My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 117: This windfall Cao Cao doesn't want, the lord does! Pull Yizhou to the bottom, let's do the whole thing!
Liu Bei was stunned.

Zhang Song, the deputy governor of Yizhou, I have some impression of his name, but I am not very familiar with him. Why did he suddenly think of visiting him?

Xiao He's eyes lit up and he smiled:

"Speak of the devil, and he will appear. My lord, the people who will help us quickly capture Jiangling have arrived."

Liu Bei's spirits lifted, and his eyes showed a hint of surprise and confusion.

It was obviously Zhang Song who came, what does he have to do with Cao Cao?
How can a Yizhou Beijia help him to help Jiangling?
Liu Bei had many questions in his mind, so he asked:
"Bo Wen, how can this Zhang Song help me quickly capture Jiangling?"

All the generals were curious, waiting for Xiao He to give a reasonable explanation.

Xiao He had no time to explain, and said:
"The guest has arrived. My lord, do not keep him waiting. When we meet later, you only need to observe his instructions and you will naturally know how useful this Zhang Song is."

Liu Bei didn't dare to ask any more questions, so he had to suppress his guess and ordered Zhang Song to come in.

"Wait a minute!"

Xiao He stopped the soldiers and said:

"This Zhang Yongnian is extremely talented, but he is also very self-righteous."

"I suspect he must have been sent by Liu Zhang to Xudu to befriend Cao Cao, but Cao Cao treated him coldly and indifferently. Therefore, he deliberately took a detour via Jiangling back to Shu. His purpose was to test the lord's magnanimity."

"My lord, you should personally go to the camp gate to welcome Zhang Song and treat him with great hospitality, treating him as a distinguished guest. Only in this way can you win his heart."

After hearing Xiao He's thorough disclosure of Zhang Song's true identity, Liu Bei, Xu Shu and the others were all surprised.

The remote mountain areas in Shu are almost isolated from the outside world and have no access to information.

All people in the world knew about Yizhou was that Liu Zhang was a weak ruler. As for his advisers and military officials, most of them only knew their names.

But Xiao He didn't expect that he knew everything about Zhang Song, even the purpose of his mission to Xudu and his motive for passing through Jiangling!

"Everyone in the world is under Bo Wen's control. He knows Jingzhou and Jiangdong like the back of his hand. The heroes of Shu must not be able to escape his keen eyes..."

When Liu Bei thought about it this way, he was no longer surprised. He immediately did as Xiao He said and stood up and went out of the tent to greet him in person.

Outside the tent door.

A short, unremarkable scholar stood with his hands behind his back and his eyes closed, resting.

"Everyone says Cao Cao is a great leader of the time, with an extraordinary spirit. Now I have traveled thousands of miles to Xudu to offer Yizhou to him, but he is arrogant and treats me like nothing."

"Well, Cao Cao thinks he has conquered the north, so he looks down on my little corner of Yizhou. Then I will give Yizhou to someone else."

"I've heard that Liu Xuande is a benevolent ruler. He has defeated Cao Cao and Sun Quan in quick succession, and his military strategy is remarkable. If he truly has the magnanimity to treat others with respect, I will offer him Yizhou..."

Zhang Song closed his eyes slightly, his mind full of thoughts.

"I have long heard of Mr. Zhang's virtuous name, but I never thought I would have the honor of meeting him today. I apologize for not welcoming you so readily. I hope Mr. Zhang will not blame me."

Zhang Song's thoughts were interrupted. When he opened his eyes, Liu Bei had arrived at the gate with a group of counselors and generals.

Liu Bei stepped forward quickly, with a look of respect on his face, and bowed with a smile.

Zhang Song was slightly shocked, and a feeling of flattery immediately surged in his heart.

When he was sent as an envoy to Xudu, he waited for ten whole days before he got the chance to meet Cao Cao, but all he got was a cold face from Cao Cao, who didn't even give him a sip of tea.

Now when he came to see Liu Bei, he personally came out of the camp to greet him, and his words and actions were extremely polite!
The treatment I received before and after was completely different.

"People say that Liu Xuande is respectful to the wise and humble, and has the style of Emperor Gaozu. Today I see that his reputation is indeed well-deserved."

"Well, it seems that I made the right choice to come to Jiangling..."

Zhang Song was secretly glad and quickly bowed to return the greeting.

After another round of greetings, Liu Bei pulled Zhang Song and said with a smile:

"I have prepared a banquet in the tent to welcome you, Yongnian. Come on, let's go inside."

Zhang Song's heart warmed up again.

Not only did he come to greet us personally, he even prepared a banquet!
Look at how Liu Bei treats his guests, look at his sincerity in recruiting talented people, what can you, Cao Cao, use to compare with him?
So Zhang Song sighed all the way and invited Liu Bei into the big tent and treated him as the guest of honor.

Liu Bei was always respectful to the wise and humble, and with Xiao He's special reminder, he naturally showed extra respect to Zhang Song, with all kinds of toasts and words of appreciation.

Zhang Song's heart, which had been chilled by Cao Cao, was unknowingly warmed up by Liu Bei.

After another glass of wine, Zhang Song slammed the glass on the table, his eyes as hard as steel, as if he had made some kind of decision.

He immediately jumped up, straightened his clothes and bowed solemnly to Liu Bei.

"When I was in Shu, I had heard that Liu Yuzhou was kind and righteous, a man of great talent and strategy, and a man of respect for the wise and humble. He was like Emperor Gaozu reborn!"

"When I saw him today, he certainly lived up to his reputation."

"I, Zhang Song, have wasted half my life, and now I have the good fortune to meet such a wise ruler in Yuzhou. This is truly a blessing!"

Liu Bei was startled and looked at Xiao He with surprise.

Xiao He is really good at judging people.

Although Zhang Song did not explicitly say that he wanted to switch to his side, the implication was obvious.

I treated him with the courtesy of a national hero, and Zhang Songguo really returned the favor by repaying him with the courtesy of a national hero.

This is such a pleasant surprise...

"Yongnian, please don't be so polite."

Liu Bei was overjoyed and quickly stood up and went forward to support Zhang Song.

Zhang Song immediately took out a map and placed it in front of Liu Bei.

"Yongnian, this is..."

"This is a map of the counties of Yizhou. It details the geography, itineraries, the layout of the passes, the strategic locations of the mountains and rivers, and the treasury and its money." Zhang Song pointed at the map and said proudly:

"Liu Jiyu is weak and incompetent, unable to appoint talented people. The people of Shu have long been divided. People like Song who long for a wise leader are numerous."

"Yuzhou can use this map to march westward. With Song and others in Shu as internal support, Yizhou will be easily conquered."

"Yizhou is a land of abundance, with a population of one million, and its prosperity is comparable to that of Jingzhou."

"Liu Yuzhou, holding these two states, will lead his army north to attack Cao Cao and restore the Han Dynasty!"

Zhang Song was very enthusiastic and offered Liu Bei a plan to take Yizhou in the west.

Liu Bei was shocked.

All the generals were so shocked that their eyes widened.

Even Xu Shu looked surprised at this moment.

Including Liu Bei, they were still pondering what Xiao He had said and thinking about how Zhang Song could help them quickly capture Jiangling.

No one expected that Zhang Song would help Liu Bei capture Yizhou without mentioning Jiangling at all!
Totally unexpected...

Liu Bei was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses and let out a sigh.

"I am deeply grateful for Yongnian's kindness."

"Although I am determined to restore the Xing Dynasty and rebuild the country, Liu Jiyu is my own clan. How can I attack him without reason and seize his legacy?"

Zhang Song was stunned.

There is a piece of fat meat in your bowl, but you don’t want it?
"Song knew that Liu Yuzhou had always been kind and righteous, and he couldn't bear to take action against his own clan and seize Liu Jiyu's inheritance."

"But Liu Jiyu is weak, and the people inside are in disarray. To the north, Zhang Lu has long coveted Yizhou and has frequently sent troops to invade. With Liu Jiyu's talent and strategy, he simply cannot defend Yizhou."

"Even if Liu Yuzhou doesn't take it, Yizhou will be taken by others sooner or later. By then, it will be too late for you to regret it!"

Zhang Song immediately became anxious and began to persuade him earnestly.

Liu Bei naturally refused to agree and still refused. Zhang Song continued to persuade him...so the two of them were stuck there.

Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong and other generals were all anxious and angry, and they were all shouting in their hearts, "My lord, please agree to it. Such a big pie has fallen from the sky, how can we not eat it?"

Only Xiao He was laughing secretly.

If Liu Bei was persuaded so easily, he would be the same as Sun Quan.

Not to mention taking Yizhou from Liu Zhang, if he had not "threatened" the lives of 100,000 civilians, Liu Bei would not have been able to take even Xiangyang.

Seeing that the time was almost right, Xiao He put down his wine glass and coughed a few times.

"Brother Yongnian, you also said that the lord is kind and benevolent, so how could he attack a fellow clan member for no reason?"

"There's no rush to take Yizhou, so let's put it aside for now."

Changing the subject, Xiao He pointed outside the tent:
"Even if you really want to take Yizhou, you must first take Jiangling and all of Jingzhou before you have the confidence to take Yizhou."

"The current situation is that Jiangling City is impregnable and we have been unable to capture it. The Cao-Sun coalition is about to attack Jiangxia. The lord has no choice but to withdraw elite troops to the east to support Wuchang City."

"With these troops mobilized, the capture of Jiangling will become even more distant, let alone the capture of Yizhou."

After saying this, Zhang Song calmed down instantly.

Zhang Song picked up the tea again and nodded slightly:
"Brother, you are absolutely right. Liu Yuzhou's top priority right now is to capture Jiangling first and take over Jingzhou in its entirety before considering Yizhou."

"It seems that Song was indeed acting too hastily."

When Liu Bei saw that Zhang Song no longer persuaded him to seize Liu Zhang's foundation, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's a pity that Song is powerless and can't help much. He can't share Yuzhou's worries."

Zhang Song shook his head and sighed, a hint of regret flashing across his face again.

Xiao He smiled, with a special meaning:
"Brother Yongnian, please don't say that. Whether the lord can quickly capture Jiangling depends on you, brother Yongnian."

As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Bei and everyone else's nerves immediately tensed up.

Finally back to the topic.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Xiao He, and they all pricked up their ears, eager to know how Zhang Yongnian, the deputy governor who was far away in Yizhou, would help them quickly capture Jiangling.

Even Zhang Song was surprised and looked up at Xiao He blankly.

"If my guess is correct, Cao Cao must have issued an order to Liu Zhang in the name of the Son of Heaven, ordering him to send the Shu army eastward along the river, out of the Three Gorges, to capture the Yiling counties, and attack our western flank from upstream to cooperate with the Cao-Sun coalition forces on the eastern front to lift the siege of Jiangling."

"Brother Yongnian, can you please take advantage of our strategy and persuade Liu Jiyu to march eastwards in obedience to the imperial edict? But secretly, you can make peace with our lord and fight Cao Cao together."

"So our army will feign defeat and allow this Shu army to flow eastwards down the river, directly to the west of Jiangling City. This will lure Liu Cong into lighting a fire as a signal, and he will then send his troops out of Jiangling, attacking our army from both inside and outside."

"Then we will wait for Liu Cong's army to leave the city, set up an ambush and annihilate them outside the city."

"With Liu Cong's main force completely destroyed, wouldn't it be easy for my lord to attack Jiangling again?"

Xiao He slowly and calmly explained the entire plan.

In the big tent, there was a sudden excitement of surprise.

Be it Liu Bei, Xu Shu or Zhang Fei, everyone finally understood and understood the profound meaning of Xiao He.

He wanted to use the Shu army as bait to lure Liu Cong and Kuai Yue out of their hole!

Zhang Song, who also suddenly realized the truth, had an expression of deep shock and disbelief on his face as he looked Xiao He up and down.

Then he jumped up and bowed to Xiao He:
"Brother, this plan is truly unpredictable and a truly astonishing strategy!"

"May I ask your name, brother?"

(End of this chapter)