Chapter 25: Battle of Dingliangzhou (Part 1)

Huainan was lost like this! Cao Zhen couldn't believe his ears.

Huainan is a heavy grain production area for Cao's army. When it comes to grain production, Huainan is no worse than Jizhou. At the same time, Huainan is the east gate to curb Jiangdong and Dongwu. The loss of Huainan now not only causes Cao's army to lose a heavy grain production area, but more importantly, it loses the gateway to the southeast. Once the Eastern Wu crosses the Huai River, whether it is Xuzhou, Yanzhou or Yuzhou, it will be a flat land to attack and defend.

Cao Zhen tried hard to calm himself down. After listening to the rough battle described by Wang Chang, Cao Zhen always felt that there was a familiar smell mixed in it. Sun Quan attacked Hefei, but in fact he surrounded the points and helped him. At the same time, he used a move to lure the tiger away from the mountain to drive Cao Ren out of Shouchun. Then, while ambushing Cao Ren, he attacked Shouchun. Shouchun was lost, and only Hefei could not be prosperous, and Sun Quan could get all the Huainan area.

Since the Battle of Chibi, Sun Quan has attacked Huainan many times. At that time, Zhang Liao was the one who guarded Huainan. Sun Quan's several attacks ended in vain, but instead suffered losses in his troops. Since Zhang Liao's death, Cao Ren has replaced Zhang Liao to guard Huainan. Speaking of which, Cao Ren's attainment in defense is only higher than that of Zhang Liao. With Cao Ren, Huainan should be more solid, but Huainan was actually thrown into Cao Ren's hands, which surprised Cao Zhen.

Suddenly, Cao Zhen thought that Cao Cao used a similar strategy to seize Xuzhou from Lu Bu!

"It seems that there are capable people around Sun Quan to help Sun Quan give advice! Otherwise, Huainan would not be lost. But who would be the one who makes the advice?" Cao Zhen frowned and began to think about it.

"Sun Quan himself must not have this ability, otherwise Sun Quan would have taken Huainan. Could it be that scholar Lu Xun? It shouldn't be. Lu Xun is far away in Jingzhou, how can he command the battle in Huainan? As for others, I have never heard of this ability in Jiangdong." Cao Zhen thought for a long time, but couldn't think of any reason, so he asked Wang Chang: "Mr. Wang, I have spyed on the horse and have spyed. Are there any strange faces among the people who went to war with Sun Quan this time?"

Wang Chang shook his head: "No. But this time Sun Quan was quite bold, sending almost all the generals out, leaving only Zhuge Jin by his side."

"Zhuge Jin? Could it be Zhuge Jin? No, it's definitely not him!" Cao Zhen knew that Zhuge Jin was a talented person who chose one of the thousands, but the gap was quite big compared to his younger brother Zhuge Liang. Especially when it comes to using a plan, Zhuge Jin was far inferior to Zhuge Liang. If the plan was planned by Zhuge Liang, Cao Zhen would believe it, but if Zhuge Jin came up with this series of strategies to capture Huainan, Cao Zhen would definitely not believe it.

"Forget it, I don't want to do it anymore. Just take a move in front of the formation." Cao Zhen shook his head helplessly, and then said to Wang Chang: "Mr. Wang, I'll go and clean up now, and let's set off immediately."

Shouchun.

Shouchun is an important military town in Huainan and the largest city in Huainan. It is located on the south bank of the Huainan River, and leads Ru and Ying Rivers to the south, connects the three Wushu areas in the east, is the hinterland of the Central Plains in the north, and is connected to Chen and Xu in the west. It has rivers and lakes outside, and Huainan and Fei water conservancy inside. It is an important geographical location and is a key transportation link between north and south. When Yuan Shu was called emperor, the capital was Shouchun, and the governor of Yangzhou set up by Cao Wei has always been in charge of Shouchun.

The Yangzhou Governor's Mansion in Shouchun was very large. When Yuan Shu became emperor, he built a large imperial palace in Shouchun. Later, Yuan Shu was defeated, and the imperial palace was transformed into the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion.

The gold, silver and treasures that Yuan Shu had plundered were moved to Xudu by Cao Cao, and the pavilions and towers built by Yuan Shu were still there. Yuan Shu was born in a big family of four generations and three dukes, and he was very particular about daily life. Take the palace he built back then for example, the pavilions and towers were very unique, even more than the palace built by Cao Cao for Emperor Xian. Even though twenty years have passed, many places have become dilapidated due to disrepair, the bricks and tiles left behind in those days can still make people feel the luxurious atmosphere.

As soon as Sun Quan arrived at Shouchun City, he was fascinated by the palace built by Yuan Shu that year.

Although Yuan Shu's palace was dilapidated, it was much better than the palace in Jiangdong. You should know that Sun Quan was just a powerful person in a place, and the so-called great families in Jiangdong were just some local Tu tribes. How could these people have seen the world? How could they compare with the legitimate sons of the four generations and three dukes like Yuan Shu!

"What a great Yangzhou governor's mansion, it's really grand! I didn't expect that my old opponent, Zhang Liao, would live in such a place on weekdays!" Sun Quan touched the fence of Diaolong, but Zhang Liao appeared in his mind.

Since the Battle of Chibi, Zhang Liao has guarded Huainan and stayed in Shouchun. Sun Quan attacked several times but failed to get any land. Not to mention that he lost several generals, two of which almost lost their lives. Thanks to Zhou Tai and Ling Tong who fought to save each other, he escaped.

However, Zhang Liao died at the age of 53. When he first heard about Zhang Liao's death, Sun Quan planned to launch an army to conquer Huainan immediately, but unexpectedly, Cao Pi actually transferred Cao Ren, who was more good at defending. Sun Quan had to temporarily shelve the plan to conquer Huainan.

"Oh..." Sun Quan sighed slightly and said softly: "Fortunately God bless me Jiangdong, so I discovered Yuan Xun's talent..."

At this moment, two people came from a distance. One in front was a man in his forties and under fifties. He had a face like a jade, thick eyebrows, big eyes, red lips, white teeth, and a beard under his mouth. In short, he looked very well. There was only one thing that was that the middle-aged man had a long face. Although it was an exaggerated person, it was almost the same.

Behind the middle-aged man was a young man about twenty years old, seven feet and six inches tall, not having a beard on his mouth, with a wide forehead, and a shiny look on his eyes. Speaking of temperament, he was somewhat similar to Zhuge Liang.

This middle-aged man is Zhuge Liang's brother Zhuge Jin, and the young man behind Zhuge Jin is Zhuge Jin's eldest son Zhuge Ke!

Zhuge Ke was extremely smart since childhood, quick-witted, good at dealing with it, and quite like Zhuge Liang's style when he was a child. It is said that when Zhuge Ke was a child, Sun Quan ordered someone to take a donkey and hang a sign on the face of the donkey, with the four words "Zhuge Ziyu" written on it. This Ziyu is Zhuge Jin's face. Because Zhuge Jin's face looks very much like a donkey's face, Sun Quan's move was deliberately teasing Zhuge Jin.

However, Zhuge Ke, who was still a child at that time, stood up and asked to add two words under the sign. Sun Quan agreed and sent someone to bring a pen. Zhuge Ke wrote the word "Donkey" under the sign, and the sign became "Zhuge Ziyu's Donkey". Sun Quan was very happy and rewarded the donkey to Zhuge Jin, and from then on, Zhuge Ke's reputation spread in Jiangdong.

And the whole plan for Sun Quan to attack Huainan this time was from the young Zhuge Ke in front of him.

When Sun Quan saw the two of them coming, he smiled and said, "Ziyu, Gu is thinking of you father and son, and you father and son are here."

The two of them hurriedly knelt down and greeted Sun Quan, while Sun Quan helped them up with a smile.

"Haha, it's really a tiger father without a dog son, Yuan Xun. If you hadn't given me a plan to Gu, Huainan wouldn't have been taken down by Gu so easily! Tell me, I will give you whatever you want." Sun Quan smiled like a flower.

Before Zhuge Ke could speak, Zhuge Jin said from the side: "It is the duty of our ministers to share your worries, so how dare you give me rewards?"

Zhuge Jin was cautious, especially better than Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Ke was young and energetic, and somewhat arrogant. Zhuge Jin was really afraid that Zhuge Ke would make any excessive requests, so he quickly took the words.

"Hahaha..." Sun Quan smiled even happier: "With you father and son helping each other, why worry about the failure of my great cause in Jiangdong!"

After Sun Quan finished speaking, he walked up and patted Zhuge Ke on the shoulder, and then said, "Yuan Xun, before Liu Bei met your uncle Zhuge Kongming, he was just a loser. However, with Zhuge Kongming's help, he had benefited for more than ten years. Yong and the two states were one of the three parts of the world. However, when Liu Bei invited Zhuge Liang, he was nearly fifty years old! But he was only over 10 years old and young. Yuan Xun's talent was not inferior to your uncle Zhuge Kongming. With your help, and with my Jiangdong soldiers working together, I will definitely take over half of the country within ten years!"

"Your Majesty is really a ridiculous one. The dog is just a child with yellow mouth and needs more experience." Zhuge Jin replied hurriedly and respectfully.

Later, Zhuge Ke felt a little unhappy when he saw his father stealing his words every time. But who made Zhuge Jin a father? Although Zhuge Ke was unhappy, he could only listen quietly with his head down.

"Haha..." Seeing Zhuge Jin's humble attitude, Sun Quan laughed again, then pointed to the front and asked, "Ziyu, this was the imperial palace of Yuan Highway. Yuan Highway once proclaimed himself emperor here in the past. Unfortunately, although Yuan Highway had obtained the imperial seal, he did not have the will to be the emperor. Although this palace was built in magnificently, it could only be abandoned slowly. Twenty years have passed, and the Yuan Highway has long been transformed into a scorched earth. The palace he built back then is still there, but the old wall of the tiles is hard to show the glory of the past! Think about Yuan Shu back then, he had sufficient soldiers and food, and had a wealthy land in Huainan. He had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of soldiers under his command, but he was defeated day and night. Ziyu, what would you think if Yuan Shu had not proclaimed himself emperor back then?"

Zhuge Jin thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, I think that Yuan Shu's demise has nothing to do with being the emperor. The Yuan family was a great family of four generations and three dukes, so Yuan Shu was arrogant and looked down upon himself and did not know how to respect the wise and the inferior, which led to the end of the betrayal of the relatives. Moreover, since the day of the attack on Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shu made many enemies, Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei, and Liu Biao, all of them were enemies of Yuan Shu, and they all wanted to eliminate Yuan Shu and get away. Therefore, whether there was an emperor or not, Yuan Shu would definitely die."

"Well said! Ziyu's words are in line with the will of the Lord." Sun Quan said, and then he asked, "Ziyu, Gu wants to be emperor in Shouchun City, what do you think?"

"This..." Zhuge Jin was shocked and a layer of sweat broke out on his head.

Sun Quan was originally just a Marquis of Wu. After Cao Pi became emperor, Sun Quan wrote a letter to Cao Pi and asked for a King of Wu. Not long after, Sun Quan wanted to become emperor! This ambition was also expanding too quickly!

Zhuge Jin thought about it again and immediately understood Sun Quan’s thoughts.

Originally, when Emperor Xian of Han, Liu Xie, was the emperor, the world was nominally the world of the Han Dynasty, so he was a rebel at this time. When Cao Pi became emperor, Sun Quan could accept it. Later, Liu Bei became emperor, and Sun Quan felt that it was indifferent. In short, Liu Bei was also from the same era as Sun Quan's father Sun Jian. However, later, when the news of A Dou's ascension to the throne reached Jiangdong, Sun Quan could not sit still. Just imagine that a child under twenty years old became emperor, how could Sun Quan be willing to be just a King of Wu?

Now that the Eastern Wu seized Huainan, it has even aggravated Sun Quan's idea of ​​becoming emperor. Jiangdong, Jingzhou and Huainan have made a point in the world, which also gives Sun Quan a little more confidence in becoming emperor.

But Zhuge Jin knew that becoming an emperor was not just about changing his name. There were too many things involved.

When Cao Pi was in the rise and fall of the country, the Wei State was the most powerful, so Cao Pi could abolish Emperor Xian without any consideration. As for Liu Bei, he was a royal relative. Emperor Xian was deposed by Liu Bei as the Grand Tutor and continued the Han court, which was reasonable and in accordance with the will of God.

But the situation is different now. The Shu army occupied Yongzhou and its strength increased significantly. Although the Wei State lost Yongzhou and Huainan, the foundation of the Central Plains was still there. With a tight Jizhou, it could raise hundreds of thousands of troops, and its strength was still strong. On the other hand, Jiangdong was originally vast and sparsely populated, and its strength was relatively small. When it occupied Jingzhou, many soldiers had been consumed. Now, in terms of Huainan, the troops were even more scattered. According to Zhuge Jin's idea, Jiangdong should hide its strength and completely digest Huainan first. If Sun Quan became emperor at this time, he would undoubtedly make up for the chaos. At that time, the eyes of Wei and Shu would be concentrated on Jiangdong, and it would not be easy to be a bird that stood out.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Jin advised carefully: "Your Majesty, everything about becoming emperor is of great importance. I think it is better to summon the ministers in Jiangdong to discuss it."

"Yeah..." Sun Quan's face darkened. Although Zhuge Jin did not object, Sun Quan realized that Zhuge Jin did not support his proclaiming emperor.

"What I said is that this matter should be discussed slowly. Okay, there is nothing to do today, so you can step down first!"

"I'm leaving." Zhuge Jin felt Sun Quan's displeasure. He just called "Ziyu" very kindly, but in a blink of an eye, he became "Love Queen". This title became much unfamiliar. Zhuge Jin easily heard Sun Quan's dissatisfaction from this title. Sun Quan was unhappy, so Zhuge Jin naturally did not dare to stay anymore. He pulled Zhuge Ke and left quickly.

Looking at Zhuge Jin's departure, Sun Quan snorted coldly: "Cao Pi is just a traitor who usurped the throne and seized the dynasty after a eunuch; and Liu Bei is a child with a woven and peddler. Both of them can be called emperors, so why can't I, Sun Quan!"

Chang'an.

Zhuge Liang is always so busy. Every night, the lights in Zhuge Liang's room will be on until very late.

Although the moon is rising higher and higher, the coldness of autumn gradually spreads into the air and the temperature begins to drop.

Huang Yueying rushed to Zhuge Liang with a light footsteps, and gently draped a brocade robe on Zhuge Liang's body, his eyes full of tenderness.

Zhuge Liang raised his head and looked at Huang Yueying. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes contained a strong sense of affection. The eyes of the two met in the air. Although neither of them said a few words, they could understand each other's heart from their eyes.

Zhuge Liang stretched out his hand and gently embraced Huang Yueying into his arms, and Huang Yueying leaned on Zhuge Liang's chest like a bird.

However, beautiful times are always short. Just when Zhuge Liang and Huang Yueliang's love are at its peak, a loud sound outside is heard, like a crow's cry sounding in this quiet dark night.

"Kong Ming! Something big happened, Kong Ming!"

"Unfortunate! This Pang Shiyuan is here so late!" Zhuge Liang's face was full of unhappiness because of Pang Tong's disturbance.

Pang Tong rushed in quickly and happened to see Zhuge Liang's stinky face and Huang Yueying beside him.

"Well, this, my brother and sister are here too!" Pang Tong smiled awkwardly. According to Pang Tong's intelligence, he looked at Zhuge Liang's appearance and then looked at Huang Yueying standing next to him. Pang Tong immediately understood that he was coming very wrong, which just disturbed the couple.

However, Pang Tong's face was not as thick as it was. After a moment of embarrassment, Pang Tong immediately returned to normal and said with a serious look: "Kong Ming, something big happened!"

"What's the matter?" Zhuge Liang asked immediately. Zhuge Liang also knew that something important must have happened to Pang Tong come here so late.

"Just just received a reward from a spy in Tongguan, Cao Zhen in Tongguan had an abnormal movement."

"It seems that Cao Zhen wants to cause trouble for me in Chang'an City again?"

"No, Cao Zhen retreated and took away a large number of people. Now the guard of Tongguan has been replaced by Guo Huai."

"It must be that there is a change behind Cao Pi! If what I expected is right, the biggest possibility is that Sun Quan attacked Huainan. It seems that Cao Ren can't bear it anymore, so Cao Pi will transfer Cao Zhen away." Zhuge Liang said immediately without thinking.

"Kongming, I think so too. After Cao Zhen left like this, our Chang'an is safe." Pang Tong paused and continued, "But there is another more important news here. When I was patrolling the city just now, I happened to meet someone sent by His Majesty."

"Where is the person? Come and see me quickly." Zhuge Liang said hurriedly.

"That man came day and night. When I met him, he was already exhausted. But I found a letter from His Majesty in his arms." Pang Tong said, and took out a letter and handed it over.

Zhuge Liang opened the letter and looked over with ten lines at a glance, his face suddenly changed drastically.

"We want to move all the Di people to Yongzhou to live?"

"Kong Ming, don't just look at the surface. Can't you see the intention behind His Majesty's letter?"
Chapter completed!