My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 461: All places occupied by the Gongsun family have been considered Han territory since ancient times
Facing two consecutive snowstorms in the twelfth lunar month, Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu were both very clear in their minds:
Since Gongsun Kang was unwilling to surrender, it was impossible to quickly capture the city and directly end the war in Liaodong.

Zhou Yu was relatively calmer. That evening, as the siege troops had completely withdrawn and stopped fighting, the two of them were cooking wine to keep warm in the general's tent.
Zhou Yu took the lead in pointing out this consideration and took the initiative to suggest: "It seems that Gongsun Kang has temporarily stabilized the people's hearts. It will be difficult for us to break the city in a hurry. It is better to postpone it for a month or two and fight again in the spring.

I think Gongsun Kang also knows that Xiangping cannot be defended forever. He is just stalling for time, hoping to frustrate our offensive, and then negotiate with us. "

Zhao Yun was also a little puzzled at first, wondering why Gongsun Kang would resist and kill more people even though he knew that the situation was "hopeless in the long run". After Zhou Yu's psychological analysis, he suddenly understood.

It turns out that the other party was also worried that if they negotiated the terms immediately, they would not be able to get a good price and would be easily taken advantage of.

This kind of situation was quite common when the central court dealt with remote princes. For example, in this world, the story of "Sima Yi's attack on Gongsun Yuan" would definitely not happen again. But in the original time and space, after Gongsun Yuan was defeated and retreated to Xiangping, Sima Yi said to the envoy sent by Gongsun Yuan for peace talks, "If you can't surrender, you will die."

Sima Yi didn't need Gongsun Yuan to surrender at all, he was determined to kill his entire family.

Although these things have not happened yet, who knows how terrifying the suspicion chain in the other party's heart will be.

Zhao Yun could only accept this fact with a gloomy look on his face. At the same time, he was still a little unwilling: "Then we wait for him to make peace terms next year? If he is willing to give up Xiangping and go to a foreign land in the future, we will let him go? I need to ask the lord for permission on this matter, right?"

Zhao Yun also thought that the other party was delaying to create better negotiation conditions, most likely because they did not want to surrender. Then, the other party's bottom line for future negotiations was likely to be to "give up Xiangping City and withdraw from all the territory of Liaodong County in exchange for Liu Bei's army letting Gongsun leave."

This is the place where the barbarians live on the border. After leaving the Han territory, they still have other ways to escape.

But could the lord allow the Gongsun family to escape and set up a new family? Zhao Yun did not dare to act on his own.

Zhou Yu also thought of this, and said sharply: "The Lord will definitely ask for instructions, but let Brother Ziyu ask for instructions, it is not our place to interfere. In addition, we are not completely idle in the next few months -

Although Xiangping cannot be attacked by force, we can still find the opportunity to cut off the outer wings of the Gongsun family and gain control of more other territories. This can also create better conditions for future negotiations.

If you do not agree and insist on having Gongsun Kang's head, it will not be too late for us to attack Xiangping again."

Zhao Yun nodded and said, "In that case, let the troops rest and spend the winter well. We will sign a letter and send it to Ji County for Ziyu's decision."

That night, Zhou Yu discussed the victory report and request letter with Zhao Yun. After writing them, he handed them to a team of light cavalry sent by Zhao Yun to send back to Ji County. It was already the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and the Bohai Bay was completely frozen. Zhou Yu's ship was moored at the dock of the Liaohe River and could not move at all. He had to let Zhao Yun send the letter by cavalry.

Although there is a 400-mile uninhabited area in the Liaoxi Corridor, making it difficult for a large army to march, a small group of cavalry scouts, with multiple horses and enough dried meat and beans, can still cross it easily, but the cost of food and drink will be higher.

……

After less than ten days of hard work, the latest round of victory reports from Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu finally arrived in Ji County in late December.

Because the roads were difficult to travel, Zhao Yun did not send back victory reports every few days, and he was too lazy to write separate letters for some small victories.

Therefore, the last time Zhuge Jin received victory news was about half a month ago. At that time, he only knew that Zhao Yun had won three battles in the Tuhe-Liaosui area, annihilated a large number of Gongsun Du's army, and killed some enemy generals.

However, Zhuge Jin did not know about the subsequent achievements in expanding the territory, the death of Gongsun Du, and the surrender of Gongsun Gong until this moment.

When the victory report came, Zhuge Jin was in the former Youzhou governor's mansion, drinking and chatting with Mi Zhu.

As the end of the year approaches, the two have a lot of domestic affairs to talk about.

Especially since the Yuyang Border Market was just opened this year, there has been new progress almost every month and the construction progress has been changing with each passing day.

Officials like Mi Zhu, who came from wealthy merchants, were particularly concerned about this area of government affairs. Whenever they encountered new problems, they would come to Zhuge Jin for instructions, and even when there were no problems, they would often come to report the accounts.

Seeing Zhao Yun's urgent messenger being brought into the main hall by the guards of the mansion, Mi Zhu also tactfully shut up and did not disturb Zhuge Jin from reading the letter.

Zhuge Jin unfolded the letter, glanced at it briefly, and without pretending to be profound, smiled calmly, then put the letter on the desk and gently pushed it in the direction of Mi Zhu:
"Zilong and Gongjin fulfilled their mission. Gongsun Du was killed in the end. He fainted from fear when Zilong kicked him in the camp that day. He died a few days after he was carried back. Gongsun Gong surrendered Changli City. Now the army has approached Liaoyang and Xiangping."

Upon hearing this, Mi Zhu immediately jumped up in surprise, bent down to take the letter, put it in his hands without reading it, and bowed to congratulate Zhuge Jin.

Zhuge Jin raised his hand to support Mi Zhu, indicating that there was no need to be so lame and that there was no need to be too effusive in his congratulations.

Zhuge Jin quickly brought the topic back to business, and pointed out sharply: "Gongjin, this has given me a difficult problem. He said that it is difficult to advance in the cold winter, and we should temporarily surround and not fight. Please ask for your instructions, my lord.

After all, the lord doesn't know the situation in the northern border, so I have to help the lord come up with ideas and advise the lord on how to act. Gongsun Kang is a tough guy. He insisted on being independent even after his father died. Most likely he would not surrender. Even if he is defeated in the future, at most he will choose to abandon the city and escape."

Mi Zhu listened to Zhuge Jin's concerns and suggested: "If you don't want to let him go, why not surround him from all sides and completely annihilate the Xiangping defenders?" Zhuge Jin waved his hand and said: "There are many defenders in Xiangping City. If we attack by force, there will be many casualties. Moreover, if the attack is delayed for a long time, Cao's army will react and launch a pincer attack in the spring of next year, which will cause more variables.

For Xiangping City, they can only surround one side and leave the other three. Now that Gongsun Du has just died, those mourning soldiers can still unite against the enemy for a moment, but when the anger fades, they must be induced to not want to work for the Gongsun family.

In fact, if Gongsun Kang could escape, as long as he left an excuse, it would not be a bad thing to come back and deal with him when the world is at peace. But we cannot negotiate with him or sign an alliance with him. Otherwise, once we sign a ceasefire agreement, how can the court annex him if he does not commit crimes again in the future? "

While Zhuge Jin was chatting with Mi Zhu, he gradually sorted out his thoughts.

He had no objection to letting Gongsun Kang live a few more years, and Gongsun Kang was not guilty of any serious crime. It would not be a bad thing to force him out to merge with other Dongyi people.

However, if Gongsun Kang wanted to maintain his independence for a long time, that would be absolutely intolerable.

Therefore, the best way is to expel them without negotiating. After expelling them, keep the claim of settling old scores at any time in the future.

The land ruled by Gongsun Kang has been part of the Han territory since ancient times, and this is beyond doubt.

The big man didn't take it back for the time being, just because he was busy, not because the big man acknowledged him. Acknowledgment is absolutely not allowed.

After figuring out this idea roughly, Zhuge Jin knew how to write a letter to Liu Bei.

At the same time, he also had to adjust his attack plan against Gongsun Kang accordingly. After the adjustment, he had to reply to Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu - according to Zhuge Jin's original plan, a decapitation operation was to be carried out against the Gongsun family.

As long as their clan is destroyed, the other counties that have not been taken can naturally be conquered by issuing an order and directly put into the possession. There is no need to fight them piece by piece.

But now that it is possible to let Gongsun Kang live, we have to consider occupying his territory piece by piece. Otherwise, Gongsun Kang's flag will remain, and those Gongsun family territories that have not yet been conquered will not be directly "changed".

To give the simplest example, as long as Gongsun Kang was not dead and Zhuge Jin did not send troops to fight, it would be impossible for Lelang County and Daifang County on the Korean Peninsula to automatically obey Liu Bei.

Of course, as long as Gongsun Kang loses power, the defenders in those places may not be very firm.

……

Zhuge Jin sorted out all his thoughts, then wrote a letter to Liu Bei, and at the same time sent replies to Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu.

It is estimated that the letter to Liu Bei will not be delivered to Liu Bei until next year, but the reply letter to Zhao Yun is much faster, arriving before the end of December and the end of the year.

After receiving the letter, Zhao Yun did not dare to neglect it and opened and read the letter with Zhou Yu.

The letter explained two things, one was about Zhao Yun and the other was about Zhou Yu.

"Zilong, Gongjin, as agreed: on the day the letter arrives, immediately escort the surrendered general Gongsun Gong to Ji County. There is no need to conceal this matter, and it can be publicized. In addition, if there are surplus troops for the subsequent siege, Gongjin can restrain part of the navy and transfer it to Dashi County.

If it is midwinter and the Bohai Sea is frozen and the warships are difficult to move, we can also march by land. I will order Ziyi to prepare another warship in Donglai, and then we can take advantage of the early spring to force a landing in Lelang and Daifang counties by sea to cut off Gongsun Kang's wings..."

After Zhao Yun and Zhou Yu read it carefully, they felt that there was no objection, so they decided to carry it out without hesitation.

Zhao Yun was still confused about the whole thing, so he asked Zhou Yu, "Zi Yu asked us to send Gongsun Gong to Ji County with such fanfare, why is that?
Since he intends to take advantage of the fact that Gongsun Kang is surrounded and the morale of the Liaodong army is unstable, to first cut off the outer wings and leave Gongsun Gong to persuade the various places to surrender, wouldn't it be more useful?"

Zhou Yu's brain was still working well. After pondering the idea for a while, he grasped the key point: "Zi Yu should want to publicize the news of Gongsun Du's death in a big way, right?
It is difficult to completely pacify Liaodong at this moment, and it will inevitably be delayed until next spring and summer. It is now the cold winter, and even if Cao Cao reacts, he will not be able to organize an effective attack on Youzhou. But after the spring, if we are still unable to return, Youzhou will be in danger.

But if Ziyu spread the news of Gongsun Du's death, Cao Cao would regret missing the opportunity and think that it was too late. This would deter Cao Cao from making any rash moves.

Even if they knew that there were still remnants of the Gongsun family resisting, they would underestimate the strength of this resistance and the scale of the containment of our military forces. "

Zhao Yun suddenly understood after hearing this: "I see... I was too focused on the problem. I spent so much time fighting Gongsun Du that I forgot to be on guard against Cao Cao."

While Zhao Yun praised, he had to admit in his heart that Zhou Yu was much better than him in terms of strategic planning.

They did not seize Gongsun Du's body in this battle. If someone else went back and said that Gongsun Du was dead, the enemy spies might not believe the news.

But if Gongsun Du's own son showed up and admitted in person that his father was dead and that he had surrendered, then it would be a foregone conclusion and no one would doubt it.

(End of this chapter)