Ren's eyes were filled with excitement." Let's fight!"”
"Our soldiers can't wait any longer. Liu Biao of Jing State is nothing. As long as our army arrives, we will be invincible!”
"Lord, let's fight!"
"Fight! Attack Jingzhou!"
At once, the generals became excited, while Cao Cao scanned the crowd with a scrutinizing gaze.
At this moment, the strategist Xi Zhicai said in a deep voice,"However, you must have a good reason. If you don't have one, the people in the Jing state will resist strongly.”
"When that time comes, our soldiers will probably bleed. It won't be easy…"
Xun Yu nodded and said," A well-known army is like a strategic location. If there is no reason, it will be full of thorns. My lord, why don't you continue to stabilize the people in the territory and wait for changes in the south before sending troops?"”
Among the people from Yingshui, Xun Yu had a good relationship with Xi Zhicai. The two of them had always been on the same boat and supported each other.
And because Cao Cao was present, they were completely suppressed. They were different from the factions under Yuan Shao. Although they had their own hometowns, they usually wouldn't form factions because of this.
Xu Zhen now had 100,000 soldiers in Qingzhou, so he could naturally send troops without any scruples.
However, it was different for aristocrats and strategists.
He had finally rested for two years, but now he had to go back to the days where he had to be stingy with food, money, iron, soldiers, and guard against the vassals outside the pass.
That was war. Not to mention the people, even the gentry did not want to continue.
Not to mention the commoners.
Cao Cao shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Some people are persuading us to fight, while others are persuading us to make peace."
"In these years, we have benefited a lot. The land of Jizhou is rich and fertile. In two years, we have accumulated millions of stones of grain and a million troops.”
Cao Cao stood up with his hands behind his back and walked forward.
"Your Majesty is not young anymore. Many years have passed, and we have not used our weapons. Everyone seems to have forgotten about the military journey.”
Cao Cao walked up to Xun Yu and patted him on the shoulder with a smile on his face.
"Every time before a great war, there will be changes in the rankings between the heavens and the earth. Today is no exception. If I go south, won't the Heaven and Earth Golden Rankings change again?”
"Do you know why the rankings are dragons?”
"Because this represents the destiny of the Great Han Dynasty.”
Xun Yu bowed deeply.
"Yes!" Cao Cao's reply was sonorous and forceful, and his face was shining.
"This is the fate of the country, the fate of the Great Han Dynasty. A hundred portions of fate will be shared by all the civil and military officials of the world!”
"If that's the case, the fate of the rankings is in my hands. I'll fight seventeen of the top thirty alone. Why can't I fight?”
Cao Cao looked at Xu Zhen and said,"A nameless cause?" Liu Bei was in Jingzhou! This trip is to capture Liu Bei! This person didn't respect the emperor's orders and went around faking the imperial edict. If Liu Biao dared to stop him, he would take down Jingzhou!”
Xu Zhen frowned.
That's right, that's right.
"Since that's the case, please send the emperor's edict to Jingzhou before we send troops?”
Xun Yu looked at Cao Cao, somewhat hesitant. From his words, it seemed that they were really going to fight. This battle would definitely be recorded in history.
After more than two years, Cao Ren and General Xiahou Dun's troops had been fighting in Youzhou and Bingzhou. It was time for them to show their strength.
Naturally, they could send troops.
"That's right, I'll ask Wen Ruo to write this denunciation for me.”
Cao Cao held his hand and patted it a few times.
At the same time, he stared at Xun Yu with determination.
Xun Yu secretly sighed. This was it. As expected, the lord's intention to go south was already unchangeable. Jingzhou would probably be in chaos again. If Jingzhou was taken, the world would occupy two-thirds of the Central Plains. At that time, the other vassals would really be in danger.
"Alright, I'll go now…"
Xun Yu nodded and turned to leave. He no longer tried to persuade them. The other strategists also began to plan. Once this plan was decided, it was very likely to be the last battle. Once they won, the credit would naturally be the greatest.
At that time, if the Prime Minister was promoted to the King of Wei, the rewards he would receive in the future, his status in the future, and his status in the new dynasty would be completely different. This was very important to the strategists, including those aristocratic families.
As such, this southern expedition was likely to be a time when there were the most civil and military officials. The army would be like a flood, and wherever it went, it would destroy everything.
……
Xinye.
In the inner city government office.
Liu Bei was sitting in the Yamen Office when an envoy from Jingzhou came to see him.
"Uncle Liu, my master, Liu Jingsheng, invites you to Xiangyang for a banquet. All these years, my master's illness has not stopped at home and he is already lying in bed.”
Liu Bei took a deep breath, his face filled with shock. He opened his mouth and could not make a sound for a long time, his eyes trembling.
"So, it's all true?" he muttered. Is Brother Jingsheng really…seriously ill?!”
Liu Bei immediately got up and went out to get his luggage ready.
"I will go to Xiangyang immediately!"
"I want to see my royal brother!"
"Wait for Big Brother!"
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei walked in from the door and blocked Liu Bei's way. Guan Yu raised his chin slightly and said coldly,""Big brother, you can't go."
"Liu Jingsheng has only seen us three times in the past few years, and now, he doesn't even give us food.”
"That's right, big brother. We can't go to this banquet unless you let me, Zhang Fei, accompany you. If we are looked down upon and rude after we go, I, Zhang Fei, will help you beat them up!”
Zhang Fei patted his chest impatiently. He had asked Liu Biao for military rations several times before, but Liu Biao had refused to give them to him.
It seemed like he didn't want to give it anymore. Zhang Fei felt embarrassed asking for more.
Therefore, he slowly became angry.
How could Liu Bei not know that it was very likely that the aristocrats of Jingzhou were looking for trouble behind Liu Biao's back. They wanted to drive him away and lead this trouble elsewhere.
Unfortunately, he had nowhere to go now.
"I have to go."
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