Wang Zheng's order was introduced to Lu'an. That night, Guo Jia dispatched hundreds of elites to divide into two missions. They traveled at dawn and stayed overnight, traveling day and night, and rushed to various places.

Go all the way to Xudu to see Cao Cao; go all the way to Jingzhou to see Liu Biao;

The apparent reason why Wang Zheng arranged this mission to Xu Du was that he had just recently learned that Yuan Shu was a traitor and wanted to claim the title of emperor and establish the Zhong family. As a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty, Wang Zheng was now filled with righteous indignation and wanted to replace Yuan Shu.

God's punishment is such that he came here to ask for a copy of the emperor's edict to attack the enemy, so that he could gain great righteousness first.

The actual reason is just to ask for peace. On the one hand, it is to reaffirm with Cao Cao that they will not fight each other. They hope that Cao Cao will not attack his family during this period. On the other hand, they also hope that Cao Cao, whether in the name of Xiandi or in private friendship, will also let him go.

Yuan Shao of Jizhou ordered Yuan Tan, who was stationed in Linzi, not to engage in border provocations during this period, thereby creating a relaxed and stable external environment for the Xuzhou army to annex Jiangdong.

If Cao Cao is willing to do a favor this time, Wang Zheng is also willing to pay a generous gift in return.

What is this generous gift? Wang Zheng did not say it clearly, but he guessed that Cao Cao would definitely want Runan County in Yuzhou. Wang Zheng was also mentally prepared for this. After all, if the plan succeeded, he would station troops in all the Jiangdong areas under Yuan Shu's rule.

He was indeed rude to digest more maps for the time being.

But Wang Zheng didn't expect that Cao Cao would open his mouth...

For Cao Cao, if Wang Zheng hadn't suddenly sent troops to Yuzhou to interfere with it, Runan County would have been included in his bag long ago and used his "original things" as gifts. Wang Zheng's calculation was too good.

.

Both Wang Zheng and Yuan Shu were his competitors. They had internal strife because of their interests, and he would naturally be happy to see it happen. But if Wang Zheng defeated Yuan Shu too easily and occupied Jiangdong, even if his current energy was more focused on the north

The Earth and the Central Plains were beyond their reach even if they wanted to stop it, but Cao Cao still had little hope.

If he hadn't known that Yuan Shu always hated him, and he had gone to tell Yuan Shu about Wang Zheng's plans, Yuan Shu would have probably regarded it as a provocation, and Cao Cao would have even wanted to send someone to remind him immediately.

After weighing it again and again, Cao Cao finally told the envoy that he could let Emperor Xian issue an edict, or he could persuade Yuan Shao to stop him, but in addition to the entire Runan County, Cao Cao had two conditions.

First, Wang Zheng must fully recognize the status of Emperor Xian Zhengshuo and accept the appointment and dispatch of the Han court. As for what constitutes complete recognition, Cao Cao means that Wang Zheng must come to Xudu in person and pay homage to Emperor Xian as a minister.

, and at the same time open the border defenses in Xuzhou against Henan and Yanzhou,

Second, important towns such as Xiapi needed officials appointed by the Han court to handle internal affairs.

After reading the letter from Lu'an, Wang Zheng was stunned for a long time, and then he slowly said: "Is Cao Ah Man crazy?"

It is unlikely that Wang Zheng will agree to these two conditions. It doesn't matter if he verbally acknowledges the emperor, but this request to visit Xu Du in person is simply a joke.

Cao Cao is not Yuan Shu, and Xu Du is not Shouchun. No matter how confident he is, he will not consider entering such a dragon pit and tiger's den, and there is no need to open the defense.

So what is the purpose of Cao Cao raising these conditions? Wang Zheng was lost in thought. The other party must also know that he would never accept it, so why did he raise it?

He asked Wang Xiong and others: "What do you think?"

"Cao Cao would put forward these two conditions, which is really unexpected." Zhou Tai said: "When the lion opens his mouth, if we comply with his wishes, not only will the door to our rear be opened wide, but also his tentacles will penetrate deep. We will never think that we will never

Don’t agree.”

Wang Xiong put forward the opposite opinion: "The first condition is of course absolutely impossible. As for the second one, I don't think it's a big problem. With the general's prestige and control in Xuzhou, even if Cao Cao puts his wings,

No matter how high the position is without real power, it is a false position, and who will listen to those people?"

"In particular, the Heavenly Army was created by the general himself. The generals are all loyal. Even if Cao Cao wants to reach out to the army, they are nothing more than puppets. The Heavenly Army will always only obey the orders of the general. With the army in hand, it is understandable that he will change his mind.

It won’t reach the sky.”

Wang Zheng was leaning on his seat, looking out of the hall, thinking in silence. After thinking for a long time, he asked another sentry: "What about Liu Biao's side?"

Liu Biao's Jingzhou was a little farther from Lu'an, but after returning from Jingzhou, he came directly to Shouchun by water, so Wang Zheng learned about the results of the two missions at about the same time.

"General." The sentry rider said: "The envoy who was sent to Liu Biao's office met Liu Biao. In accordance with the order of the lord, the envoy expressed to Liu Biao that our army was willing to form a good relationship and alliance with Liu Biao. Liu Biao didn't say much.

, I entertained him with good wine and banquet, and also sent a reply to the letter, asking the general to read it." After saying that, he handed over a letter.

Wang Zheng took it and browsed it quickly, and found that there were only some polite words. After thinking for a while, he said: "Cao Cao cannot agree to these two requests, but there is no need to fall out with him for the time being, lest he become angry and make my plan public.

, Yuan Shu may not necessarily believe it, but he is most afraid of the unexpected."

"So, just continue to make excuses with him." He said to the sentry: "You go back and tell Military Advisor Guo that you can send envoys to negotiate with him. To delay time, you must remember one thing, don't leave any trace.

Just a word on a piece of paper. Everything that comes out of my mouth can enter his ears. There is no basis for this so-called oral saying."

"promise!"

Wang Zheng nodded, Wen Yan asked the sentry to retreat, then looked around, and said in a deep voice: "This general has received news that Yang Hong once again admonished Yuan Shu a few days ago, and we have been here in Shouchun for more than half a month.

Now, speaking of it, it’s almost time to wipe out the “remnants of Sun’s thieves” or to “explore the road to Xudu”. Without further delay, I think we should start the next step immediately. What do you think?"

No one has any opinion.

If recruiting local prominent families, dismantling Yuan Shu from within, developing diplomacy, and stabilizing Cao Cao and Liu Biao are the prelude, then the next third step is the highlight.

If this step can be successful, Wang Zheng's plan to attack Jiangdong will have at least a 60% chance of success.

He looked at Zhou Tai and asked: "Youping, how did you go about what I asked you to do?"

Everyone who came to Shouchun with Wang Zheng had their own responsibilities. Zhou Tai's task was to make good friends with the local military forces of the Jiangdong faction. He replied: "Zhouzhou Mu, I have now contacted the leader of the Jiangdong Army.

Well, this man's name is Li Yu, and his current official position is that of a chariot and cavalry captain. Although his family background is not high, his ancestors have been officials in the local area for three generations. He is considered a general and is highly respected in the Jiangdong Army." "I have tried it out.

It turns out that this person has always been dissatisfied with Yuan Shu, and we are very confident of instigating a rebellion against him. Once he is captured, the local generals in the city will treat him like a horse, and he will also be used by the state pastor!"

"Great kindness!" Wang Zheng high-fived and said with a smile.

The last time he came to Shouchun, he found that the factions under Yuan Shu's command were extremely divided. The key plan for seeking Jiangdong this time was to use every opportunity to exploit the local forces in Jiangdong's dissatisfaction with Yuan Shu and the Runan faction to win over them to help him!

It's just that Wang Zheng is not a local, and there are too many people paying attention to him. In addition, Sun Ce, the proud young hero of Jiangdong, died in his hands, so he has concerns about coming forward in person. It happens that Zhou Tai is from Jiujiang, so Wang Zheng specially made a special trip this time.

When he, a newly surrendered person, came to Shouchun, he wanted to use him to establish a connection with Jiangdong forces.

However, Zhou Tai's official position is not high and his reputation is small. Compared with Wang Xiong's quick friendship with the local nobles and even winning over Dao Luji and others, Zhou Tai did spend a little longer on this, but he is not afraid of good food.

Late in the evening, I finally came into contact with the top leaders of the Jiangdong forces.

As for how to determine whether the local generals in Jiangdong would be willing to betray Yuan Shu and join Wang Zheng as their master, it was nothing more than promising their high-ranking officials generous salaries.

If he really succeeds in embezzling Jiangdong, Wang Zheng will indeed need to use local forces to help him digest it as soon as possible and restore order in the early stage. Therefore, at this point, whether it is to the noble clans or these generals, his promise will indeed be fulfilled.

of.

However, if his abilities cannot be matched in the later stage, or he still cannot get the seal of loyalty from the system, then he will naturally have to take back the rights he has given away one by one.

"Then everything will succeed or fail in one fell swoop!" Wang Zhenghu's eyes flashed sharply, he looked around everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Wang Xiong, you can make good friends with local nobles and bribe Shouchun officials.

Pause. Don't go out in the next few days. External rhetoric..." He pondered for a moment and said, "The general is ill."

"By the way, if Yang Hong, Gu Yong and others come again to ask when the remnants of the Sun thieves can be completely wiped out, I can give them a clear answer now, and it will be completed within ten days at most!"

According to Wang Zheng's theory, no matter how big Shouchun City is, ten days will be enough for Li Yu to mobilize and contact all the generals who are dissatisfied with Yuan Shu, and then the final step will be taken!

"Send an urgent report to Lu'an and Anfeng, and order Wu Sheng and Huang Zhong, in addition to the troops left behind, to gather elite troops, hide their voices, boycott Hefei within three days, enter a state of war preparation, and ensure that they can enter Jiujiang at any time!"

"At the same time, the Pengcheng and Xiapi tribes were ordered to secretly gather towards Dongcheng County on the front line and prepare to transport soldiers and supplies."

"promise!"

Everyone agreed with a roar, and Wang Zheng stood up to push the case forward, walking under the window, with a sharp light in his eyes and a surging fighting spirit.

At this time, the sky outside the window was gloomy, the autumn air was bleak, the wind was howling, and there was an imminent threat of mountain rain.

...

The news that Wang Zheng was ill soon spread throughout Shouchun.

No one expected that the first person to visit was not the officials and noble families who had already surrendered to the royal government, but Yuan Shu himself.

Wang Zheng couldn't help but be greatly surprised. Because of the high physical fitness given by the system, he seemed to be immune to the cold and heat in the past few years since he time traveled. He almost forgot what it felt like to be sick. He pretended to be sick for the first time, took a look at himself in the mirror for a while, and looked at the person in his hand.

Qiao Wan, who he created with a "sick appearance", still lacks confidence: "Does it really look like she is sick?"

"If you don't believe in my craftsmanship, you can find someone else to try it."

Qiao Wan glanced at him dissatisfied and hummed, "But it's too late now. When you meet Yuan Shu, remember to lower your voice and don't speak out loud. You won't be able to blame me then."

Wang Zheng nodded: "Give me the medicine."

Taking the medicine bowl from Qiao Wan, everything was ready. Wang Zheng nodded. Not long after he lay down, there was a burst of footsteps outside the door. It was Yuan Shu, Yang Hong, Gu Yong and others, and there was another

A strange middle-aged Confucian scholar.

"Mr. Yuan..."

Wang Zhengyou yelled out and tried to stand up to greet him. Yuan Shu hurriedly caught up with him, pushed him down on the bed, and said with a smile: "Yu Kou is not feeling well, so don't be so formal."

,Besides, you and I, our own family, still have no need to be polite to me? Lie down quickly, lie down."

Looking around, he saw that only Qiao Wan was there. He couldn't help but frown: "Why is there no woman waiting around? Where is Sun Huan? Come, go and call him to me." Sun Huan was just there.

Head of the embassy.

Wang Zheng hurriedly called Qiao Wan on the side to stop, and explained: "It's not the fault of Manager Sun, it's because I, Zheng Jing, sent the maid away."

Hearing this, Yuan Shu glanced at Qiao Wan with a strange look on his face, and was secretly surprised in his heart. If you are so clean, then why are you keeping a pretty face next to you? Could it be...

Thinking that Wang Zheng had never been married, Yuan Shu's heart suddenly moved. Could it be that Wang Zheng, besides being a good widow, was as good as Long Yang?

Keeping this in his mind, Yuan Shu laughed: "The Imperial Guard has lived in Xuzhou for a long time and is used to the generous manners of Xuzhou women. It seems that he can't get used to the soft words of this Wu woman. I can't blame you for this."

, but I am not thoughtful enough."

He is also from the north. Although he is the lord of Yangzhou, he still has a certain geographical superiority in his heart. This is the usual mentality of northerners towards southerners at this time, which is normal.
To be continued...