Yang Changshi, who was omnipotent and achieved miracles many times, finally failed once and fell to Zhuge Liang's deathbed plan of exchanging his life for Liu Biao's wait and see judgment.

In fact, the Xuzhou emissary sent by Yang Changshi was not imprudent. In order to prevent self-defeating, the Xuzhou emissary followed Yang Changshi's instructions. After arriving in Jingzhou, he carefully inquired about the reason why Uncle Liu was imprisoned, and confirmed that Uncle Liu had not been completely cleared of the suspicion of rebellion.

, only then did he disclose his identity and go to the Prefectural Mufu to see Liu Biao, and on behalf of the Xuzhou army, he proposed to redeem Mr. Jiang Qian and his party and Uncle Liu with money and food. But it was a pity that in this way, he fell into Zhuge Liang's death plan, and in turn,

It proved Liu Huangshu's innocence, and also proved that Deputy Director Tao really wanted to put Liu Huangshu to death and then be quick.

In this way, Liu Biao would naturally not immediately kill Liu Huangshu, who had been scapegoated by Zhuge Liang. Zhang Xiu, who had joined forces with the Xuzhou army to frame Liu Huangshu, also became Liu Biao's target of suspicion. Then Liu Biao listened to Liu Xian's suggestion.

, pretending to summon Zhang Xiu to Xiangyang to discuss matters, in order to test whether Zhang Xiu was really secretly colluding with the Xuzhou army. Zhang Xiu, who had a ulterior motive in his heart, fell into the trap and framed Liu Huangshu without killing him. He was already on tenterhooks and was summoned by Liu Biao.

Zhang Xiu also immediately understood that Liu Biao was suspicious of him, and that the Xiangyang industry was destined to be in trouble.

Of course, if Zhang Xiu could be bolder and really be summoned to Xiangyang to meet Liu Biao, then with the relationship between Zhang Xiu and Liu Qi and the secret help of the Kuai Liang brothers, Zhang Xiu might not be able to do so without conclusive evidence.

It cannot be explained that he was just used by the Xuzhou army to reduce big things to trivial matters. Unfortunately, Zhang Xiu is also a suspicious and cautious person. In history, he rebelled against Cao Lao because he suspected that Cao Lao had bribed his confidant Hu Cheer. In addition, in Jingzhou

Living under someone else's roof was not a very happy life. Finally, considering that his special relationship with Mr. Jia always aroused suspicion, Zhang Xiu, after some discussion with a few confidants, decided to go against the grain and took his five thousand men with him.

Many teams left the barren city of Rangcheng and came directly north to join Deputy Director Tao.

Zhang Xiu's breakout was relatively smooth. Although the Jingzhou Army Chen Jiubu stationed in Anzhong to monitor Zhang Xiu's team was well prepared, it failed to stop Zhang Xiu's team from breaking through with all its strength. Later, Zhang Xiu's team bypassed Wancheng.

Going straight to Ye County via Western Hubei, the Jingzhou Army pursued and blocked them with all their strength, but they only wiped out most of Zhang Xiu's team. They failed to damage the core strength of Zhang Xiu's team. When Zhang Xiu's team escaped to Bowang, the Xuzhou Army responded

Soldiers and horses also rushed to the battlefield to join forces with Zhang Xiu, and supported Zhang Xiu's remnants all the way back to Ye County. Chen Ju and Deng Long did not have the strength to continue the pursuit. They defended Bowang and reported the matter to Liu Biao.

In this way, although Deputy Director Tao's dream of killing Uncle Liu with a borrowed knife was completely shattered, he also unexpectedly gained Zhang Xiu, a general, which is not to say that he gained nothing. Therefore, Deputy Director Tao was very happy to go out of the city to welcome Zhang Xiu's surrender.

Zhang Xiu was introduced to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty and presented himself as General Yangwu and Marquis of Wancheng. He publicly declared that Zhang Xiu was being suspected by Liu Biao and was forced to surrender. He also falsely claimed to pardon Zhang Xiu.

He tried to continue to create the illusion that Uncle Liu Huang had surrendered to him, and to continue to make Liu Biao suspicious. Even if he did not kill Uncle Liu Huang, he would still be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

No matter how sentimental Deputy Director Tao was, it was useless. After the news of Zhang Xiu's rebellion reached Xiangyang, in order to further combat Liu Qi's rapidly growing momentum in Jingzhou, the Cai Mao brothers began to speak in front of Liu and accuse Uncle Liu of being innocent. Zhang Xiu was the real traitor who colluded with the Xuzhou Army. He demanded the release of Liu Huangshu and Cai Zhong, and traced Zhang Xiu's accomplices. In addition, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, Yi Ji and others who were not arrested were running around to rescue Liu Biao, who knew that he had wronged Liu Huangshu. After much hesitation, the brother Liu Huangshu was finally released, who had been cleared of suspicion of collaborating with the enemy, just to give an explanation to the Jingzhou soldiers. Instead of leaving Liu Huangshu in Jingzhou to command the troops, he announced that Liu Huangshu and others would be expelled from Jingzhou, and that Liu Huangshu would never be allowed to set foot in Jingzhou.

At the same time, the pro-Tao faction in Jingzhou also suffered a heavy blow. Liu Qi, who came to rescue Jiang Qian and Liu Huangshu, was severely scolded by Liu Biao, and the Kuai Liang brothers who were unaware of the incident were also implicated. Fortunately, the old Kuai family established a tree in Jingzhou Liu Biao, who had deep roots and relied heavily on powerful family members to support his rule, did not resort to cruelty. He scolded the Kuai Liang brothers and demoted them one level to end the problem.

The anti-Tao faction within Jingzhou took the opportunity to raise its head. General Huang Zu, whose son had a close relationship with Deputy Director Tao, took over the Nanyang Defense Area, directly threatening the security of the southern line of Xuzhou Army's new base camp in Xuchang. Cai Zhong, who had been implicated by Uncle Liu, was also released. , regained military power, the anti-Tao faction in Jingzhou's decision-making circles gained the absolute upper hand, and the relationship between the Xuzhou Army and the Jingzhou Army also took a turn for the worse. They became enemies of each other. The unlucky Mr. Jiang Qian and General Li Lang were also innocently implicated. , Liu Biao refused to release him, and he continued to be imprisoned in the prison, waiting for Deputy Director Tao to rescue him when his conscience found out.

Of course, it was impossible for such a big thing to happen between the Xuzhou Army and the Jingzhou Army to be hidden from the eyes and ears of other princes. Of course, almost all of Deputy Director Tao's good neighbors were gloating about this misfortune, hoping that Deputy Director Tao and Liu Biao would be in full swing soon. The fight started, the more intense the better, the more opportunities he had to reap the benefits. Only Boss Cao, who had fled to Chang'an to join his old army, sneered at this. After getting the news, he snorted on the spot: "Old Liu Biao, you are really fierce in appearance and soft in heart." , being bullied and teased by Tao Thief, he didn’t even have the guts to send troops to retaliate. If it were me, I would have sent troops from the east of the Yangtze River to attack the southern front where Tao Thief is relatively weak. "

"Liu Biao is incompetent to this point. It seems that no one can stop the rise of the little thief Tao Ying." Guo Jia also coughed and sighed: "If Liu Biao can muster the courage and rely on Jingzhou's abundant money and food, he can rise up and compete with Tao Ying." If Ying Xiaothief fights to the end, brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang will definitely take advantage of the troubled waters. Yuan Shu, Xu Gong and others in Jiangdong will definitely turn to Liu Biao and join forces to make things difficult for Tao thief. Even if Tao Ying thief cannot be destroyed by then, they will definitely It can delay the Tao bandit's expansion and buy time for us to attack Qunzhong and Yizhou. Unfortunately, Liu Biao does not have the courage and courage."

"When the princes tried to challenge Dong, they lost in front of everyone!" Boss Cao said bitterly: "If more than a dozen princes could unite and destroy Dong, they would have broken Dong Zhuo into thousands of pieces and scattered his bones to ashes. What about what happened later with Situ Wang Yun? It’s the same now. Don’t even think about it if these people who don’t hope to unite with the conspirators and work together to fight against the Tao thieves!”

"It is of course impossible to expect these princes to work together." Xun Yu, the plotter, said slowly: "But if such an alliance can emerge, even if it is an anti-Tao alliance in name only, it will be very difficult for our army.

Very advantageous. How about your lord trying to form such an alliance?"

"Mr. Wen Ruo, are you joking? My lord came forward to form an anti-Tao alliance, and yet he did not attract the full revenge of the Tao thieves?" Cheng Yu asked in surprise. - By the way, during the battle of Ye County, although the old and cunning Cheng Yu

He was separated from Boss Cao for a time. But in the end, he and Cao Xiu, the most capable of escaping among Boss Cao's relatives, fled back to Boss Cao and continued to work for Boss Cao, helping him to do evil.

"Mr. Zhongmou is joking." Xun Yu said with a smile: "Let me tell you something that my lord will definitely not like to hear. Today is different from the past. With my current strength and status, even if I come forward to organize this anti-Tao thieves alliance, I am afraid that

No prince in the world will pay attention to it."

Boss Cao's face darkened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and said with a smile: "Although Mr. Youruo's words are harsh, they are also true. Based on the current situation of our army, what I said is that there is indeed no prince who is too

I've ignored it. But Mr. Youruo, if that's the case, why do you suggest trying to form an anti-Tao thieves alliance?"

"Yu doesn't want to ask the lord to come forward to form an anti-Tao thieves alliance. He wants to ask the lord to come forward and encourage Liu Biao to come forward to form an anti-Tao thieves alliance." Xun Yu replied with a smile.

"Encourage Liu Biao to come forward and form this anti-Tao thieves alliance?" Boss Cao, who has actually become Deputy Director Tao's unlucky father-in-law, was stunned at first, and then after a moment of calculation, he quickly said: "Let Liu Biao come forward to form such an anti-Tao thieves alliance?"

What benefit does the Tao Thief Alliance bring to our army?"

"There are two benefits." Xun Yu replied calmly: "The first is to establish the Tao thief's number one enemy target, divert the Tao thief's attention, and make the Tao thief less able to prevent our army from regrouping and making a comeback for a long time. Secondly,

It is to use the hands of the Tao thief to contain Liu Biao, so that Liu Biao is unable to prevent the re-emergence of our army."

"Lord, please don't forget. It is difficult to raise an army if Guanzhong is blocked. Our next primary strategic goal is to capture Hanzhong, a grain-producing area, and then plot the fertile and vast land of Yizhou and Tianfu. Once our army moves to Hanzhong, it will have a close relationship with Liu Zhang.

Zhang Lu, who had killed his mother, the only person he could turn to for help was Liu Biao, who could enter Hanzhong from Shangyongbing. If we don't find something for Liu Biao to do quickly, what if Liu Biao really agrees to rescue Zhang Lu?

Then why are there some troubles in our group?"

Mr. Cao laughed and said with a smile: "The investment is small but the rewards are big. It seems that I have to give it a try. In Mr. Youruo's opinion, how confident can we be that our army will encourage Liu Biao to form an anti-Tao thieves alliance?"

?”

"60 to 70% sure." Xun Yu replied: "Although Liu Biao has no real name, is fierce in appearance, and is similar to a guard dog, but now he has turned against Tao Thief, and in his heart he must be afraid that Tao Thief will send troops to retaliate, so he formed such an alliance.

, or at least on the surface it can be beneficial to him without harming him, so the possibility of Liu Biao being tempted is extremely high."

"It would be even better if Liu Biao could have some enterprising spirit. Among the surrounding princes of Tao Thief, he is already the most powerful. If he ascends to the top and shouts, the princes will inevitably respond in order to protect themselves. They will accept Liu Biao as the leader to fight against Tao Thief, and then deal with it.

If it is appropriate, Liu Biao may not have the chance to become the master of the world. Considering this, Liu Biao will definitely be even more excited."

"That's it!" Boss Cao slapped his thigh and said: "I immediately wrote a letter to Liu Biao to tell him how powerful he was, and persuaded him to come forward to form an anti-Tao alliance, but this matter still requires a eloquent scholar, Ben Shu, to go to Jingzhou. Who can do it?

As an envoy?"

"You can send Man Boning as your envoy." Xun Yu suggested: "Although Man Boning was taken back to Xuchang in a prison car by Liu Biao because he offended Liu Biao, it was also because of the instigation of Tao thief's lackey Yang Hong.

Now he has brought his own disaster. After meeting Man Boning, he must have regretted his association with the Tao thief and became more and more hatred towards the Tao thief. Things can be easily solved. Moreover, Man Boning, Cai Mao, Huang Zu, Zhang Yun and other important officials in Jingzhou

If Tonghao comes forward, it will be easy to win the support of these important officials in Jingzhou."

"Okay, Cai Mao is greedy for money, so you can ask Man Chong to bring more valuable gifts to him." Boss Cao nodded immediately and ordered: "Send a message to Man Boning quickly to see him."

The guards on the left and right agreed and immediately went down to deliver the order, but Xun Yu reminded him: "My lord, please make sure to arrange for Man Boning to go to Jingzhou secretly. First, to prevent the Tao thieves from noticing, send Man Boning's nemesis Yang Hong to come out to cause trouble, and secondly,

This is to prevent the Tao thieves from angering our army and attacking our army before the incident is completed."

Boss Cao nodded in praise of his kindness, and then sighed: "A tiger falls in Pingyang and is bullied by dogs. A dragon swims in shallow water and is teased by shrimps. Unexpectedly, I, Cao Mengde, am also afraid that one day Tao's thief will anger me. If I don't cut this traitor into pieces in the future,

It’s hard to forgive me for today’s humiliation.”

After sighing, Boss Cao immediately acted according to his plan and ordered Man Chong to come to Xiangyang with a letter to meet Liu Biao. Man Chong disguised himself as a salt dealer (Boss Cao currently controls salt produced in Yuncheng) and was very careful when he arrived in Xiangyang.

Man Chong first investigated the situation until he confirmed that his nemesis Yang Changshi was not in Xiangyang and was not coming towards Xiangyang. Man Chong was relieved and quickly brought the valuable gifts that Boss Cao had dug up from the ancient tomb in Chang'an.

He quietly went to Cai Mao's home and asked for an audience. He asked Cai Mao to secretly introduce him to Liu Biao. He also stated his interests to Cai Mao and asked Cai Mao to persuade Liu Biao to come forward to form an anti-Tao alliance.

Just like what Xun Yu said, General Cai Mao was indeed a good general with an eye for money. After accepting bribes from Man Chong, he did not take money and do nothing like many corrupt officials in modern society. Instead, he kept Man Chong's secrets very ethically.

Introduced to Liu Ming. After finally meeting, Man Chong also immediately started to talk eloquently. First, he claimed that the Cao and Liu families had no enmity at all, but they only had quarrels because of the traitor Tao Ying and his lackey Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew.

His own boss, Cao, was extremely regretful about this. He also said that the Tao traitors were now powerful and would invade Jingzhou sooner or later. He urged Liu Biao to spread the word to the world and call on all the princes to join forces to attack the Tao Ying traitors. Boss Cao would also be willing to form an anti-Tao alliance.

They accepted Liu Biao as their leader and obeyed Liu Biao's orders.

After hearing what Man Chong said, Liu Biao naturally had to ask why Boss Cao didn't come forward to form an anti-Tao alliance. Man Chong answered truthfully: "I'll tell you the truth, my lord doesn't want to spread the word to the world and call on the world's princes to join forces.

Kang Tao. However, after our lord suffered a series of disastrous defeats in Cangting and Xuchang, he is now severely weakened, has few soldiers and food, and is unable to bear such an important task. The prince is different. Since the prince is a loyal relative of the Han Dynasty and a noble man in Tianhuang,

The nine counties of Jingzhou are well-equipped with soldiers. They have tens of thousands of armored men under their command. They are like a cloud of fierce generals and a drizzle of counselors. If the duke can ascend high and give a shout, his followers will surely gather and the world will respond. Therefore, my lord has taken the liberty to send a small

The envoys have come to respectfully request the prince to act in accordance with heaven and form an alliance to defeat Tao Ying, the traitor in the country."

Again, if such an alliance can be formed to jointly attack Deputy Director Tao, it will indeed be beneficial to Liu Biao who is currently at odds with Deputy Director Tao. Therefore, after Liu Biao thought about it again and again, although he did not agree immediately, he did not agree on the spot.

If he refused, he just arranged for Man Chong to rest in the post office and wait for the news, and then summoned a group of close officials to discuss the matter with Boss Cao's letter.

The strategic short-sightedness of Jingzhou's decision-makers is well-known in history. Therefore, after Liu Biao showed the letter, no one in Jingzhou's decision-makers could see that Boss Cao's real purpose was to prevent the Jingzhou army from visiting Hanzhong.

.After careful deliberation, most of the decision-makers in Jingzhou also felt that Boss Cao’s words were reasonable. Among the surrounding princes of the Xuzhou Army, only Liu Biao was indeed able to take up the important task of forming an anti-Tao alliance, and the Jingzhou Army was both

We have already turned against the Xuzhou Army, and are inferior to the Xuzhou Army in terms of overall strength. Instead of waiting for Deputy Director Tao to take action in the future, it is better to take action now, and join forces with Deputy Director Tao and his good neighbors who are still alive to kill this man who is even more cruel than Boss Dong.

, the Tao Ying traitor who is more vicious than Boss Cao!

Only the Kuai Liang brothers firmly opposed it, pointing out that if they did this, the Jingzhou Army would inevitably incur full revenge from the Xuzhou Army, and none of the neighbors of the Xuzhou Army were good people. Even if they promised to form an alliance to fight against Tao, they would not wait until Deputy Director Tao sent troops to Jingzhou.

At that time, there was definitely no one willing to send troops to reinforce Jingzhou, or to surround Wei and rescue Zhao to relieve Jingzhou's danger. Liu Biao also believed in this, because Liu Biao liked to do this the most.

Then again, if this alliance is formed, the allies may not save the Jingzhou Army when it is in danger, but if this alliance is not formed, when the Jingzhou Army is in danger, these potential allies will definitely not save it!

Taking this into consideration, and the real danger after the conflict with the Xuzhou Army, Liu Biao hesitated again and again, and finally accepted Deng Yi's suggestion from Zhizhong, and decided to first agree to conclude a mutual protection alliance with Cao Lao, and then send envoys

Go north to contact Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, pretending to mediate the dispute between the Yuan brothers, but actually testing the Yuan brothers' opinions on forming an alliance to fight against Tao - if the Yuan brothers sitting in the three states can really work together to fight against the Xuzhou army, then

Forming this alliance is of great significance.

What Deng Yi came up with is simply a typical bad idea. Mr. Yuan Tan, who is currently at odds with Deputy Director Tao, wants nothing more than to have someone help him deal with Deputy Director Tao. At the same time, Yuan Tanjun, who is seriously injured, is temporarily unable to do anything.

To recapture Jizhou, when Deng Yi arrived in Taiyuan as an envoy, Prince Yuan Tan not only agreed to Liu Biao's mediation and ceased war with his brothers, but also offered to form an alliance with Liu Biao to destroy Tao. Finally, he also begged Deng Yi to come forward to contact Yuan Shang and his third brother.

Armistice negotiations began. Deng Yi was overjoyed and agreed. While writing to report Liu Biao's situation, he went to Yecheng to meet Yuan Shang in person and persuaded Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan to reconcile and join forces.

The situation of Young Master Yuan Shang was a little more complicated. He launched reconciliation negotiations with Yuan Tan, prompting Yuan Tan to acquiesce in Jizhou as his legal territory. Of course Young Master Yuan Shang was happy with this, so after Deng Yi met Young Master Yuan Shang, Young Master Yuan Shang also agreed to work with his brother.

Armistice negotiations. But when it came to persuading Mr. Yuan Shang to join forces with other princes to attack Tao, Deng Yi had to be careful. After beating around the bush for a long time, he vaguely revealed his other purpose, and Shen Pei heard Deng Yi's hidden secret.

After realizing this, he immediately persuaded Yuan Shang to agree to form an alliance against Tao without hesitation.

Finally, the resourceful Shen Pei also took the initiative to give Deng Yi a good idea to form an alliance to defeat Tao, that is, he suggested that after Liu Biao formed an alliance, the princes participating in the alliance must hand over their pledges to Liu Biao to ensure that the alliance was loyal and reliable.

At the same time, the judge also took the initiative to represent Mr. Yuan Shang, saying that although Mr. Yuan Shang did not have a son yet, he could use his youngest brother Yuan Mai as a hostage and send him to Xiangyang to conclude a treaty. Deng Yi was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately sent a letter to report the good news.

, after getting Liu Biao's consent, he signed a covenant with Yuan Tan to conquer Tao, and then brought Yuan Mai back to Jingzhou as a pledge.

On the surface, he gave Liu Biao a rare good idea, but in private, Mr. Shen Pei, who had an intelligence of over 90, sneered repeatedly and said to himself: "You, Liu Biao, want to be the leader, of course we can't ask for it, wait for that Yuan
Chapter completed!