Chapter 80: Mutual calculations

Lu Xun was of course very unhappy about Pan Zhang's fight without obeying military orders. Lu Xun, as the commander of the three armies, had a disobedient general who fought against him, which would be a great blow to Lu Xun's prestige. So in Lu Xun's view, if Pan Zhang died at Guan Yu's hands, he would have to blame himself. At that time, Pan Zhang was just used as a negative teaching material to shock the three armies.

Pan Zhang was Sun Quan's beloved general. When Sun Quan was fifteen years old, Pan Zhang followed Sun Quan and had decades of old relationship between the master and servant. Everyone in Jiangdong knows this. With the relationship between Sun Quan and Pan Zhang, even if Pan Zhang really violated the military order, Lu Xun would not punish Pan Zhang for death. After all, if Lu Xun wanted to continue with Sun Quan in Jiangdong in the future, Lu Xun would never be able to kill someone like Pan Zhang, and at most he could be punished dozens of people.

However, at this time, Lu Xun needed to establish his authority in the army. Pan Zhang could not be killed, but Ma Zhong had no background behind him, so Lu Xun was using him to establish his authority.

Besides, it is not easy for Pan Zhang to cause trouble for Guan Yu now. How many people in the world are able to fight Guan Yu and fight with him? Speaking of which, Lu Xun really doesn't like Pan Zhang, especially after seeing the injuries on Ma Zhong, Lu Xun doesn't think Pan Zhang can come back alive. Pan Zhang did not obey military orders and was beheaded by Guan Yu. Sun Quan no wonders Lu Xun.

Lu Xun believed that Pan Zhang would not come back, and even if Pan Zhang came back, Lu Xun could not kill Pan Zhang. So today Lu Xun wanted to kill Ma Zhong to serve as a warning to all the soldiers and let all the soldiers know the consequences of violating military discipline.

"Governor, please spare me! There will be an important military report at the end!"

Hearing Ma Zhong shouting, Lu Xun waved his hand and signaled everyone to pull Ma Zhong back. Then he looked at Ma Zhong coldly and said, "What military information is there? Tell me quickly!"

"Governor, Mo Jiang found a man in Guan Yu camp!" Ma Zhong said here and watched Lu Xun listen carefully, then continued: "This man is a young man, about fifteen or sixteen years old, holding an iron stick as thick as a wrist. Mo Jiang was injured by this man!"

There was such a 15 or 16-year-old boy in Guanyu Camp, Lu Xun had already learned from the soldiers that this was not new news for Lu Xun. Lu Xun frowned impatiently and asked at Ma Zhong gloomyly: "That's all you want to say?"

When Ma Zhong saw that Lu Xun was about to turn against him, he quickly continued, "Governor, the last general happened to know that young man!"

"Really?" Lu Xun immediately felt spirited: "Who is that boy?"

"Go back to the governor, that young man is Liu Chan, the son of Liu Bei!" Ma Zhong replied.

As soon as Ma Zhong said this, the tent suddenly fell into silence. Many people looked surprised, while more were incredible.

Lu Xun was also stunned. At first, Lu Xun was also surprised, but then he thought, Liu Chan was Liu Bei's son, and the so-called son of a daughter could not sit in the hall. He should still be staying in Chengdu, so why did he come to Jingzhou? Besides, even if the young man was Liu Chan, how did Ma Zhong know him? It must be Ma Zhong who was making a fool of himself to survive!

Thinking of this, Lu Xun said, "Ma Zhong, I didn't expect you to tell such a lie to survive! The person comes, push Ma Zhong out! Behead!"

"Governor, it's unfair! What I said is true!" Ma Zhong was so aggrieved that he almost cried: "That person is really Liu Chan!"

"I dare to argue, even if that young man is Liu Chan, how can you know him?" Lu Xun said angrily.

"Governor, listen to me, General Zhou Yu sent me to Jingzhou to kidnap Liu Chan. Governor Lu Meng and General Pan Zhang also knew about this!" Ma Zhong immediately cried.

Hearing Ma Zhong's words, Lu Xun waved his hand and let Ma Zhong go. Lu Xun also heard a little about A Dou being kidnapped. Lu Xun thought about it carefully and remembered that it was after the Battle of Chibi. Liu Bei's son Liu Chan was kidnapped to Xudu. Later, Sun Shangxiang gave birth to a son, and Cao Cao released Liu Chan. At that time, Lu Xun was still an unknown person, so Lu Xun didn't know the details of it, but Lu Xun vaguely guessed that this matter should have been done by Zhou Yu.

At this time, Lu Xun's mind roughly analyzed the ins and outs of the matter. If what Ma Zhong said was true, Zhou Yu sent Ma Zhong to tie Liu Chan and then ordered Ma Zhong to send Adou to Xu Du. Zhou Yu's plan was that if Cao Cao killed Adou, then Liu Bei and Cao Cao would definitely fight, and Zhou Yu would take advantage of the opportunity to seize Jingzhou. Unfortunately, Cao Cao did not go to the scene and did not kill Liu Chan. Later, Sun Shangxiang gave birth to a son, and Cao Cao sent Liu Chan back to Jingzhou.

Suddenly, Lu Xun thought that when Ma Zhong kidnapped Liu Chan, Liu Chan should be only three or four years old. Now more than ten years have passed, Liu Chan must have changed a lot. How can Ma Zhong recognize Liu Chan?

Thinking of this, Lu Xun narrowed his eyes and asked, "Ma Zhong, when did you say you kidnapped Liu Chan?"

"It happened about thirteen years ago when I returned to the governor!"

"Hmph... Thirteen years ago, your Ma Zhong's brain was very useful. Liu Chan was probably just a two or three-year-old child back then. I didn't expect that after thirteen years, you Ma Zhong would still know him!" Lu Xun snorted coldly.

Ma Zhong immediately realized the problem in his words and hurriedly explained: "Governor, listen to me, the general did not recognize that the young man was Liu Chan, but Liu Chan recognized the general and also came to find General Mo to take revenge with a stick, so General Mo knew that he was Liu Chan's!"

"Be serious about this? That boy is really Liu Chan?" Lu Xun asked again.

"I dare to use my superiors to guarantee it!" Ma Zhong said immediately.

Seeing Ma Zhong’s appearance, Lu Xun sighed secretly, Ma Zhong shouldn’t be lying. Unexpectedly, the young man was Liu Chan, the son of Liu Bei!

At this time, Lu Xun realized that this news was really important! Liu Bei's son is now in Jingzhou and is with Guan Yu. He originally thought that there was only one Guan Yu in Jingzhou, but he didn't expect that there was another big fish hidden. If Liu Chan could be captured... Thinking of this, Lu Xun began to plot, what consequences would be caused if he caught Adou.

Guan Yu is Liu Bei's sworn brother, while Liu Chan is Liu Bei's biological son and Liu Bei's first heir. Lu Xun believes that no matter who catches Guan Yu and Liu Chan, he will inevitably be retaliated by Liu Bei. But similarly, Guan Yu and Liu Chan have special identities, and neither Cao Cao nor Jiangdong will miss this good opportunity.

Speaking of which, now that Sun Quan has occupied Jingzhou, he will sooner or later be retaliated by Liu Bei. If Liu Bei really commanded Jiangdong, Cao Cao would definitely not miss this good opportunity and gave Jiangdong a trick to get hurt. Although Jiangdong is blocked by the Yangtze River, Jingzhou is not blocked by the Yangtze River. If Liu Bei and Cao Cao come to cause trouble for Jingzhou at the same time, Jingzhou may not be able to be preserved.

If Liu Bei only lost Jingzhou, he might not have been able to fight Jingzhou immediately. Liu Bei lost Guan Yu and would probably only attack with all his strength. Lu Xun was confident that he could deal with these two possibilities, but if Liu Bei had lost his son, he would probably attack him desperately in a crazy way. At that time, Liu Bei would have ambition to burn his boats. Just imagine how could a father hold back when facing an enemy who killed his son? When facing such a person, no matter who he is, he would probably retreat.

Now Liu Bei has troops from the two rivers, and his strength is better than Jiangdong, and he can even compete with Cao Cao. If Jiangdong captured Guan Yu and Liu Chan, it would probably only accelerate Liu Bei's revenge. I believe Cao Cao would be happy to see Liu Bei and Sun Quan fight to the death.

If Cao Cao captured Guan Yu and Liu Chan, the situation would be very different. Liu Bei's spearhead would be directed at Cao Cao. At that time, the pressure in Jiangdong was greatly reduced, and maybe Jingzhou could be preserved. If Cao Cao killed Guan Yu and Liu Chan, it would be even better. At that time, Liu Bei and Cao Cao would definitely be in a state of dying, and then Dongwu could sit firmly on Diaoyutai and watch the tiger fight!

In this situation, neither Guan Yu nor Liu Chan can be killed, at least they cannot die at their own hands.

Thinking of this, Lu Xun hurriedly wrote a letter, and then came Sun Shao: "You immediately send your confidant to send this letter to Cao's camp! Hand the letter to Cao Ren!"

"The last general will receive the order!" Sun Shao ended up with a letter and withdrew.

Seeing Sun Shao retreating, Lu Xun sighed secretly, Brother Ziming! I, Lu Boyan, can't help you! For Jiangdong and Jingzhou's Zhouquan, I can't kill Guan Yu with my own hands to avenge you!

In fact, Lu Xun's plan was the same as that recorded that Sun Quan gave Guan Yu the head to Cao Cao after he killed Guan Yu. However, the living A Dou was much more effective than Guan Yu's head.

Cao's camp.

Cao Cao held a secret report from Jiangdong in his hand.

Cao Cao arranged a lot of detailed works in Jiangdong, which to put it bluntly, is a spy. At the same time, Cao Cao also knew that Liu Bei and Sun Quan also installed many spies in his territory.

Now, the secret report in Cao Cao's hands was secretly sent by the spy installed by Cao Cao in the Jiangdong Army.

The information in Cao Cao's hands was sent to Cao Cao after many turnovers. In the Three Kingdoms era, there were naturally no fast communication tools such as telegrams, so what Cao Cao got was only what happened many days ago.

At this time, Cao Cao was watching the entire Jingzhou battle. From Lu Zi's understanding of Yi Crossing the River to Scholar Lu Xun taking command, the detailed process was all on the papers in Cao Cao's hands.

As he looked at it, Cao Cao's face gradually became solemn. Originally, Cao Cao thought that there was nothing special about the battle in Jingzhou, but looking at the detailed battle report in his hand, Cao Cao found that he was wrong, and it was outrageous. The battle in Jingzhou lasted only a few days, but the intrigues and generals on both sides fought bravely and wits, which were no less than when he was in the Battle of Guandu!

At this time, Cao Cao finally took it seriously and began to carefully analyze the process of the battle in Jingzhou.

In Cao Cao's opinion, when the Battle of Jingzhou began, what Lu Meng did could be described as perfect. He crossed the river in white and then blitzed and captured Gong'an and Jiangling, and then took Yiling directly, breaking Guan Yu's way back. This series of actions was clear and the goals were clear. With this, General Lu Meng deserved the reputation of General Lu Meng. Cao Cao knew that even Zhang Liao, the leader of his five good generals, would not necessarily do better than Lu Meng when he was placed in the position of Lu Meng.

Suddenly, Cao Cao noticed a detail, that is, Mi Fang successfully broke through and went to Shangyong. Mi Fang's method of asking Cao's army to pursue was to confuse Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran with smoke, and let the two judge the wrong direction.

"Huarong Road!" These three words suddenly flashed through Cao Cao's mind, and then he vomited it out gently. Isn't the experience of Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran the same as what he encountered in Huarong Road back then? The difference is that he was the escaped party at that time, but now Xu Sheng and Zhu Ran are the attacking party.

Zhuge Liang's figure flashed into Cao Cao's mind, and then Cao Cao shook his head again. Zhuge Liang was far away in Chengdu, so how could he run to Jingzhou? He is indeed too careless!

Judging from the intelligence, the commander who led the troops at that time was Mi Fang, but Cao Cao was sure that Mi Fang had absolutely no such ability to come up with such a plan. If Mi Fang had such wisdom, she would not have just been an unknown general under Tao Qian in Xuzhou. All this must be a coincidence, probably because of Mi Fang's accidental attack!

Cao Cao comforted himself secretly in his heart, and then slowly looked down. Next, Lu Meng defeated Guan Yu and forced Guan Yu to Maicheng. Cao Cao had already found out about this battle, and the content behind was Cao Cao's focus, that is, Lu Meng was dead!

Cao Cao was very surprised about Lu Meng's death in battle. You must know that after Lu Meng's troops surrounded Maicheng, they had an absolute advantage in military strength. Even under his instructions, Cao Ren in Xiangyang released the 10,000 Shangyong reinforcements, and there was still a dozen times gap between the Shu army and the Jiangdong army. The opponent was Lu Meng. In Cao Cao's opinion, even he had no chance of winning.

But Lu Meng died in battle. It is said that the lonely army went deep into the ambush! But Lu Meng was a general at least, how could he make the mistake of going deep into the deep into the army? Moreover, hundreds of people including Lu Meng did not even leave a single living mouth. All of this exuded a strange aura, which made Cao Cao unable to figure it out. Sometimes Cao Cao even wondered if he wasn't going to destroy Guan Yu!

At the end of the information, Sun Quan ordered Lu Xun to take over the position of Lu Meng. Cao Cao had heard of this Lu Xun. This man came from the Lu family of Jiangdong clan. He was quite talented and knowledgeable when he was young, but he had no experience in commanding troops. Cao Cao really didn't understand how Sun Zhongmou dared to let Lu Xun take over.

However, Cao Cao looked back and thought, he did not have the experience of commanding troops and did not necessarily have real skills. Thinking about Zhuge Liang's maiden battle back then, he burned down tens of thousands of troops on Bowangpo, and then burned Xinye, and he lost tens of thousands of troops. Maybe Lu Xun was also a Zhuge Liang-like figure.

"Brother! Are you inside?" The voice came from outside. Cao Cao raised his head and spoke with Cao Ren.

"Zixiao, is there anything wrong?" Cao Cao asked.

"Brother, I just received the news that Jiangdong ordered Lu Xun to be the commander and lead 70,000 troops. He has entered Xiangyang. Now he has set up a camp forty miles away from Guan Yu!"

"Lu Xun came very quickly!" Cao Cao smiled.

"Brother, what's strange is that Lu Xun did not continue to move forward after setting up camp, but just guarded the camp."

Cao Cao nodded, thought for a while, and said, "I didn't expect that Lu Boyan, a scholar, had some tricks. This matter is interesting!"

"Brother, what do you mean?"

"Zi Xiao, I believe that Yunchang's food and grass will be almost used up. When Yunchang's food and grass are used up, he will inevitably break out from us. Then Lu Boyan's move is just to watch the wall. When both of us and Yunchang's defeats are hurt, he will only reap the benefits of the fisherman!"

"Brother, what should we do?" Cao Ren asked.

"Haha, my son is filial, we can't give up a way for Yunchang to escape! We naturally have to stop it, but if we really can't stop it, we have to let Yunchang go!" When Cao Cao said this, he suddenly laughed.

"If Guan Yu is released, the Prime Minister is absolutely not allowed! Guan Yu is the tiger general of the world, Liu Bei's right-hand man. Now Guan Yu is in the Pingyang, which is a great opportunity to get rid of Guan Yu. If he is released, there will be endless troubles!" Cao Ren said hurriedly.

"Zi Xiao, you are right. Yun Chang is indeed a tiger general in the world. If Yun Chang is let go, there will be endless troubles. But have you ever thought that today Yun Chang lost Jingzhou and will definitely hold a grudge against Jiangdong in his heart. If Yun Chang returns to Shu in the future, he will probably lead his troops to retake Jingzhou in person! So the one who does not want Yun Chang to live the most should be Sun Quan, not us! Besides, I have been with Yun Chang for many years. When Yun Chang passed the five passes that day, I have never blamed me. Even if I capture Yun Chang today, I cannot bear to kill him!"

Speaking of this, Cao Cao sighed. Speaking of it, Cao Cao had always had a special feeling for Guan Yu. Since he killed Hua Xiong with warm wine in front of Sishui Pass, Cao Cao really hoped to take Guan Yu as his subordinate. Unfortunately, Guan Yu has always been loyal to Liu Bei.

Since he could not use it for himself, he might as well get rid of him. So Cao Cao also wanted to get rid of Guan Yu in his heart, but when he really came to his sight, Cao Cao found that he really couldn't do anything. So even after Guan Yu passed five passes and killed six generals, Cao Cao still went to see him off in person and sent Guan Yu away.

Cao Cao admired Guan Yu's loyalty very much, and Guan Yu did not disappoint Cao Cao. After the Battle of Red Cliff, Guan Yu swore to capture Cao Cao, but when it came to Huarong Road, Guan Yu could not take action against Cao Cao, and would rather go back and be punished by the military order.

Cao Cao couldn't do anything to kill Guan Yu, but he just let Guan Yu go for nothing. Cao Cao himself felt very unwilling to accept it. Cao Cao was actually full of conflicts now.

Seeing Cao Cao sigh, Cao Ren felt a little jealousy. He had been following Cao Cao for many years, and there were only two people who could make Cao Cao like this, one was Guo Jia, and the other was Guan Yu.

At this moment, Cao Zhen hurried in and saw Cao Cao, and immediately bowed: "Father, there is a person outside who claims to be the envoy of Lu Xun of Jiangdong, and asks to see his uncle!"

"Lu Xun's messenger?" Cao Cao smiled slightly. These scholars probably thought of some tricks again! Young people are just energetic!

"Bring that messenger up!" Cao Cao waved his hand and sat down.

After a while, the envoy from Jiangdong was brought up. The envoy discovered that Cao Cao was there too. After seeing Cao Cao, he immediately handed over a letter and then surrendered.

Cao Cao opened the letter and looked at it carefully. After a long time, a strange smile appeared on Cao Cao's face, and then handed the letter to Cao Ren: "This Lu Xun really underestimates me Cao Cao!"

Cao Ren took the letter and looked at it, and suddenly shouted: "How is this possible? Liu Bei's son is also in Guan Yu's army!"

"Zixiao, is it very surprising? If what I expected is right, this may be true." Cao Cao still had a smile on his face.

Seeing Cao Ren's confused expression, Cao Cao stood up and asked, "Zi Xiao, I ask you, what would you do if Liu Bei's son Liu Chan was also in Guan Yu's army?"

"That's all right, of course I caught him! How could such a big fish be easily let go!" Cao Ren replied immediately without any hesitation.

"What about after you catch it?" Cao Cao asked with a smile.

"Of course this is to persuade surrender. If you don't surrender, you will kill..." Cao Ren paused. If he followed the usual ideas and caught an enemy general, he would naturally surrender first. If the enemy general did not surrender, he would kill and let go before making a decision.

But Liu Chan is Liu Bei's biological son, so it was a big joke to persuade him to surrender.

Of course, people with the status of Liu Chan are not killed just by saying that they are killed. Killing Liu Chan may help relieve the momentary aura, but perhaps for Cao Cao, the most important thing to exchange Liu Chan for the greatest benefit. What Cao Cao pursues is to maximize benefits, not seeking temporary speed.

Thinking of this, Cao Ren asked, "Brother, I don't know what to do. What do you think we should do? You can't just kill Liu Chan like this!"

"Kill Liu Chan? Of course not! Lu Xun's child was planning to tell us the news, and he wanted us to kill Liu Chan. Even if we didn't kill Liu Chan, as long as Yun Chang and Liu Chan were caught by us, they could distract Liu Bei's attention!"

Cao Cao said here and said, "Lu Xun thought that as long as Yun Chang and Liu Chan were caught by us, Liu Bei would inevitably vent his anger. Will their Jingzhou be safe by then? Haha, then he was very wrong!"

Cao Ren nodded. This time, Cao Ren also understood Lu Xun's intention. It turned out that Lu Xun wanted to distract Liu Bei from the spot to relieve the pressure in Jingzhou. Cao Ren said: "Brother, what do you mean to ask you? Should we let that Liu Chan go?"

Cao Cao's eyes flashed with cold light: "No, we still need to capture this Liu Chan! Zixiao, pass on the order. If you see a 15 or 16-year-old boy in Guan Yu's army, you can only capture him alive and not hurt!"

"Brother, why is this?"

Cao Cao had murderous intent in his eyes: "Haha, Lu Xun wants to lead Liu Bei to me, so I will lead Liu Bei back to him. When Liu Chan is caught, I will immediately send a letter to Liu Bei, saying that the four counties in Jingzhou will be exchanged for Liu Chan!"

"Four counties of Jingzhou!" Cao Ren immediately understood. Now Jiangling, Yiling and other four counties north of the Yangtze River are all in Sun Quan's hands. If Liu Bei really wants to exchange the four counties of Jingzhou for Liu Chan, then he must first take back these four counties from Sun Quan. In this way, Liu Bei and Sun Quan will still fight.
Chapter completed!