Xun Yan was concerned about Yuan Tan's attitude and did not dare to change the party easily, but Liu Bei had no such concern. Of course, he would not be able to ask for it. As for whether he would meet Sun Ce in the future and whether he would fight to the death after meeting him, that was the future, and he would not have to consider it now.

Of course, the most important thing is not the position of General Zuo, but the emperor's words "for the left arm of the court."

As for the current situation, the emperor's biggest enemy is naturally Sun Ce. Guanzhong is in the middle, Jizhou and Yizhou are on the left and right wings, but everyone knows that there is little possibility that Yuan Tan will surrender to the court. After defeating Sun Ce, Yuan Tan may turn against the court at any time, and the court will not place hope on him. Youzhou instead of Jizhou to become the left wing became the only choice for the court.

Of course, this is all a story later. If Sun Ce cannot be defeated, nothing will make sense. In this goal, everyone's interests are the same, so the emperor ordered Lu Bu to lead the cavalry to assist Xun Yan to strengthen the offensive in Yanzhou, and at the same time did not give up the pressure on Henan. He asked Liu Bei and Feng Ji to find out how to capture the sandbank.

Liu Bei agreed to go back and think about it, and then reply to the emperor.

The emperor was very satisfied. He chatted with Liu Bei for a long time and asked about the origin of Liu Bei's family with interest. Liu Bei was both excited and embarrassed. When the emperor asked about his family tree, he naturally implied the possibility of re-entering his clan, but he really had no impression. He only remembered that his eldest father Liu Xiong and his father Liu Hong, and he would have no impression of it. It would be fine to brag about ordinary people, but he should not talk nonsense in front of the emperor. This involves the issue of seniority and has a great impact. If someone disagrees at that time, he will not be able to take it out, wouldn't it be embarrassing?

Besides, if you want to become a naturalized person, you must first make great contributions, otherwise there is no way to talk about it.

Liu Bei was very cautious and said he wanted to go back to ask the old man in his clan. The emperor nodded and agreed. The two of them drank and talked happily. In the middle of the night, Liu Bei was half drunk, and then he left the emperor's central army with Feng Ji and others and returned to the camp.

After leaving the camp, the smile on Liu Bei's face gradually dissipated and he sighed a long sigh. Feng Ji could hear it clearly and asked, "Are you thinking about it?"

Liu Bei turned sideways, glanced at the camp in the distance, and then looked at Feng Ji. "Yuantu, don't you think the emperor's confidence is seriously insufficient? He has no hope of defeating Sun Ce. Luoyang is right in front of him, but he doesn't even dare to pass the river."

Feng Ji nodded. "General, this is exactly where the emperor is wise."

Liu Bei looked at Feng Ji in surprise, and helped Feng Ji on his own, and he also got on the horse, walking side by side with Feng Ji. "Yuantu, let's talk about it."

Feng Ji was not humble and said lightly: "The way to use troops is to win before you can decide to win. If you cannot win, you will have to retreat and have no firmness to defend, you will inevitably be in a mess. The emperor came from Guanzhong, and originally had to follow the way of Hanguan. Now Hongnong fell into the hands of Lu Su, and the emperor could only use Hedong. This was a risk. Dong Yue, a member of Dong Zhuo's clan, was the reason why he surrendered to the emperor because of the situation. He might not be sincere. If the emperor was frustrated in attacking Henan, suffered losses of soldiers and generals, and was unable to control Dong Yue, could he still retreat safely to Guanzhong?"

Liu Bei sighed with a deep feeling. "Yuantu, you are right. Not only the emperor, I am also trembling and dare not be careless." He paused and suddenly realized something. "So, the emperor left me behind because he hoped that I could restrain Dong Yue?"

"It should be of this meaning. After Lu Bu led his troops to leave, there were only more than 4,000 cavalry left by the emperor, of which Dong Yue had nearly 3,000. Under normal circumstances, he might not dare to act rashly. After all, although the number of Yulin cavalry around the emperor was slightly small, the military equipment was the best and the combat power was not weak. When fighting head-on, Dong Yue had no chance of winning. Of course, with the general on his side, Dong Yue would not dare to act rashly."

Liu Bei thought about the situation in front of him and nodded repeatedly. Feng Ji was considering it carefully and making sense. He originally thought that the emperor was timid, but now he felt that although the emperor was young, his vision was long-term. He might have been prepared for the unfavorable attack on Yuzhou by Yuan Tan and was planning a retreat.

"Yuantu, you continue."

"He moved with all his might, and he should have done his best to fight quickly. Now that there is no hope of victory, the emperor refused to retreat to Guanzhong, so he had to solve the problem of supply of food and grass. He got Hanoi from Xun Yan, but only Hanoi was far from enough. He would inevitably integrate Hedong, Shangdang and Taiyuan counties to support the army with money and grain from the four counties. Among them, Hedong is the most critical. There is salt and iron in Hedong, and there has been no war in recent years. Jia Xu presided over the years. People's livelihood is stable and their household registration is equivalent to Hanoi. If it can be controlled properly, it will be of great help to the emperor."

Liu Bei slowly turned his head and stared at Feng Ji intently. He understood Feng Ji's meaning. The emperor was not as simple as controlling Dong Yue, but the emperor wanted to completely control Hedong. In order to achieve this goal, the emperor might take the initiative to provoke trouble, or even kill Dong Yue. Of course, the emperor would not be willing to do this by himself. He could only stay out of the matter with a knife. Perhaps he was the knife the emperor wanted to borrow.

Liu Bei's back was cold. He always felt that the emperor's smile was easy to touch, but he didn't expect that there was such a cruel method hidden behind the gentle smile. He pondered for a moment. "What should I... do? Should I refuse the emperor?"

"What are you rejecting him? Don't let Zhao Zhao go to war, Zhao Yun will follow Xun Yan to go to war?"

Liu Bei's eyes flashed and he pondered silently. Feng Ji was right, this was just their guess. The emperor did not say it clearly, so he naturally had no way to refuse. He turned around and regretted what he had just agreed. At that time, it was not only the emperor who had opinions about him, but also Xun Yan.

"Then how should I deal with it?"

"General, this is a transaction, not an order. Since it is a transaction, you might as well look at the conditions first." Feng Ji chuckled: "What are the generals who have to worry about when they are in the hands of the general? Generals might as well think about what should they want. This is a rare opportunity."

Liu Bei touched his bare chin and felt relieved. He looked at Feng Ji, and was so happy. The biggest gain of going south this time was Feng Ji, and he finally had a counselor. Now he was not thinking about anything else, but how to keep Feng Ji and let him truly escape from the Yuan brothers.

If Yuan Tan went to the expedition this time, Feng Ji had nowhere to go, it might be much easier.

Back at the camp, Liu Bei ordered people to convene Qian Zhao, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei to discuss matters. He told them the emperor's plan and announced his plan at the same time. Although Zhao Yun had no objection, Zhang Fei was too happy to fight against the Jiangdong Army and successfully reached a consensus.

Liu Bei also cared about Qianzhao, Zhao Yun, this time he fought side by side with Xun Yan and Lu Bu, and the relationship was complicated. He must be handled carefully and never have unnecessary conflicts. In addition, the situation in the Central Plains is also different in Hebei, and there are more restrictions on cavalry. You must pay attention to the terrain, adjust your tactics in time, and do not make mistakes made by the Huns.

Qianzhao, Zhao Yun bowed to his promise. They were all cautious people, and Liu Bei was more at ease with them, so he didn't say much, and focused on explaining the terrain of Yuzhou. He was a soldier in the governor's office of Yuzhou and performed official duties in Yuzhou. He was not unfamiliar with the geography of Yuzhou. He told Qianzhao one by one, Zhao Yun listened to them and drew sketches for them to carry with him and referenced at any time.

After arranging the war, Liu Bei pretended to be casually chatting and said, "Zi Jing, what kind of results do you think this battle will get?"

Qianzhao thought about it for a while and said slowly: "The best result is that Yuan Jizhou occupied the north of the Huai River, the emperor took Nanyang, confronted Sun Ce across the Han River, and the world was divided into three parts."

"What about the worst result?"

Qianzhao smacked his lips and smiled bitterly. "The emperor retreated to Guanzhong, Yuan Jizhou retreated to Hebei, Sun Ce got Yanzhou, drank horses and the Yellow River, and advanced by water and land, and attacked Jizhou from north to south."

Liu Bei added, "The Youzhou can't be saved."

Qianzhao didn't say anything. There was nothing to guess about this result. Taishici had occupied half of Youzhou. If this siege failed to achieve the expected goal and Yuan Tan's energy was severely injured, Sun Ce would definitely take advantage of the victory to attack and take Jizhou first. As for Youzhou, it would be good to be able to block Taishici's attack. It would be impossible to have the spare strength to support Jizhou. Besides, even if they joined forces, they were not Sun Ce's opponents. The biggest possibility was that before Sun Ce took Jizhou, he would first take Youzhou and then attack Jizhou from north to south.

"So, this battle not only requires victory, but also stability." Liu Bei's sharp eyes swept over Qian Zhao and Zhao Yun's face. "If you can have both, that's better. If you can't have both, then seek stability first and then victory. Never lose too much and make a knife for others."

Qian Zhao and Zhao Yun looked at each other and bowed to each other.

After arranging the war, Liu Bei analyzed the situation again. If the war does not go smoothly and the worst result is, Youzhou will be very dangerous. He only has half of Youzhou, and there is no dangerous terrain on the grassland. Taishi Ci may sweep from east to west at any time and cut off his retreat. If he wants to confront Sun Ce, he must seize this rare opportunity to expand his territory and prepare for his retreat.

Qianzhao remained silent. He understood what Liu Bei meant, but he was not easy to say. Liu Bei had only half of Youzhou. He wanted to expand his space and was unable to compete with Taishi Ci, so he could only go west or south. To the south was north of Hebei, and to the west was Yanmen in the northern part of Bingzhou, and the counties in Yunzhong. The Xiongnu were crippled, and the Xianbei people were also a little depressed recently. It was not difficult to take Yanmen in Yunzhong, but in this way, it formed an advantage over northern Hebei.

Liu Bei's goal is Jizhou. He wanted to take advantage of the situation and at least have a foothold on the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain so that he could confront Sun Ce for a long time. As for the situation, he was ready for the future. It was understandable that he thought so, but for Qianzhao, his situation was embarrassing.

Liu Bei did not force Qianzhao to make a choice. He just greeted him in advance and reminded Zhao Yun, asking him to watch Qianzhao and not to do stupid things that forcefully attack at all costs. Zhao Yun is the nominal governor of Youzhou, and he has the power to restrain Qianzhao.

Facing Liu Bei's staring gaze, Zhao Yun nodded.
Chapter completed!