The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Tao Qian's mind should be very clear.

At the beginning of the joint attack on Dong, the momentum was huge, and the success or failure was unknown, so he sat and watched, but did not act rashly. Now that the two Yuan have been defeated one after another, the sour jujube soldiers have dispersed, and the momentum of the attack on Dong has not only been greatly reduced, but also seems to have increased. He was in a state of disintegration, so his courage became stronger, and he chose at this time, taking advantage of Liu Dai's opportunity to kill Qiao Mao, and borrowing the eyes of the whole world to turn to Yanzhou, and everyone including Er Yuan was temporarily absent. When taking Xuzhou into consideration, he first made an appearance, and then marched in two ways, in an attempt to capture Pengcheng in one fell swoop.

Pengcheng is the later Xuzhou, and the strategic position of this place is very important as mentioned above.

Not only is its strategic position important, Pengcheng also produces iron, has a good agricultural economy, and has a large population. Once this place is captured by Tao Qian, on the one hand, Tao Qian's power will be greatly improved, and he can retreat. On the other hand, for Xun Zhen, he will lose the only "ally" in Xuzhou, and he will definitely be completely suppressed by Tao Qian.

Xun You and others saw the danger.

Cheng Jia said: "The five prefectures of Xuzhou, Donghai, Langya, and Xiapi have already been acquired by Tao Gongzu, if Pengcheng is captured by him again, eight parts of Xuzhou's land will be in his pocket, and even the whole prefecture of Guangling will be difficult to resist. ."

Xun You said: "It's more than hard to resist! The three counties are already in his hands, and the ambition to restore Pengcheng and Tao Xuzhou is unpredictable. Shizu said: 'People are suffering and not satisfied, so they can calm Long and look back to Shu'. Pengcheng is like Yes, the next thing Tao Xuzhou wants to take will be Guangling."

Xun Yu agreed and said: "Although I have never met Tao Xuzhou, I have heard a little about Tao Xuzhou, and I heard that he insulted Zhang Gong in public when he was serving as the subordinate of the old Taiwei Zhang Gong. The nature of this unruly violation is also high. If at the time of peace, there may be no serious trouble, and now the army is in chaos in the sea, the emperor moves westward, and the three counties of Xuzhou are already in their hands, and they have more troops. "

Xun Zhen asked Xi Zhicai, "Zhi Cai, what do you think?"

"Pengcheng must not be taken by Tao Xuzhou. Although Pengcheng has a lot of troops and horses, and Pengcheng's prime minister is also quite popular, but Tao Xuzhou relies on the power of the three prefectures, with Zeng Rong and Zang Ba as minions. It is expected that Pengcheng is definitely not his opponent, ... Junhou, I should help Pengcheng. "

"The army can't retreat before the meeting with Dong is over. How can I help him?"

Wen Zhi’s father, Wen Zhi, was also in the tent. After hearing Xun Zhen’s words, he got up from the table and said, “Today, the sour jujube soldiers are scattered, and the two Yuan don’t want to fight. I’m afraid it will be difficult to ask the directors. Because of my humble opinion, why don’t the general borrow it? At this opportunity, why don't you just return to Guangling to watch the current situation and make further progress?"

If Xun Zhen didn't know the direction of history, then at this moment, if he followed Wen Zhi's words and simply took this opportunity to withdraw his troops back to Guangling, it would indeed be a good choice.

But the problem is: Xun Zhen knew the direction of history, he knew that Dong Zhuo's soldiers and horses were about to lose their fighting spirit, and the great victory of "recovering Luoyang" was just around the corner, so how could he withdraw his troops and return to Guangling at this time, so that All previous successes were abandoned, and successes were lost?

Therefore, Xun Zhen pretended to ponder for a moment, and then said generously: "What the soldiers are doing today is also a state matter! If Dong Zhuo is not eliminated, the Han family will be uneasy for a day, and the world will be uneasy for a day. Tao Xuzhou intends to take Pengcheng for personal gain! The loss and gain of Pengcheng have nothing to do with the country, it is purely because of Tao Xuzhou's selfishness. How can I ignore the public of the world because of Tao Xuzhou's selfishness? It is absolutely impossible to withdraw troops to the county for this reason."

Wen Zhi said: "Tao Xuzhou plotted Pengcheng because of his own thoughts and his own interests, but if Pengcheng is lost, Guangling will be in danger, Guangling is in danger, and there is no place to stand, monarchs... How can they serve the country? What about Dong?"

Xun Zhen said sullenly: "As Gong Shicai said, now the Suanzao soldiers are scattered, Yuan Cheqi and General Yuan do not want to fight, if I go back to the county at this time, and the Liuwentai is alone in Yingchuan, the Wentai will be lonely. If it is difficult to support, Dong Zhuo may take advantage of this to attack, there is no danger outside Yingchuan, Dong’s troops can come and go freely, Wentai may be defeated, and if Yingchuan is lost, it will be even more difficult to attack Dong. Therefore, I think that it is better to lose Guangling, I will never withdraw."

"This, this..." Wen Zhi didn't know what to say, sighed and said, "If all the states and counties in the world can be as loyal as a general, how can Dong Zhuo be assured? How could Pengcheng have such a difficulty!"

Xun Zhen looked around the people and said, "It is absolutely impossible to withdraw troops back to the county. How to deal with this Tao Xuzhou's acquisition of Pengcheng, do you have any ideas?"

Xi Zhicai stroked his beard, thought for a while, and said to Wen Zhi: "Tao Gongzu's acquisition of Pengcheng is not a sudden thing, as early as when we came out of the county to Yingchuan, Junhou and I had a little bit of this. Guess, therefore, before leaving the county, Junhoucai specially left Chen Bao and his troops to stay in the county, thinking that they would stay behind... Now that I think about it, it is probably because of Chen Bao's troops who stayed behind, that Tao Gongzu would be able to stay behind. Instead of attacking Pengcheng immediately, we have specially dispatched a group of troops to cruise north of Guangling County.”

Wen Zhi sat back at the table and said, "Oh? So Junhou and Jun have already expected this?"

Xi Zhicai nodded, then turned his head and said to Xun Zhen: "Jun Hou, I have thought about it carefully, Tao Gongzu has three counties in his hands, not only are his troops far stronger than Pengcheng, but also Xiapi and Donghai are bordered by Pengcheng. One is in the south and the other is in the east. If he wants to take Pengcheng, the best way should be to make a surprise attack. At the same time, he will attack from two roads and attack in separate ways. It is not enough to attack Pengcheng, but now he has only dispatched a few troops. Ma, put on an offensive stance, but didn't start the battle. As I expected, there must be a reason."

"Why?"

"He must be sceptical about the prince."

"Oh?"

"As I expected, he must be worried that Junhou will return troops from Yingchuan to help Pengcheng, so he did not rush to attack, but just assumed an offensive posture."

"You mean, he is testing me?"

"Exactly, he is testing Junhou to see if Junhou will come to rescue Pengcheng."

Xi Zhicai's guess is very reasonable.

Xun Zhen's reputation is well-known, everyone knows that he is good at fighting, and his soldiers are good and brave. Now in Yingchuan, he has annexed more than 10,000 soldiers and horses under Kong's account, and his soldiers are strong and strong. In addition, Sun Jian is an ally, the two of them. There are tens of thousands of soldiers and cavalry. It may not be enough to fight Dong Zhuo, but it is more than enough to fight back against Tao Qian. Therefore, it is no wonder that Tao Qian has this concern.

Imagine: Tao Qian started a war and was fighting with Pengcheng, and Xun Zhen or even the combined forces of Xun Zhen and Sun Jian suddenly arrived, then the battlefield of this battle was bound to expand from Pengcheng to the county. Xuzhou is the whole state. When the time comes, who will be the final winner? Hard to predict. Maybe Tao Qian would steal the chicken and not lose the rice. Not only did Pengcheng not go down, but Xuzhou was thrown away instead.

Putting himself in his shoes, if Xun Zhen was in Tao Qian's position, he would be in a dilemma.

On the one hand, the coalition forces seeking Dong had a strife, and the world was shocked. They could take this opportunity to attack Pengcheng. On the other hand, Xun Zhen and Sun Jian had strong soldiers, so they stationed their troops in Yingchuan, only a few hundred kilometers away from Xuzhou. They are likely to come to rescue Pengcheng.

In such a dilemma, what should Tao Qian do? What will he do?

Tentatively setting up the battle, testing Xun Zhen's reaction first, to see if he would come to rescue Pengcheng, and then make a decision on whether to attack or not, this seems to be the most appropriate choice. If Xun Zhen came to rescue Pengcheng, then let the flag go down. Anyway, the battle has not yet started, and Xun Zhen could not find an excuse to take the initiative to attack; and if Xun Zhen did not come to rescue Pengcheng, then he could start the fight with confidence and boldness.

Xun Zhen agreed with Xi Zhicai's speculation and assumption.

Not only Xun Zhen agreed, but Cheng Jia also suddenly realized and agreed.

Cheng Jia said scornfully: "Since he wants to win Pengcheng, but he is afraid that the prince will send troops, Tao Xuzhou is more than greedy and lacks courage. 'Those who know others are wise and self-knowledge', if it is as expected, Tao Xuzhou can be said to be' Unwise, 'unknown' people.... Junhou, if this is the case, there is no need to return to the army."

"Oh? What is Junchang's opinion?"

"You can send an army and horse, in the name of supervising food, to return to Guangling in the east, and stay in the garrison to show that if Tao Xuzhou takes Pengcheng, then the monarchs and lords will definitely return to help. That's enough."

Xun Zhen asked Xi Zhicai and the others, "What do you think?"

Xun You said: "What Junchang said is very true, but in my humble opinion, it is possible to supervise grain in the name, but there is no need to return to Guangling."

"Oh?"

"Guangling already has Chen Bao and Yao Sheng's troops, so there is no need to add more troops. Instead of sending troops to Guangling, it is better to station in Pei County."

Stationed in Pei County?

Xun Zhen, Xi Zhicai, and others were all veterans, and as soon as they heard Xun You's words, they knew what they meant.

Xi Zhicai stroked his beard and said with a smile, "It's wonderful to publicize this policy."

Pei Kingdom is in the west of Xuzhou, bordering Xiapi and Pengcheng. If a team of troops can be stationed here, then the initiative in the battle of "Tao Qian's attack on Pengcheng" will be in the hands of Xun Zhen.

If Tao Qian really dared to attack Pengcheng, the troops Xunzhen sent to Pei country could cooperate with Chen Bao, Yao Sheng, etc., or attack Xiapi, copy the way of Chengrong, or enter Pengcheng and directly contact Pengcheng. Xue Li joined forces to fight against Tao Qian.

This is indeed an excellent suggestion, but there is a problem, that is: how can we station troops in the country?

Xun You said: "Yuan Zhong, the prime minister of Pei, has a clear name and is very friendly to Yingchuan scholars. In the past, he had frequent contacts with our clan. I would like to walk with the soldiers and horses to the country of Pei, and visit Yuan Zhong in the face. Talking about Tao Qian's rebellion, and talking about the loyalty of the lords and lords, I think he would not refuse the monarchs and lords to divide their troops to defend Pei County."

Yuan Zhong was also born in the Yuan clan in Runan. His grandfather Yuan Peng and Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's grandfather Yuan Tang were brothers. That is to say, he and Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu share the same great-grandfather, namely Yuan Jing. The relationship is still very close, and five servers have not yet been released.

However, Yuan Zhong and Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's style are completely different.

In fact, it's not that Yuan Zhong's style is different from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, but since his grandfather Yuan Peng, their lineage and Yuan Tang's lineage are fundamentally different in terms of dealing with the world, life style, etc. .

The Yuan clan in Runan has been a minister for generations. Since its ancestor Yuan Chang, the Yuan clan was originally from Chen Jun. When Yuan Jing's grandfather Yuan Chang was in his generation, Yuan Chang moved from Chen Jun to Runan, and thus has Ru Nan. The Nan Yuan clan, a branch of the Yuan clan, later became the son of Yuan Chang's Yuan An, and the Yuan clan of Runan began to become famous. Kuo Situ, the Yuan clan of their lineage has been reproduced to this day, and there are many clansmen, but among so many clansmen, not everyone is like Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. There are still many people who still adhere to the style of their first ancestor Yuan Chang and second ancestor Yuan An.

This is the case with Yuan Peng and Yuan Zhong.

If nothing else, it can be seen from the past experiences of the Yuan Zhong brothers.

Yuan Zhong has three brothers, and he himself is the second one. There is an eldest brother named Yuan Hong. At the end of Yanxi, the party is about to rise. Because Yuan Hong has always been close to famous people and Qingliu, he decided to spread it out. Because of his mother's old age, It is not suitable to escape far, so I built an earthen house, where I live inside and do not communicate with the outside world. Even the food and drink are only accessed from the window, and never go out. This "earth house" is very famous and is called "Yuan Hong Room". Later generations used this to refer to a place to avoid chaos; Yuan Hong was like this, and so was his younger brother Yuan Hong. It is only with celebrities and Qingliu, and Yuan Zhong himself is like this. He used to be friends with Fan Pang, a famous party member in Runan. He was also in the list of being banned from the party. Later, the party was released, not long ago. , He was worshipped as the Prime Minister of Pei, a dignified official of two thousand stones, but he was so frugal that he took office in a reed cart.

This is completely different from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu's fathers still held the positions of high officials when the party was in power. Yuan Shao returned home from Dongjun in his early years and sent him as many as a thousand chariots. The person's name is "Yuan Changshui, the fierce ghost on the road".

From this, it can be seen that Yuan Zhong is indeed just as Xun You said: Su has a clear name. It is also for this reason, because it is completely different from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, the children of the Yuan family, so when Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu raised their troops this time, Yuan Zhong did not interfere, but only provided a little grain earlier.

Yuan Zhong, who is known for his well-known name, is different from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, who have been wealthy and noble from generation to generation, and he takes the "celebrity route", so he will naturally have more contacts with celebrities in Yingchuan in previous years, and naturally he will also be with the celebrities. The Xun clan has come and gone.

Although Xun Zhen was not familiar with him, that was because Xun Zhen's ancestors and fathers were only a small branch of the Xun family, and Xun You was different. Xun You was a descendant of one of the two main lines of the Xun family. He had met Yuan Zhong in the clan, and based on the friendship between his father and Yuan Zhong, the clear name of the Xun family, Xun Zhen's "loyalty" and Tao Qian's "rebellion", there are eight out of ten. / Jiu was able to persuade Yuan Zhong to agree to Xun Zhen sending troops to Pei.

But this is just "eight out of ten/nine~www.wuxiamtl.com~ can't be sure.

Cheng Jia asked, "What if Yuan Zhong insists on refusing to do so?"

Xun Yu interjected at this time and said: "Yuan Zhong's father, who used to be the prime minister of Pengcheng in the past, has a good reputation in office, but now Pengcheng has no faults, but he may suffer from military chaos. Once you get there, you will be done.”

Yuan Zhong's father Yuan He used to be the prime minister of Pengcheng in his early years. Of course, this has nothing to do with Yuan Zhong, but the word "filial piety" comes first. As long as Xun You can link the matter of helping Pengcheng and "filial piety" together, With Yuan Zhong's nature, he would definitely agree.

Cheng Jia stunned and said with a smile: "I didn't know that Yuan Zhong's father had served as Prime Minister of Pengcheng. If that's the case, then things will come to pass."

This is the advantage of the nobility and the state and county crown clan. One is that they have a wide range of contacts and connections, and the other is that they have a wide range of sources of information. They can know many current and past political figures and stories. Combining the two will naturally increase. Out of ordinary people.

At the moment it was agreed, Xun Zhen decided to choose a soldier and horse to go to Pei according to the opinions of Xi Zhicai, Xun You, and Xun Yu.