At that moment, Tian Chou softened his heart and decided to believe in Ju Su and Yuan Tan.

Yuan Tan was not Yuan Shao, and he did not have the ambition and strength to fight for the world and establish the new dynasty. On the contrary, he was attacked from all sides and was at risk of his destruction at any time. He had no choice but to surrender to the court. Since this is the case, there was no difference between Zhuo County and Liu Bei's hands. He had to pay taxes to the court anyway.

In contrast, Liu Bei is even more unreliable.

Tian Chou "warned" Yuan Tan with a harsh voice. The decision of Zhang Envoy to return Zhuo County was not the decision of Zhang Envoy, but the result of his discussion with Liu Bei, and Sun Ce's decision. Zhang Envoy is responsible for the ceremony and Liu Bei is responsible for the army. If you don't return Zhuo County, just wait for Liu Bei's attack. At that time, Sun Ce and Liu Bei are attacking each other from north to south, and see how you deal with it. If you want to avoid the war, you have only one choice. Return Zhuo County immediately, and send someone to contact Zhang Envoy to promise your surrender to the court.

Yuan Tan agreed in a full voice and appointed Cui Yan as an envoy, followed Tianchou to Ji County, and discussed the ownership of Zhuo County with Zhang Ze. He repeatedly stated that the capture of Zhuo County was not because I was greedy for the land of Youzhou, but because I had no choice but to do so. Liu Bei was ambitious. As the prefect of Yuyang, he invaded Guangyang. If he was allowed to occupy Zhuo County, he would inevitably further invade Jizhou. The capture of Zhuo County was only to prevent Liu Bei. If Zhang Ze could let Liu Bei retreat back to Yuyang and choose a prefect of Zhuo County recognized by both sides, so as to ensure that he would not use troops to Jizhou and he could return Zhuo County.

Tian Chou agreed. It was impossible to ask Yuan Tan to return Zhuo County directly, and this was the best result he could achieve.

Both sides turned their anger into peace. Yuan Tan held a banquet to entertain Tian Chou, and asked Tian Chou many times during the meal how to survive under the current situation. Yuan’s four generations and three dukes, now Yuan Yao has become a vassal of Sun Ce, and Sun Ce is ambitious and is determined to replace the Han Dynasty and establish the Sun family. Yuan Shao became a rebel minister because of a temporary expedient approach. He wanted to revive his family’s reputation and continue his family’s reputation. How should he work hard?

As he was talking, this question mentioned whether there was still a possibility of revival in the Han Dynasty. Sun Ce became a big man and owned five states. Now he stretched his hand into Youzhou again. Taishi Ci became the prefect of western Liaoning. Once he pacified Jiaozhou in the south and took Youzhou in the north, and half of the country in his hands, how long can the court last?

Tian Chou followed Zhang Ze's instructions and advised Yuan Tan to form an alliance with Zhang Ze. In this way, Youzhou can stabilize the situation with the help of Jizhou's money and grain. Jizhou can strengthen the soldiers and horses of Youzhou and strengthen themselves. The two sides join forces to go south and drink horses and the Yellow River can threaten Sun Ce, making him dare not act rashly, and it is also serving the court and redeem the merits. In the future, the court will be revived and rewarded according to merits. The ancestors of the Yuan family still have the possibility of blood and food, and Yuan Tan can also guard the side.

Yuan Tan Lian claimed goodness and reminded Tian Chou that the biggest obstacle at present was not Sun Ce, but Liu Bei. Liu Bei occupied Yuyang and Guangyang, and was determined to annex Zhuo County. He had a deep connection with Sun Ce and could join forces with Taishi Ci at any time, which was a major threat to Youzhou. He received news that Sun Ce was planning for Liaodong, and with Liu Bei and Taishi Ci were in between, Zhang Ze was afraid that he had no choice but to watch Liaodong fall into Sun Ce's hands. Once Sun Ce captured Liaodong, Youzhou would be in danger. Therefore, the most urgent task was to transfer Liu Bei from Yuyang and drive Taishi Ci out of Youzhou to prevent Sun Ce from invading Liaodong.

Tian Chou was shocked and asked whether the news of Yuan Tan was reliable. Yuan Tan said that although he had not received any news from Liaodong yet, Qingzhou Governor Shen You was not in Linzi and moved his troops eastward. It was very likely that he would go to capture Liaodong. Judging from reason, this is also in line with Sun Ce's strategy. Sun Ce's army is good and food is sufficient. The only thing he lacks is war horses. If he obtains Liaodong, his shortcomings can be compensated and no one can compete in the future.

Tian Chou thought about it carefully and agreed. Sun Ce himself did reveal similar ambitions, but he did not think about this at that time.

——

Meng Jian did not wait for Ju Su to change his mind, so he had to return to the camp and report to Sun Ce.

After hearing about Meng Jian's mission, Sun Ce was a little hesitant. Ju Su was the leader of Yuan Tan, and his wisdom was not good at all. It seemed that he could only attack with a strong attack. Zhang was unreliable. Whether Liu Bei could complete the task of capturing Zhuo County was also a question that people doubted. In order to defend Zhuo County, Yuan Tan arranged heavy troops. Zhang He guarded Zhuo County, Yan Liang was in Hejian, and Zang Hong was in Bohai, and he could provide reinforcements at any time. Yuan Tan himself also held troops in Bohai. Even if he launched an attack now, he might not be able to succeed. Maybe he would be disappointed.

Sun Ce, Guo Jia and others discussed repeatedly, but they still felt unsure. Xu Kun first arrived in Jinan, but he could not replace Taishi Ci for a while. Even if he launched an offensive against Pingyuan County, his deterrence was very limited and he could only play a certain role in hindrance and could not decide the outcome. Moreover, a war could occur in Liaodong at any time, so they could not fall too deep in Jizhou.

The military planners repeatedly deduced and finally made a plan: the navy moved to the Yellow River and attacked the plains while the Yellow River was full of water. The plains were surrounded by rivers and the country was, with only Luoyin among the nine cities, Gaotang and the two counties were in Henan, controlled by Sun Ce, and the other seven counties - including the capital plain - were all in Hebei, so the plains were actually controlled by Yuan Xi. If the plains could be recaptured, it would be an attitude.

Sun Ce felt it was reasonable. He immediately sent someone to notify Liu Bei that Yuan Tan himself, Chen Chong's troops were not good for your capture of Zhuo County. I decided to move south and capture the plains, and attract Yuan Tan himself to the southern line as much as possible. You seize the opportunity of the fighter and quickly seize Zhuo County.

Sun Ce had no hope for Liu Bei. This man had a thief heart but no courage. He was scared by Yuan Tan last time and may not have the courage to attack now. Maybe Zhang Ze lowered his head and felt very satisfied. He didn't care whether Zhang Ze really bowed his head. Besides, he was not good at giving enough methods, and he couldn't even tell where he was going.

The one who can really count on Guan Yu, so Sun Ce wrote another letter to Guan Yu, explaining the current situation in detail. Finally, he said that Liu Bei's origin was too low, and no matter the Youzhou family or the Jizhou family, he would not support him. It would be unrealistic to want to take Zhuo County without fighting. However, Liu Bei looked forward and might not dare to go out, and he might miss the opportunity again. If you are worried that the troops are insufficient and not enough to fight, I can arrange for Taishi Ci and Gongsun Xu to help you and take Zhuo County.

——

Liu Bei received news from Zhang Ze. Zhang Ze said that Yuan Tan had already surrendered to the court, the people of Jizhou were reconciled, and the time to conquer Zhuo County by force was not yet ripe. He was discussing with Yuan Tan, intending to return Zhuo County to Youzhou in a peaceful way, and ask Liu Bei to be calm and wait patiently for a while.

Liu Bei was furious. Zhang Ze was clearly perfunctory, compromised with Yuan Tan, and wanted to betray him again. Even if he could get Zhuo County back through negotiations, could Zhuo County still give him? At this moment, he received another letter from Sun Ce. After carefully studying Sun Ce's plan, he felt that it was feasible. He had made a plain appearance and knew the situation in the plain. He believed that Sun Ce's move was not for others, but for his own interests. It is precisely because of this that he believed that Sun Ce was not perfunctory. People were only credible when considering their own interests, and no one would fight for the interests of others.

No one else can rely on it, only oneself can trust it. To seize Zhuo County, one can only support one's own strength and do it himself.

Therefore, when Guan Yu came to ask for a fight, he agreed immediately, and even accepted the suggestion of asking Taishi Ci and Gongsun Xu to help. Gongsun Xu had a grudge against Yuan Tan, so he should not refuse. It would be safer to let Taishi Ci and Gongsun Xu fight on the front line than to let them stare behind their backs.

He immediately sent Jian Yong to Youbeiping to meet Gongsun Xu and Taishici.

Taishici and Gongsun Xu had received Sun Ce's order and agreed readily. Taishici asked Jian Yong to repay Liu Bei that we were gathering troops and would soon be able to form an army, with about 3,000 cavalry. You don't have to worry about the weapons, you just need to provide food and grass.

When Liu Bei received the reply, he was overjoyed and immediately entered the state of preparation for war. He decided to divide his troops into two groups: one of them led by Anci directly to Zhuo County, and the other was commanded by Guan Yu, advancing west along the Giant Horse River, cutting off Zhang He's broken route. If Zhang He knew the tactfulness and retreated from Zhuo County first, everything would be fine. If Zhang He did not retreat, Guan Yu would be responsible for blocking reinforcements from the Bohai Sea and Hejian direction.

To this end, Liu Bei allocated all reinforcements from Taishi Ci and Gongsun Xu to Guan Yu to make up for the shortcomings of Guan Yu's lack of cavalry. With food in Quanzhou, it could completely solve the supply of food and grass from Taishi Ci and others. He himself spared no expense to recruit two thousand Yuyang cavalry and handed them over to Zhao Yun for command.

At the same time, Liu Bei sent someone to contact Yan Rou, hoping that Yan Rou could help him. When he learned that Taishi Ci would send troops to help, Yan Rou agreed readily. He also wanted to take this opportunity to learn about Taishi Ci's strength so that he would not know nothing when he was against Taishi Ci in the future.

The entire Yuyang and Guangyang were mobilized, but the governor Zhang Ze was put aside.

In early August, Taishi Ci led his troops to Quanzhou to meet with Guan Yu and Tian Yu. When he learned that Liu Bei's plan was to set off after the autumn harvest, Taishi Ci decisively rejected it. When you harvest the autumn harvest, Zhang He was also harvesting in the autumn, and it would be a few days earlier than you. When you finish harvesting the crops, you will arrive in Zhuo County. Zhang He has already returned to the warehouse and waited for you to wait for you. Since you want to fight, you can't care about this loss. Throw the crops and let the people harvest them. Just give them some benefits. Now seize the opportunity and arrive at Zhuo County before Zhang He harvests, so that he can't harvest them. If he fights, he will set fire to the crops and leave him without food to defend. If he doesn't fight, we will seize his crops and eat them from the enemy. Isn't it better than transporting the grain yourself?

Guan Yu suddenly realized and praised him repeatedly. He immediately ordered the army to rise up and asked Taishi Ci to lead his troops first. He sent someone to send a letter to Liu Bei, explaining the reasons for sending troops in advance, and suggested that Liu Bei also follow Taishi Ci's suggestion and immediately go out to achieve unexpected results.

When Liu Bei received the news, he praised Taishi Ci's idea and was well versed in the way to win with surprise. On the other hand, he was a little worried. Guan Yu was too anxious and refused to wait for a day or two. Can he still control it when he arrived on the battlefield?
Chapter completed!