My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 734: Being fooled
Zhao Yun was determined to find an excuse even if he had no excuse at all to use his troops against Gongsun Kang and Fuyu's ruler Wei Choutai.

And make sure to get it done before the fall harvest.

After setting this general direction, although there were still numerous operational issues that had not been resolved, Zhao Yun's heart suddenly calmed down. He no longer struggled and just focused on working towards this goal.

The first practical problem he encountered was how to find a reason to start a war and trick the other party into accepting the challenge instead of hiding and stalling for time.

Zhou Yu also told him in general terms that he could pretend to be Cao Cao's envoy to send a false report to Gongsun Kang, exaggerating to Gongsun Kang that the Central Plains war was imminent and that Liu Bei's main force would be tied down at any time, thus arousing Gongsun Kang's ambition and intensifying the chain of suspicion.

But Gongsun Kang was not stupid. How should he write and deliver such a false report and how should he make the other party believe it?

Zhao Yun thought about it for a long time but could not come up with an answer. He asked Zhou Yu, but Zhou Yu was unable to give a clear answer that day.

Fortunately, Zhao Yun was not in such a hurry, and it would take time for him to dispatch troops and raise military supplies, so Zhou Yu could have a few days to think about it slowly. In fact, Zhao Yun had already made some early preparations for the expedition more than half a month before he officially decided to send troops.

After receiving the order, Zhou Yu worked hard day and night, and also retrieved a lot of files and information from the Youzhou treasury, repeatedly checking and pondering them.

Zhao Yun and Mi Zhu have been in Youzhou for several years, and they are very dedicated to collecting intelligence on the surrounding barbarians. If Zhou Yu wants to investigate, he can definitely find a lot of useful information.

Especially since Mi Zhu was born into a wealthy family, merchants attach great importance to collecting intelligence about their trading partners. Mi Zhu had been running a border market in Yuyang County for five years, and the intelligence he had obtained through this channel was too numerous to count.

After Zhou Yu analyzed the idea for several days, he finally had an idea. After telling Zhao Yun about it in private, Zhao Yun also felt enlightened and approved Zhou Yu's idea immediately, asking him to do it.

……

Ten days later, in Yuyang County, Yuyang Prefecture.

Zhou Yu asked Mi Zhu for permission and convened a meeting attended by the chiefs of the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes. He also held a grand banquet and prepared generous rewards and gifts for the barbarian chiefs.

As the border market and customs office of the three counties in western Liaoning, Yuyang County has developed rapidly in recent years.

From the original population of 4,000 households, the county has grown to more than 20,000 households, even comparable to Jixian, the capital of Youzhou. Xiangping in Liaodong is not as populous as Yuyang.

It can be said that today's Yuyang County has become the largest commercial center, cargo distribution center and handicraft processing center in the entire Youzhou.

Outside the city, along both sides of the water, more than ten miles upstream, there are docks, warehouses, and cattle and sheep pens, where salt and tea, enough for daily use by all the tribes on the Northeast grasslands, are stored, as well as livestock driven over by the various tribes on the grasslands to sell.

In the middle reaches are clusters of meat processing plants and workshops for pickling fresh meat, and in the very downstream there are inevitably many leather tanning workshops, which make the river water slightly smelly. Mi Zhu had already tried his best to optimize the planning, such as moving the leather tanning industry to the downstream, where the water flows into the sea, in the city of Tianjin, and arranging it in Zhou Yu's jurisdiction.

But such things can never be completely controlled. There are always special cases or fish that slip through the net. After all, even in the 21st century, there are still people who violate environmental inspections and secretly discharge pollutants. It is undoubtedly a pipe dream to expect to completely control it in the 3rd century.

Moreover, people of this era did not think that it was a big problem for the city to be a little smelly. Instead, they thought it was a symbol of the city's developed leather industry and a glory, just like the Londoners in the 19th century who sang praises to the billowing black smoke from factory chimneys.

Over time, even the barbarians from the grassland who came to Yuyang to do business found this stench more familiar. They felt that the presence of this smell indicated how prosperous the cattle, sheep and leather trade was here, and that their business would be guaranteed in the long run.

Seeing that the barbarians liked the smell, Mi Zhu was too lazy to spend too much time to clean it up.

Therefore, after several years of construction, the atmosphere of the mixed Han and Hu people in Yuyang has become very good. When Zhou Yu invited people to discuss matters here, most of the invited tribes were not wary.

The high-ranking officials of the three counties of Wuhuan and the three counties of Xianbei were all very familiar with Yuyang County, because caravans from their tribes often came here to trade, so they came here happily, ate meat and drank wine with hearty mouthfuls, and watched the beautiful women of various tribes singing and dancing to broaden their horizons.

After years of persuasion, division and control by Zhao Yun, the Wuhuan in the three counties have now completely submitted to the country and become a vassal army that Zhao Yun can mobilize at any time. This is nothing rare, after all, when Zhao Yun destroyed Gongsun Du a few years ago, he also took the opportunity to completely destroy the Wuhuan Subuyan tribe. Most of the tribe members were captured, and a small number were distributed to other Wuhuan tribes that led the way.

With Su Puyan as a negative example, and the fact that the Wuhuan people were well aware of Zhao Yun's martial arts skills, which of the surviving tribes would dare to say no to Zhao Yun?
To put it bluntly, Zhao Yun's control over the Wuhuan tribes is definitely stronger than An Lushan's control over the Hu people outside the Three Towns Pass during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. However, Zhao Yun's loyalty to Liu Bei is absolutely reliable, which is completely opposite to An Lushan. Liu Bei also trusts people and is not worried about Zhao Yun and Mi Zhu controlling the Hu people.

After all, in this life, Mi gave birth to Liu Bei's eldest son, who was already ten years old and alive and well. Gan later gave birth to another child for Liu Bei, who was now three years old, and his other wives and concubines also had some children. However, due to the butterfly effect, the child born by Gan did not have the nickname Adou and was not a threat.

Mi Zhu's nephew will become the crown prince in the future. He will definitely use the trade network at hand to help his brother-in-law keep an eye on the material lifeline of the Hu people in the north.

Zhao Yun didn't need to worry about the Wuhuan in the three counties, but there were still some troublemakers among the Xianbei in the three counties.

The Xianbei people have always been less sinicized than the Wuhuan people, and are more crude, brutal and stubborn.

A few years ago, when Zhao Yun defeated Gongsun Du, he was unable to catch rabbits and inflict any damage to the Xianbei people.

Because they were not willing to be used by Gongsun Du and had not joined forces with the Gongsun family at that time, Zhao Yun really could not find an excuse to deal with them, so it was better to have less trouble than more.

Now, in Zhou Yu's eyes, the characteristic of these Xianbei people "never being completely dependent on Zhao Yun" can be fully utilized.

There are some things that we can only rely on the Xianbei people to do.

If the Wuhuan people were asked to do it, they would definitely obey orders, but the deception would be too low, and Gongsun Kang and Wei Choutai on the opposite side would not be stupid enough to believe it directly.

……

In order to conceal his true purpose, Zhou Yu did not do anything unusual during the first two or three days of the banquet. He just persuaded people to eat and drink and rehearsed singing and dancing.

He only wanted to use some of the Xianbei people, but he treated them all equally when entertaining them. He even treated the Wuhuan people who had no use value with more favor and gave them more valuable gifts.

This is also what is meant by the title, because the Wuhuan people are more pro-Han and more sinicized than the Xianbei people. If the relationship between the two is not handled properly, it will be easy to be exposed.

The Han Dynasty was not short of this little money for a show. Mi Zhu had run a border market in Yuyang for six years, monopolizing the trade between Youzhou and the grassland. Zhou Yu had run the Changlu Salt Field in Bohai for six years, and had been "expanding reproduction".

Although all this money was earned for the court and the government, and not for their personal pockets, but now this banquet and gift giving is also for court business, so naturally they can use that money to pay for "entertainment expenses".

Zhou Yu prepared a complete set of exquisite celadon, hundreds of pieces of Shu brocade, finely polished bronze mirrors, and even polished silver mirrors placed in polished crystal flat boxes, as well as finely prepared tea cakes for the guests from each tribe.

The Hu people usually had plenty of wine and meat, so they would serve more exquisite Han snacks at the banquet. After all, the barbarians on the grassland would never have seen such delicate craftsmanship.

Zhou Yu was the son-in-law of the Zhuge family, so his wife was naturally good at making exquisite snacks. Many years ago, the Zhuge family had set up a "microbiology laboratory" in Guangling County and Xia Pi County, and initially they were researching winemaking.

Later, various kinds of koji were selected, which can not only better ferment dough and glutinous rice, but also make mellow yogurt and cheese.

In addition, the sugar-making technology improved by the Zhuge family is also unique in the world. These advantages combined are enough to make the desserts made be regarded as sacred objects by the barbarians.

Before the dinner party, Zhou Yu asked his wife to prepare the menu carefully and also taught the maids and cooks in the mansion some cooking skills.

When the Wuhuan and Xianbei nobles tasted the crispy dessert flavored with yogurt, sugar, and roasted nuts, and carefully made with leavened dough and baked, they were so surprised that their tongues almost fell off.

All the guests had a great time and repeatedly expressed that if the envoys and lords had any instructions, they would cooperate.

After Zhou Yu had laid enough groundwork, he sent away all the Wuhuan nobles who were providing cover, leaving only a few Xianbei nobles behind, and negotiated with them one by one in isolation behind closed doors - just like interrogating a co-defendant, each person had tea and was questioned alone, and they were unaware of each other's existence.

Among the Xianbei people in the three counties today, there are three major tribes with relatively strong forces. Their leaders are named Suli, Mijia and Jueji. Their respective territories are located on the grasslands to the north of Liaoxi County, Youbeiping County and Yuyang County respectively. It can be said that there is a certain overlap with the territories of the Wuhuan people in the three counties.

This is normal, because there is no clear geographical boundary on the grassland. Everyone lives near water and grass, and the Wuhuan and Xianbei peoples often fight over the grassland.

But in general, the territory of the Three Commanderies of Xianbei was mostly further north than the territory of the Three Commanderies of Wuhuan. Only when trading with the Han border markets would they occasionally go south through the grasslands controlled by the Wuhuan.

(Note: During the Jian'an period, the Three Commandery Xianbei were divided into three tribes: Suli, Mijia, and Jueji. This is the original record in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. Biography of Wuhuan Xianbei and Dongyi. Jueji died at the end of the Jian'an period, and Suli died in the second year of Taihe (228). Before Zhou Yu summoned these three people separately, he already had some inclinations in his mind, and specifically who he wanted to win over and who he wanted to let interfere. But he was not sure after all, and he had to see the true attitudes of all parties.

Based on rational analysis, Zhou Yu must have felt that it would be best to give priority to controlling the Xianbei tribes on the prairie north of Liaoxi County and play a double act with himself. Moreover, if he could lure the Buyeo people into taking the bait and then have them turn against him in the middle of the battle, the surprise attack would be most effective.

After all, Liaoxi County is closest to Liaodong and Buyeo, and it had the most interactions with Buyeo people in the past.

However, after Zhou Yu actually summoned the representatives of the Liaoxi Xianbei and had a conversation with them, he discovered some problems and could only suppress them temporarily.

"This Jueji is so afraid of the imperial court. When I gave him the invitation, I clearly asked him to attend the banquet in person and bring his legitimate son with him to see the world. But this guy not only did not bring his legitimate son, he was even unwilling to send his illegitimate son as a hostage to learn the etiquette and laws of our Han Dynasty.

There were many evasive words and excuses in the conversation. It seems that their tribe can't be used for a long time, but it can be used as a test. "

Zhou Yu thought to himself, so he calmed down and pretended that nothing had happened. Then he summoned Suli and Mijia.

Of the two, Suli actually has the largest territory and the largest number of herdsmen, but Suli suffers from the fact that its territory is too far from Liaodong.

His grassland was located just north of Yuyang County, which was close to the border market, but far from Zhao Yun's target. However, it was probably because his grassland was located just north of Yuyang County that he was more pro-Han and could profit more from the border market trade.

Perhaps, when the other two Xianbei tribes came to Yuyang to trade and passed through Suli's territory, they would have to pay tolls to him.

Moreover, during the conversation, Zhou Yu discovered an advantage of the Suli tribe - because the Suli tribe's territory was further west, it was closer to the Xianbei Kebineng tribe just north of Cao Cao's controlled area.

Suli and Kebineng also have an old grudge. The two tribes have been fighting for territory and grasslands, and the conflict has accumulated for many years.

Now Kebi Neng had been conquered by Cao Cao, accepted Cao Cao's enthronement, and sent his clansmen to be held hostage by Cao Cao, which was equivalent to serving as mercenaries for Cao's army.

Since Suli had a grudge against Kebineng, it would be easier for him to cling to Liu Bei's camp, so that he could continue to fight against Kebineng who had already surrendered to Cao.

Otherwise, if he also surrendered to Cao, he would have gone later than Ke Bineng and his qualifications would have been less than the other party. Would he still want to make a name for himself in this life? Not to mention this life, even his descendants might have been cheated.

Therefore, after carefully considering their respective mindsets and interests, Zhou Yu finally chose to extend an olive branch to Su Li first.

In Zhou Yu's temporary study, after all the maids and waiters were driven to the door, Zhou Yu finally stated the final condition:

"Now there is something that if you can accomplish, your tribe will be appreciated by the Grand Commandant and will be superior to other Xianbei tribes."

Suli had also been treated with great courtesy by Zhou Yu these days. After enough preparation, he immediately told General Zhou to go ahead and talk.

Zhou Yu said, "Your tribe is located on the grassland north of Yuyang, bordering the Daijun Xianbei tribe that Cao Cao has subdued. If Cao Cao wants to send someone to contact you, he can also go north from Daijun.

So, I want you to pretend that you received a forged imperial edict from Cao Cao in the name of the emperor, granting you an official position, and you also accepted Cao Cao's forged edict. But because you are afraid of revenge from the general, you want to contact other allies.

So, you thought of Gongsun Kang who was hiding in Fuyu, and Wei Choutai, the real leader of Fuyu. You wanted to join forces with their forces, and when Cao Cao and the general were fighting again in the future, you could support Cao Cao from the northern border.

In this story, since Cao Cao didn't contact Gongsun Kang directly, we only need to forge a letter, and we don't need Cao Cao's messenger. When the time comes, your people will deliver this fake letter to Gongsun Kang."

Zhou Yu knew very well that it would be impossible to fabricate a "messenger of Cao Cao", and the more people who knew about it, the easier it would be to be exposed, and it would also pose a threat to his reputation in the future.

However, it is much easier to forge a few letters, and the envoys can be directly replaced by people from the Suli Xianbei tribe. Their identities are real, but they are real people holding fake letters. It is much easier.

Moreover, that would make Gongsun Kang even more arrogant, killing two birds with one stone.

Suli thought for a while, and after he understood what Zhou Yu wanted to do, he reminded him with a little contradiction: "General Zhou has a good plan, and we dare not comment. However, although our army is close to Dai County and Kebineng, it is also the farthest from Buyeo.

If the envoy of my false book is captured and killed by Mijia or Jueji, wouldn't it be a big mistake? It will also make it easy for my tribe to be wrongly accused. "

Zhou Yu didn't mind him asking questions. On the contrary, he felt that asking moderate questions like this showed that the other party was serious about carrying out the order. If he agreed without asking, it would be unreliable.

Zhou Yu immediately helped him to clear up his doubts: "That's easy. You can pretend to win over Mijia or some of the Jueji people and make them 'determined to serve Cao Cao' with you. In fact, they are just giving you a convenience and sending the letter and envoy to Buyeo together.

If some of Mijia or Jueji's followers really surrender to Cao and join forces with the enemy, you can turn against them and help the court defeat them - among the captured prisoners, seven will be for the court and three for you, and the remaining 30% can be incorporated into your own followers.

Don't worry, I dare to make such a decision because I have absolute confidence in General Zhao's military power. I am not afraid to tell you the truth, General Zhao is not worried about whether he can defeat Gongsun Kang and Fuyu. He is only worried that the enemy will not dare to fight him. If you pretend to help Gongsun Kang to win a few more allies, you can also give him courage and make him dare to fight General Zhao. "

Zhou Yu's offer was very harsh, 70% to 30%, and the court was 70%. However, his harsh words were accompanied by a very confident tone, with a firm attitude similar to that of a Spartan.

"The Spartans never asked 'how many' their enemies were, but only 'where'."

Suli was also frightened by this momentum, although he had not seen or even heard of Zhao Yun mobilizing troops for several years. But from Zhou Yu's tone and demeanor, he could tell how much Zhou Yu trusted Zhao Yun.

This was because he was worried that the enemy were too few to kill and would not dare to run away to be killed, so he deliberately gave the enemy a chance to gather their forces so that Zhao Yun could capture them all in one fell swoop.

Working with such a powerful general should bring good rewards, right?

Thinking of this, Suli gritted his teeth and finally decided to follow suit.

If there are really blind people like Mijia and Jueji who surrender to Cao Cao after being instigated by me, then I will help the court to clean up its house.

Anyway, even if we annex 30% of their troops, it will be a good deal. This kind of action of adding insult to injury will not cost too much. As for the remaining 70%, of course, we can only give it to the court for the sake of General Zhao.

Seeing that the other party had made up his mind, Zhou Yu stood up and patted him on the shoulder in a casual manner: "This decision of yours is definitely one of the most cost-effective in your life. Before you leave, you are allowed to observe from a distance the power of General Zhao leading the cavalry. When you go back, put your mind at ease and carry out your mission well."

Zhou Yu made this arrangement, naturally, to establish his authority. At the same time, he also wanted to ensure that not too many details would be exposed, so the relevant military exercises could only be viewed from afar.

In the next two days, Suli really followed Zhou Yu's arrangement and visited many things.

When he saw the cavalry led by Zhao Yun charging in unison,

When I saw Zhao Yun's cavalry sweep across the formation in an arc and finally launch a rain of arrows as if they were standing on solid ground,
Suli finally broke out in a sweat and was glad that she stood on the side of truth.

Before leaving, Zhou Yu asked someone to prepare a pair of fake books for Suli.

After Suli carefully returned to his tribe, he quickly followed the procedures and sent an envoy from his camp to the Kingdom of Fuyu to request an audience with Gongsun Kang.

When Gongsun Kang heard that someone brought the imperial decree of enthronement from the Central Plains, he did not dare to neglect it. He set up a case in Longzhong privately and made serious contact.

When he learned that two of the three Wuhuan tribes were willing to support him, considering the fact that the lips and teeth are cold, he also heard that Cao Cao would soon take the initiative to attack Liu Bei, and General Zhang He and Zhao Yun had already started fighting at Yishui.

Gongsun Kang heard so much good news and discussed it with his brother-in-law Wei Choutai. They were unwilling to sit and wait for death, so they gathered their forces and called for reinforcements from allied tribes and countries, and in name, they actually invited two of the three Xianbei counties.

Gongsun Kang felt that there was hope and finally decided to strike first.

Unfortunately, it was just a thought for him.

Just as he was thinking about it, Zhao Yun actually did it.

(End of this chapter)