My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 485: Dispatching troops to Yizhou, meeting between the two Lius

Liu Bei generously promised to rescue Liu Zhang without negotiating any conditions with Zhang Song.

He also held Zhang Song's hand and went back to the cabin to drink, saying that he wanted to fill his stomach first and then give Zhang Song a good welcome when he returned to Yidao City.

Such a broad mind and demeanor made Zhang Song, who had imagined many possibilities of reunion, couldn't help but sigh at Lord Xuande's righteousness and generosity.

Zhang Song originally thought that after meeting him, Liu Bei would be concerned about issues such as "Liu Zhang asked me to send troops, which lands will be ceded, or at least which cities will be provided for my army to be stationed", but Liu Bei didn't care at all and didn't mention it at all.

Of course, Zhang Song had no idea that Liu Bei really didn't need to worry about these things - Zhuge Liang had already made plans for Liu Bei, and as long as Liu Zhang was willing to invite him to Sichuan, most of the things would be done. There was no need to worry about land, money and grain.

The key to the Yizhou princes and blocking the Jingzhou princes from entering the country lies in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

If Liu Zhang wants him to reinforce, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River must be left open and undefended. This alone is enough. Why bother about other trivial matters?
Therefore, a few days before Zhang Song arrived, Zhuge Liang had already explained the situation to Liu Bei in detail:
"As long as you can enter Sichuan, we can take our time to figure out the rest. We don't have to worry about the gains and losses of land, money and grain. We should first win the hearts of the people of Shu with kindness and loyalty, just like what you did in Jingzhou before.

The princes of Jing and Yi are all relatives of the Han Dynasty. Now our army is not far behind Cao Cao in strength, so there is no need to rush to expand territory. As long as we slowly win over the hearts of the people, Jing and Yi will be yours sooner or later.

Liu Biao is already old and more than twenty years older than the lord. Young Master Liu Qi has been subdued by the lord. When the time comes, we can eliminate Liu Cong and Cai Mao's party. Why worry about not being able to take Jingzhou legitimately?
Although Liu Jiyu of Yizhou is younger than the lord, it is impossible for him to wait until his natural age. But Liu Zhang is suspicious and hesitant. As long as the lord is open and respectful to the wise and humble, wins the hearts of the people in Yizhou, and occupies the geographical advantage of Badong, Liu Zhang will sooner or later be afraid and behave inappropriately, which will disappoint the lord.

When the time comes, my lord will blame them for repaying kindness with ingratitude and take over their counties. Wouldn't that be justified?"

Liu Bei listened to it and agreed with it. After reviewing it in his mind, he felt that there was still one point he was not sure about, so he asked Zhuge Liang again:
"But if you want to win the hearts of the people in Yizhou and gain the geographical advantage, it will take several years. Our army is only in urgent need of war and is temporarily reinforcing Liu Jiyu. How can we have enough time to implement these plans?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and sighed at this question, thinking that his lord was too honest. He had no choice but to put it more bluntly:
"Winning people's hearts is indeed a slow and delicate task, and it does take time. But since we are going to assist in the defense against Cao Cao, how long it will take for Cao's army to be completely repelled is in our hands. After all, Cao Cao is the most powerful prince in the world. It is normal that we are unable to counterattack for the time being and must continue to increase our money, food, and manpower in Shu. No matter how long it takes, Liu Zhang will have nothing to say.

In addition, our army can also use advanced civil administration methods to benefit the common people of Yizhou and share the benefits with the people of Yizhou in exchange for more Yizhou people trading food with us and stockpiling military supplies. In this way, even if Liu Zhang wants to attack us, others will not support him. In the end, Liu Zhang will lose his temper and let down the lord first. The lord blames him for repaying kindness with resentment, so what's wrong with that? "

The strategy that Zhuge Liang came up with for Liu Bei cannot be said to be "nurturing the enemy to protect oneself", and it is definitely much cleaner than the way Liu Bei handled the issue of entering Shu in history.

Originally in history, Liu Bei came to help defend Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu was so weak that Liu Bei spent two years trying to defeat him. Then someone close to Liu Zhang slandered Liu Bei, saying that Liu Bei was nurturing the enemy for his own benefit. That can be explained.

But in this life, Liu Bei was defending against Cao Cao.

How strong is Cao Cao? Can he be compared to Zhang Lu? Even eight Zhang Lu put together cannot be as strong as Cao Cao.

It is normal to fight Cao Cao for any length of time, even if you cannot defeat him. No one dares to say that this is nurturing an enemy for personal gain, and no one is qualified to set a timetable for this task.

Liu Bei has no say in this matter. The key lies in when Cao Cao feels that he can no longer bear it and cannot afford to fight a protracted war across the Qinling Mountains, and when he retreats - in the Battle of Hanzhong in history, Cao Cao also retreated when he could no longer afford the military supplies.

All Liu Bei could do was to fight to the end. Cao Cao would fight as long as he wanted, until he won a complete victory.

……

With such calmness and confidence, Liu Bei was able to maintain absolute composure and bearing when facing the request for help brought by Zhang Song.

Zhang Song was originally embarrassed about his conditions, thinking that "our lord has asked Lord Xuande to send so many troops to help in the war, but my lord refused to hand over Jiangzhou City to Lord Xuande for management, resulting in the army's route into Sichuan being open only on the north bank of the Yangtze River, but not completely on the south bank."

But Liu Bei didn't care about this at all. He didn't need Jiangzhou City at all. If Yan Yan wanted to continue guarding Jiangzhou City, it was up to him.

For two consecutive days, Liu Bei played music and danced with Zhang Song, and entertained him with wine every day, which made Zhang Song completely impressed by his magnanimity.

On the third day, Zhang Song was eager to ask Liu Bei to send troops. He felt that he had rested enough, so he took the initiative to mention some details of the military strategy at the banquet:
"I wonder which general will be asked to lead the reinforcements into Sichuan this time? If you can let me know in advance, Song can also ask General Yan Yan to meet us and ask my lord to comfort us."

Liu Bei put down his wine cup and waved his hand: "I wanted to come to help my brother Ji Yu in person, but I am too busy with work and the states in Guandong cannot relax. So I will only go to Jiangzhou in person and stay for a while. After the handover between the two armies is completed, I will entrust Yi De with full authority to handle the subsequent battles."

Zhang Song was also slightly surprised when he heard that Liu Bei was going to Sichuan in person. He did not expect Liu Bei to attach so much importance to it, so he quickly bowed and said:
"The fact that the General of Chariots and Cavalry has personally come to Sichuan shows his righteousness. In this case, Song should also invite our Lord to Jiangzhou in person to hold an alliance with the General of Chariots and Cavalry. This is the way to treat guests. After both sides are open and honest with each other and have complete mutual trust, we can then hand over the military affairs to the generals for disposal."

Liu Bei was delighted and nodded with satisfaction: "If so, I'll have to trouble Ziqiao. I have also wanted to meet Brother Ji Yu for a long time. Since Brother Ji Yu has agreed to give the land north of Jiangzhou to our army and build a new city, why don't we meet in Jiangzhou, and both sides will feel at ease."

Zhang Song repeatedly said he dared not, and then discussed many details with Liu Bei. After everything was finalized, Zhang Song returned with his mission. During the banquet, Zhang Song even hinted at Liu Bei's attitude, trying to see if Liu Bei intended to take advantage of the opportunity of the face-to-face meeting to capture Liu Zhang. But Liu Bei certainly would not do such a thing, so he clarified his position very frankly.

……

In the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, it is very fast to go downstream, but it is very painful to go upstream.

Especially during the summer flood season when the water level rises sharply, you can't force the boat to sail with the help of trackers on both sides of the river.

This is only possible after the water level recedes a little and the flow is not so turbulent.

Fortunately, Zhang Song left Sichuan at the end of July. By the time Liu Bei had finished his preparations and officially sent out his troops, it was already halfway through August, and the water level of the Yangtze River had indeed receded a bit.

(Note: The main flood season of the Yangtze River is from June to August, but according to the lunar calendar, it only lasts until July, and the main flood season is over in August of the lunar calendar)
It took the troops more than half a month to march through the Three Gorges. There were a few days of rain and flooding, and they stayed in Wu County halfway through the Three Gorges, waiting for good weather.

Wu County was originally controlled by Liu Zhang, but now it was ceded to Liu Bei. After passing through the Three Gorges, Liu Bei's army rested for several days in Yufu County, took over the city, added some money and civil officials brought by Liu Bei, and handled local affairs.

All the garrison generals were replaced by Liu Bei's men. Those soldiers left behind by Liu Zhang all packed up their luggage and retreated to Jiangzhou City as ordered, awaiting Yan Yan's orders.

As for those local militiamen who were temporarily recruited, they would of course be dismissed on the spot, or accept Liu Bei's reorganization and become Liu Bei's forces.

During the days they were stationed in Yufu County, Liu Bei also took Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Zhang Fei to visit Baidi City, and asked Gan Ning, who was a native of Ba County, to be his tour guide.

Baidi City was built by the Shu warlord Gongsun Shu in the late Western Han Dynasty and early Eastern Han Dynasty. It is said that Gongsun Shu saw white smoke coming out of the mountain, which looked like a white dragon. He imitated Liu Bang and called himself the son of the Red Emperor and the White Emperor, and built Baidi City.

However, Gongsun Shu was eventually destroyed by Liu Xiu. People all said that the "White Emperor" was restrained by the "Yanhan Fire Virtue", which was exactly the same as when Emperor Gaozu killed the snake and started an uprising. It was simply self-humiliation.

Liu Bei personally traveled around and was touched. He thought to himself: Fortunately, I did not come from Shu, so this Baidi has nothing to do with me.

After resting for a few days, the 30,000-strong army set out again. After another seven or eight days, they finally arrived in Jiangzhou in early September.

At this time, almost a month and a half had passed since Zhang Song first greeted Yan Yan and asked Yan Yan to cooperate with Liu Bei to build a city in Jiangbei of Jiangzhou.

During this month and a half, Yan Yan did not forget to use corvée labor to cut wood, quarry stones, dig soil and bake bricks. So when Liu Bei's army arrived, there were already several camps in the area, which were originally for the craftsmen on the construction site to live in. When the army arrived, they could be stationed there, saving a lot of trouble.

Liu Bei quickly ordered a survey and selected the scale and site for the new city in Jiangbei. He then asked the craftsmen to quickly build a simple earthen wall and then build the houses in the city first.

It takes several years to build a city and gradually complete its scale. It cannot be rushed.

Fortunately, Liu Bei's army also brought a lot of light and expensive property with them, so they traded locally in Jiangzhou and directly spent money to buy building materials from local people, which greatly accelerated the construction process.

For a time, Jiangzhou city prospered and the people benefited. Everyone praised Liu Bei's army as a benevolent and righteous army and praised Lord Xuande for his great kindness.

A few days later, Liu Bei managed to gain a foothold in Jiangzhou, and Zhang Song, who had been running back and forth between the two places, came again.

He said that he had already made an agreement with his lord Liu Zhang, and asked Liu Zhang to come to Jiangzhou in person to meet Liu Bei, and that he would arrive within three to five days.

Liu Bei asked people to make preparations and also prepared a gift for Liu Zhang when he met him.

On the tenth day of September, dozens of warships sailed down the Yangtze River south of Jiangzhou City and docked at the Chaotianmen Wharf in Chongqing in later times. On the ships were Liu Zhang and his entourage, who brought some civil and military staff and thousands of guards to meet Liu Bei.

In order to show his sincerity, Liu Bei did not let Liu Zhang come to Jiangbei New City to meet him. Instead, he personally brought Zhang Fei, Wei Yan and more than a thousand armored guards to cross the river to the south bank and to the Chaotianmen Wharf area in later generations to meet Liu Zhang outside the city.

Liu Bei's navy directly dropped anchor and stopped on the Yangtze River and Jialing River to provide support, which ensured absolute safety. Even if Liu Zhang made any unusual moves, Liu Bei only needed to retreat and hide on the river, and Gan Ning's 10,000 navy would definitely protect Liu Bei.

Liu Zhang would of course bring guards with him. He brought Zhang Ren, a fierce general, from Chengdu, and Yan Yan, a local garrison officer, in Jiangzhou. So both sides had two fierce generals to guard the meeting, and they were not afraid of any tricks.

(End of this chapter)